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Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

tuyop posted:

And I can add two more items to the budget. My internet is $10 a month. I wanted to increase the speed but I can't because this place loving sucks, so I'm stuck with it. My power is about $20 a month and will probably go up as it gets colder.

And my xbox live membership ran out today. $60 more this month. :(
As awesome as faster internet is, you don't really NEED it. You can chill around and do something else if you're waiting for Youtube videos/etc to load, and pretty much everything else will load just as quickly with standard internet as it will with ultraturbofast speed(which you might not even get half the time, depending on how many other people in your area are using the internet at the same time). So don't mourn the lack of faster internet too much, and definitely don't convince yourself that you "need" to pay more for a speed upgrade if you get the chance to.

And the xbox live membership had better be coming out the the entertainment budget you already have, because as moana said, you can't just go "oops forgot to save for this, guess I'll just add $60 to the budget this month." If you can't manage that just by cutting this month's entertainment expenses, then you can wait another month or three to have xbox live back.

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Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

tuyop posted:

Does anyone actually give a gently caress if I smoke or not and why? Because I'll respond to all of this if it's a big issue other than for the fact that I spend some of my cash on it regularly. Some people drink and eat poo poo all the time. I rarely drink and smoke a little bit and diet and exercise very strictly. I think I'll be ok if I quit in the near term.

Also, let me know how you do staying awake without any stimulants after 96 hours without sleep. :colbert:
The problem is that it gets harder to quit the longer you smoke, so if you ever want to quit, it's better to start sooner rather than later. If you want to use your fun money on smoking, that's your business, but don't pretend that it's harmless to your health, going to be easy to quit if you do it for a while, or something that you need to be doing.

And if you really need a stimulant to stay awake: It's called caffeine. Lots of things have it. I don't know entirely how the military works, but surely it's not that hard to grab a cup of coffee/red bull/whatever once in a while?

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

tuyop posted:

Speaking of fitness and stuff, how do you guys feel about sort of borrowing against my September grocery budget?

On course it's pretty difficult to supplement using shakes and stuff because you don't really have the time, not to mention maintaining some kind of nutrition in the field. I'd like to buy some whey bars and BCAA tablets instead of the powder that I usually eat and they're a bit more expensive than powders, but if I do it next month it probably won't make it through the army delivery system until October.

I can count on spending near-zero on groceries for the second half of September at least (Course starts Sept. 12). I'm worried because this is a bit of a slippery slope, and is literally spending money that I don't have, but I have a positive cash flow for this month that will just be kind of transferred to next month.

Is this a terrible idea?
Do you even need protein suppliments? From what I've read, most people get more than enough protein in their diets to help them build/maintain muscle. That said, I don't care if you buy them either, but don't use "I NEED them" as an excuse to 1)buy something more expensive when the powder would work just fine, and 2)get into the bad habit of going "oh, I can just borrow against next month's budget." Even if you do think you need them, is it impossible to last another week so that you can get them out of next month's budget?

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

quote:

1. I'll spend my goddamn money however I goddamn want. Think of "smoking" as "prostitutes", "marijuana", "gambling", whatever makes you less irrationally upset. I'm an adult, I like smoking, it is a small vice that has little impact on my health over the short term and large social and psychological benefits. It also fits into my budget without a problem. And it does in fact repel mosquitoes. Try it sometime.
Then why are you even budgeting, or asking us for opinions on your budget? After all, it's your money. Why not spend it on whatever yoy damned well want to? Oh right, it's because you're in debt and want to get out of debt. And people in debt shouldn't blow a ton of money on hookers/weed/gambling, either.

tuyop posted:

2. I would like to see the evidence that frozen/canned/dried vegetables are as good as fresh, local, organic vegetables in areas other than cost. Because even cooking most vegetables dramatically reduces their nutritional value.
:science: Freezing vegetables locks in the nutrients, and they might be even BETTER for you since they were picked & frozen when they were in season, instead of being shipped halfway around the world and losing quality all the while(of course, local veggies don't have that problem, but unless you can honestly say you only buy local veggies and limit yourself to what's in season...). You want evidence? Here's some about Vitamin C. Here's one that suggests that canned veggies are good too(along with frozen ones. And here's even more. There are slight changes, and they depend on the vegetable, but there's nothing drastic enough to make it worth spending a lot of extra money on fresh local veggies. Canned vegetables don't seem to be quite as good, but at least they're still vegetables. (PS: Organic food isn't actually better for you than normal food, and it's considerably more expensive. Not really something you should be buying if you're a nutrition-conscious guy on a budget.)

quote:

3. I'm buying this underwear to replace underwear that I bought more than three years ago. I set up savings to pay for intermittent clothing expenditures. That account now has 200 earmarked for that, among other things. I am going to spend around 100 of it depending on how good of a deal I can find. I will build it back up this month. Since I have no other clothes to buy for the next 8 months, and the only other thing coming out of that account is an oil change in 3000 kilometers, I'm going to buy the underwear that I want and need.
I think we all get that people need underwear, we just don't understand why you're spending $100 on it. Unless you're buying a shitload of underwear, then you're obviously buying very expensive underwear. And yes, you brought up the chafing issue, but it's hard to believe that there is only ONE brand of underwear that doesn't cause chafing for you(and it also happens to be one that's on the expensive side).

quote:

4. My socks are 20-35 a pair, they last forever and I have three pairs still on the go from January. Two of the pairs are showing a bit of wear and will probably need to be replaced by February 2012. I'll do that the same way I'm doing the underwear.
How good/bad your sock cost is depends on how long "forever" is, which sounds like "slightly over a year" in your case. If your socks only last ~1 year, it doesn't sound like you're getting a lot of extra value out of spending several times more money on socks. Perhaps you could try some cheaper socks? In my experience, socks with similar material/thickness last roughly as long whether you spent $10 on them or $30. (and while we're on a sock tangent: I've had socks last 2-3 years. And they're stuff where you can get 3-5 pairs for $20, not fancy socks that cost $15 for a single pair. What the hell is T0MSERV0 doing to his socks? At least Tuyop is probably putting extra wear-and-tear on them thanks to army bullshit.)

quote:

8. 26 a month. I spent 13 in August because of the timing of my field time (field is a haircut free zone). I'm probably getting another haircut next Wednesday. It's 26 dollars. I spend more on hummus and broccoli.
Did you ever respond to the guy who mentioned that you could get your hair cut shorter each time so you didn't have to go so often? Because even if you like longer hair, saving an extra bit of money each month would be even nicer. And don't go "it's only a small amount of money"; people get into debt because they buy stuff like "only" a $5 latte every day, or "only" a $20/mo upgrade to their cable. That small poo poo adds up after a while, both individually and when you look at it in combination with all the other small poo poo you're spending money on.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

Cicero posted:

Run a mile < 6 minutes while smoking.
With hair that's cut longer than the super-short length he's so fond of. And while wearing normal person underwear instead of fancy Underarmor underwear. (though how he'd prove that is something I'd rather not think about :gonk:) And afterwards he'd have to make a nutritious meal using nothing but frozen vegetables and cheap protein powder.

Did I miss any of his favorite things there? :v:

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

tuyop posted:

Do you like having feces in your pants or something? Do women and/or men ever perform oral sex on you?

There are lots of reasons for cleaning your rear end in a top hat often, not liking having poo poo on you is just one of them.
It's called toilet paper. Most people use it to clean their asses just fine. Some even manage it while using cheap, rough toilet paper. I can't think of anyone(except for you) who thinks that they can't possibly get poo poo off their rear end without splurging for wet wipes.

I mean seriously, do you honestly think that most people can't get themselves clean without using wet wipes? That's just :psyduck: as all hell. (doubly so coming from the guy who doesn't wear underwear 90% of the time, and who rewears the same pairs of jeans that have been in direct contact with his rear end & junk. Even if you wipe like a mentally competent adult, that stuff's still gonna get nasty after a day or two.)

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

tuyop posted:

In the vein of canned and frozen food I'm about to eat a bowl of canned chili. It looks like cat food. Will post trip report.
You poor man. Chili is the one thing I'd refuse to eat out of a can unless a massive famine struck.

Giant Isopod posted:

Something I didn't see brought up re: emergency fund.

Half of getting out of debt is paying the money back, the other (and arguably larger part) is changing your lifestyle to spend responsibly. Having an emergency fund to spend out of for emergencies vs. putting them on the credit card may seem functionally identical but one of them is preparation for how you'd be doing things once you are debt free whereas the other is just doing the same thing you've been doing: slap it on the card.

If you don't build up that mindset (this applies to other things as well) you're just going to go back to being dumb with money after you have the debt paid off.
tuyop and ToeShoes, read this post once a day until it starts sinking in. Getting out of debt means nothing if you remain in the mindset that got you into debt to begin with.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

Fluffy Bunnies posted:

I can't even fathom paying $2100 for a vacation.
Between airfare(first class, of course), souvenirs(gotta have something to remember Istanbul by!) and multiple days worth of hostel stays(upscale ones only) and food(high class restaurants are the best way to experience authentic ethnic cuisine, you know), I can sort of imagine how you could spend that much money, although it's obviously still not a good idea to unless you either a)have been saving up for it, or b)have a rich relative funding everything. Neither of which Tuyop has done.

I grew up not getting vacations even remotely like the ones Tuyop got himself into debt taking. When it was time for a family vacation, we'd take a day or two and go to some place instate, or head an hour and a half south to go to Chicago. Even now that I'm a bit older, the biggest vacation I've ever taken was a two week roadtrip through the western US. Which was very cool, but it's also something hard to arrange the time and money for, and I'm thankful that I got the chance to do that once. Most people don't get to jetset around the world checking out exotic cities for their vacations, and are grateful enough to get a couple days off to go to a different city - something that's along the lines of what Tuyop's vacations are like now.

Tuyop, read what I posted and what KarmaCandy's been posting. Your idea of what a "vacation" is isn't in line with what most people consider to be a typical vacation. The sooner you realize this, the better off you'll be.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

tuyop posted:

I guess the problem is that there's really no point in applying for other jobs. I want something that will enable me to pay off my debt very quickly and save up enough for me to do a BEd. Working two years in the arctic would do that and then some.

All the other jobs I'm interested in require a qualification that I don't have. The only other option is to get another student loan and work full or part-time through a BEd in Ontario at York or U of T. Or try to get a lower level management job at a McDonald's and pay off my debt with that income.

I would totally do that whole teaching english in foreign countries thing, but the two agencies I checked pay very little money, like 1000 a month at the most.
tuyop, you really can't afford to be picky. Earning any income is better than earning no income, which is a very real possibility if you only apply to one or two jobs at a time. And going by what Our Gay Apparel says, this artcic job isn't the only one that could get your debt repaid fast enough for your liking:

quote:

You can go work for SOC-SMG or one of the other tier III security companies doing static security for like $60k overseas. It will suck, but it will get you out of your debt because you have zero expenses while deployed. Sometimes you have to make the hard choice and just stick it out (I would not have gotten out if I were you). When I got out of the military, I had no debt and a steady job lined up. That's what you need to do as well.
Is it something you want to do? Probably not. But if you want to be debt-free and get that BEd in a reasonable timeframe, you'll have to be prepared to do some things you'd rather not do so you can do the things you'd like to do.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender
Just think, if you remain perfectly still, you'll need less food(so you'll spend less on groceries), go on no vacations/other trips(so less money spent on that), and will stop breaking things(even more savings!).

Sounds like a solid plan to me. :v:

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

FrozenVent posted:

I hope to god you got insurance info and a police report.
Why would he? He doesn't want to be a dick by forcing the other person to be a responsible adult. Besides, there's no point in getting the insurance info when the other guy is clearly going to pay up just as he said he would. It's not like he'll be able to cut and run with no consequences once Tuyop destroys the evidence of the accident repairs the car.


Seriously Tuyop, situations like this are exactly what your insurance company is there for. Using them isn't being a dick. If the other guy's rates go up or whatever it is you're worried about, it's his own damned fault for backing into a parked car.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender
Tuyop, have you considered remaining completely stationary? It's become clear to me that the universe simply does not intend for you to transport yourself anywhere.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

-Troika- posted:

Why isn't this thread in E/N or some poo poo? This is literally the only thread in BFC that is about one guy.
It's just following in the fine footsteps of the Zaurg and Cornholio threads. Except instead of his problem being football tickets or hesitating on selling the mini, it's ruining every form of transport he touches.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

canyoneer posted:

Be super careful of what you take home. If you get bedbugs, you will want to blow your brains out.
Dear god, this. I had bedbugs once(moved to a new apartment, they started coming in from a neighboring apartment), and they're nasty. Bites all over any skin that's exposed when you sleep, coupled with trouble going to sleep because you're thinking about the bedbugs crawling around. They're hard to spot, but keep an eye out for little black dots(which are bedbug feces) and red dots(remnants of crushed bedbugs) on upholstered stuff, especially around seams and crevices.


Also seconding the "get stuff for free" approach. A big giant tv is a pain to move, but you don't really need to be dropping several hundred bucks on a nice flatscreen. You could also get a smaller(non-flat screen) TV that's easier to move around. Neither of these is a nice as a flat-screen, but you can't afford nice right now. (I'd advise cutting cable entirely since you clearly already have internet and can watch a lot of TV on it, but if you two insist on having cable, you can at least save on the TV.)

There are other pieces of furniture you can get free as well, if you're patient enough & willing to inspect everything to make sure there's nothing hiding in it. Just looking at my area's craigslist now, I could get 6 free bookshelves, 2 entire beds complete with boxspring and frame(although I'd be leery of these because of the aforementioned bedbugs), 5 couches, 3 entertainment centers, several dressers, 2 recliners, several tables, 2 desks, a nightstand, a chair...I could go on and on.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

tuyop posted:

So it's cold as gently caress here. Our apartment is already dropping to 16C before the central heating kicks in.
61F? You really can't handle 61F? The temperature of a perfectly comfortable spring day? If that's really too cold for you, put on a sweater. Jesus. Don't panic about freezing to death until the indoor temperature gets a LOT lower without central heating kicking on(and even then, try complaining to the landlord before you go out and buy a space heater).

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

tuyop posted:

Yeah, exactly! With BASIL

Leperflesh posted:

At least think about it (without spending anything) for at least a week or two. You seem like you're in a manic cycle and that's when you tend to make bad decisions. The basil-growing supplies will still be available in a couple weeks, but you'll have had a chance to get some perspective and maybe also not be on one of your "WHEE lets do a THING right NOW" binges.
Tuyop, Toeshoes, please listen to this man. You both seem to be happily joining hands and skipping off into whatever impulse purchase strikes your fancy that day. And please, consider this a purchase. Money you'll never see again, if you make the terrible decision of buying the basil-growing supplies. You don't even know how you're going to sell the basil, let alone all the factors involved in growing it, how things can go wrong(and considering your luck, you should always expect the worst-case scenario.), whether or not your landlord is cool with it, or anything about this beyond BASIL!!.

All of this because you happened to help a friend set up his own aquaponics, which he totally swears is going to bring in "$515/m2 per year"(of course, you don't know that he'll get that much money because you're only relying on his own word for it), and then watched a youtube video that supported what you'd already decided you wanted to do.

Tuyop, if you want to stop digging yourself deeper into the money hole, you and Toeshoes have to agree to take a step back and wait at least a week(preferably more) before spending more than, say, $50 on something, or jumping into any harebrained schemes(yes, even ones that look like they'll TOTALLY bring in lots of money). The cooldown period will hopefully make the two of you realize that you don't really need whatever it was you were going to buy, or that the moneymaking opportunity isn't actually as great as it seemed at first(as an example: If growing BASIL with aquaponics was such a good moneymaking opportunity, wouldn't a lot more people be doing it? And no, your one aquaponics friend does not count as "a lot more people"). Post what you're considering spending money on here, and goons will be happy to ream you for it if it's actually a dumb idea or something that you don't really need. Spend that week reading a lot more of Mr. Money Moustache, since you seemed to respect his blog a lot over in the Taco Box thread & he seems to have some pretty solid advice.

Haifisch fucked around with this message at 06:35 on Nov 4, 2012

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

tuyop posted:

We don't!

She's just crushing my dreams of riches through organic, locally grown BASIL in the depths of winter.
At least you have a new avatar to remind you of what could have been. It's much better than that weird clown you had before. :allears:

But you should totally do the countertop herbs/veggies thing with Toeshoes. Not as expensive, not as much to go wrong, and it'll give you something to do in between writing gay werewolf broke back mountin' fiction and getting worked up over aquaponics.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender
The only good thing about Tuyop's latest money furnace idea is that it's far enough in the future that he'll probably forget about it after a few more manic "spend all my money on this GREAT IDEA!"/depressive "I'm a failure. I will eat nothing but rice and beans, and live in a sleeping bag in a park." swings.

Although considering his life so far, maybe a house with a built-in ambulance bay would actually be a good investment. :v: Then again, knowing his luck, he'd have an emergency and the ambulance would crash trying to get out of his non-standard bay!

So here's an updated design, taking the trends of Tuyop's life into account:

Okay, it's not the prettiest floorplan in the world, but I don't have DIY house building experience. Maybe I'll come back after spending $500,000 on building a microhouse for my basil aquaponics & make an even better plan. But for now, look at all that counter space!

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

tuyop posted:

Is that what you're talking about? What does a normal, healthy person do in my position?
I'm not Kobayashi, but here's a short list:
They don't buy shady chinese stimulants, for one(what the hell do you even need the stimulants for? I get that you're used to having a shitton of caffeine in your system, but you should focus on being able to have energy & focus without pumping chemicals into yourself, not replacing one stimulant with another). Making do with the perfectly usable kitchen stuff they have instead of buying shiny kitchen gadgets they can't afford is another(and you're doing this, which is good!). They also don't even semi-seriously entertain thoughts like BASIL and building a tiny house they don't have the skills for. They also don't go on shitloads of vacations they can't afford.

Many of these things are in the past, but you're going to keep repeating similar mistakes if you don't correct the line of thinking that led you that way in the first place.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

tuyop posted:

And the powderz are an attempt to replace something more expensive in my diet (meat, for instance), with something cheap (dubious powders from the darkest Orient) in order to achieve the same, or greater, performance in a hobby that I like.
If you're so considered with optimizing your gains, read this YLLS thread if you haven't already, so that you actually know what the gently caress you should be eating to support your exercise regimen. A select quote that's highly relevant to your situation:

quote:

Supplements
If you can't eat enough delicious animals to get your protein, then try whey protein shakes. If you have loads of money to throw around and you want to try all of the powders, check out one of the supplements threads. Note that supplements won't make up for a poor diet and half-assed exercise. Get your poo poo together before you go nuts on supplements.
You do not have loads of money to throw around trying random powders, and there are cheap ways to eat delicious animals(or their eggs. Eggs rock as a cheap protein source) to get protein instead. As a bonus, said delicious animals will contain non-protein nutrients that you need to keep your body healthy, and you can share them as meals with Toeshoes. I can't comment on what your diet and exercise is like now, but try optimizing those(without breaking the budget) before you go powder-chasing. I won't harp on the protein powders any more than this, since (assuming you're buying a reputable brand) they are the cheapest way to get a ton of protein, but that's not an excuse to jump straight to buying them before looking at other(cheaper) ways of staying healthy first.

As for the stimulant/neurotransmitter/other extra-dubious powders: you don't need any of that poo poo in the first place, and it's definitely not worth the $45 you threw at it. Half that poo poo doesn't do anything(at best; at worst it's poisoning you), and the other half isn't worth the money you're wasting on it. If, for some reason, you can't get the gains you want without eating dubious chinese powders(or if it'd require something even more expensive), you're going to have to accept slower gains in exchange for saving money(and not eating lead).



Also, maybe I missed this in the stream of "you're seriously going to put money in an education savings account for someone else's kid :what:"(good on you for not doing this, by the way), but what's the word on that expensive breast pump you were being pressured to chip in for? Part of staying frugal is being able to say "no" when people ask you to do things you can't afford, even if they're family members. It's as simple as going "I don't have the money to spend on this, sorry" if people come to you with a "chip in on this expensive gift" request. You can do the "I don't have the money for presents this year, sorry." thing too, or stick to cheap homemade gifts - not only will making stuff yourself save money, but it's more likely to be appreciated and remembered/used than some random $40+ geegaw from the mall.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

Dr. Video Games 0050 posted:

Reversing was the loving worst thing ever. It would take me so long considering I didn't know how the gently caress a car worked (but Jesus do you learn) and was constantly being laughed at by my friends while doing the whole dance.

Turn car on
Parking brake on
Pop hood
Stick hand on some lever and "click" it to reverse
Close hood, get back in car
Disengage e brake
Do my little lovely reverse job

Then loving repeat to then go forward
Jesus christ, there's a point where it would have been easier to buy a $1000 beater to replace that thing, and that point was when you had to start doing more than one step to reverse. I've had to learn the art of tracking miles because the fuel gauge didn't work(somehow, my first and second car both had that problem), and I spent a couple years driving a car with the hood tied down because it was so crumpled out of shape, but that's as lovely as I'd let my car get before replacing it/fixing it.

Then again, I guess you don't have that car anymore for a reason. :v:

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

Nam Taf posted:

Tuyop you're loving retarded. I hope you shower before putting on that tux and wear deoderant at the altar.
Jesus christ, soap is ridiculously cheap if you just want to get clean and grease-free and don't care about scents/added moisturizers/etc. And of course you don't notice your BO - nobody notices their own scent because they're around it all the time. If toeshoes hasn't mentioned anything, it's probably because she's trying to spare your feelings(either that or she's gross and doesn't use soap either).

Even if by some miracle you don't smell, everyone around you must be noticing how greasy you've become. Greasy people are not good-looking people.

Buy cheap soap. Buy a cheap stick of deodorant. Use both of them. When people talk about saving money in little ways, they mean poo poo like making their own coffee instead of going to Starbucks, not skimping out on basic hygene.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

tuyop posted:

Are they foisted upon your children on death or something so that you have a dynasty of poor English majors?
I'm pretty sure that death is the only thing that can get rid of them if you don't pay up. Other than that? You can't get rid of them with bankruptcy, being too poor to pay(they'll offer lovely income-based repayment that you'll only be stuck with for a mere 25 years, don't worry), or pretty much any other mechanism you can think of. I guess you could flee the US to a country that won't cooperate with making you pay, but that assumes you have the money to flee in the first place. :v:

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

tuyop posted:

Regardless, we have to learn to live within our means and stuff. Obviously working on that.

tuyop posted:

Yeah I'm not staying in the army. I'm going to school in September whether they give me a medical release by that point or not. Hopefully I get it by then, but even if I don't, it's not the end of the world.
Part of living within your means is recognizing when it's worth it to stay in a less-than-ideal job so that you can keep your life on track. You may not like the army that much, and you may want to go to school now, but unless the army's going to pay for your schooling now, it's better to sit back and collect a steady paycheck(and not accumulate more debt) than to quit and shove all the income responsibility on toeshoes. I'm sure she loves you and is willing to help support you while you go to school, but that doesn't make quitting the army to go to school your best option right now.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

tuyop posted:

Also, I'm not going to get rich from recycling my own poop, it's just a way to live more sustainably. And it's an 11 dollar book. Really not going to break the bank here by spending 11 dollars in gift money on a book.
You're engaging in two forms of bad financial thinking here:
1)Treating windfalls as fun money, instead of treating it the same as the rest of your money. Getting a store-branded gift card limits your purchases a bit, but Amazon has a ton of stuff on it that you could get more use from than an $11 book about something you probably only think is a good idea because you're in a manic phase. You can buy food on amazon, for starters. $50 of grocery money(or garbage bag money, or soap money, or condom money, or whatever other necessities you can think of) is more useful than $50 of books on composting your own poo poo & whatever other useless/barely useful toys you want to buy.
2)Going "oh, it's not that much money, so it's not going to kill me to buy it" in regards to small purchases. Sure, an $11 book isn't that much money, but it adds up with all the other small purchases you make. Of course you're going to have to make some small purchases, but you still should take a moment to go "do I really need this?". Then you wait a week or two and see if you still think you need it(or even want it; this is extra important for you, given your manic phases). You may surprise yourself in how rarely you still want stuff if you give yourself time to get past the initial "so cool! I want it!" phase. If you talk yourself out of ten $11 poo poo-composting books this way, you just saved $110. Doesn't seem like such a small amount of money, now does it?

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

Main Paineframe posted:

This is the reason why many diseases that are so rare in the developed world are so common in undeveloped countries. There are a lot of diseases and parasites that spread almost exclusively through human poo poo, and crap-as-fertilizer contaminates the food supply with those organisms.
Hell, step #1 to elimating a ton of parastic diseases in poor areas is literally "give them a modern waste disposal system." making GBS threads in a hole in the ground, or in a bucket to be dumped somewhere else later, is how waste contaminates the soil & water and lets GI tract infections get into other people.

There's a reason people have tried to avoid using their own poop as fertilizer once they figured out what fertilizer was. And before you go "I don't have any intestinal diseases, so my poo poo is safe!", bear in mind that it's entirely possible to be carrying certain bacteria and parasites without showing symptoms.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

FrozenVent posted:

Also t-shirts make for great rags, don't throw them out.
Or if you're like me and already have more rags than you could ever need, at least donate your old t-shirts to whatever charity organizations are in your area. (I recommend taking the chance to go through your entire wardrobe and cull anything you don't recall wearing in the last year or so, except for formalwear) Don't waste perfectly good clothes by throwing them away unless it's underwear or something.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

tuyop posted:

I generally eat 1800 calories a day, give or take 150 calories depending on if I lift that day or not. I weigh 179 pounds.

However, if I start feeling a bit low, that creeps up to 2300-2500 very quickly, and that's historically been about 1/4 of the time. Since I've been feeling so level, I'm slowly making my way into <10% bodyfat territory!
1800 calories isn't even enough to satisfy your basal metabolic rate as a 179 pound dude(going off this estimator, and other ones give similar numbers. Even lowballing your height as 5'5" says you need over 1800 calories for your BMR). No wonder you feel like poo poo. If you want to lose weight, don't starve yourself; it's counterproductive, makes you feel like poo poo, and generally unhealthy. Aim to lose 1-2lb a week if you want to both keep it off and be able to maintain your diet without binging because you're starving yourself.

loving hell, I'm 5'3" woman and that's roughly how much I'd have to eat to lose weight at a healthy rate. You're a dude(and presumably taller than me, on top of being heavier than me and possessing health issues you don't need to exacerbate), so you're going to have to eat more than that.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

quaint bucket posted:

Can't be a body builder and a hippie at the same time.
You can, you just need money. (unfortunately for Tuyop :v:)

Leperflesh posted:

But it's worth remembering that "protein" is a generic word and actually means a whole basket of amino acids. You need several specific amino acids, so if you only eat one type of protein source, you may be technically getting all the protein you need (in terms of grams per day) but severely starving your body of one or more essential amino acids. A varied and mixed diet is therefore the most effective way to give your body all the protein it needs. See: Essential amino acids.

Man cannot live on bread alone. Or only soybeans, or only lentils.

Beans plus rice is pretty loving great, though.
This is true, but fortunately it's not really that difficult to get complete protein as long as you eat a variety of food. Grains, nuts, and legumes have different proteins in them, but combining them will give you complete protein. You don't necessarily have to eat them in the same meal, but you do have to make sure you eat some of each. Googling "complete protein combinations" gives you a lot of meal ideas for this, but what I just said is basically what they all boil down to.
Animal proteins(including eggs and dairy) come complete without you having to combine them with anything, although they are more expensive than plant proteins(especially if you get them from organic/local/happy sources). On the other hand, they won't give you bean farts.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

tuyop posted:

Ok that laptop is just hideous.
You don't have enough money to be buying laptops(or anything else) based on appearance.

quote:

So, since I can't move my desktop I have to go 10k to the library rather than 3k to the coffee shop if I want to do anything on the internet outside of work hours..
If you're just doing internet stuff, you don't need a fancy top-of-the-line laptop, and you definitely don't need a Mac. A used* laptop will work just fine; you don't need a beefy processor to run Firefox or Chrome.

*I'm talking "several years old" used, not "exactly one gen old as of the new gen being announced" used.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

mobby_6kl posted:

tuyop, have you considered just hiring a chauffeur any time you need to travel somewhere? You just might be the only person in existence for whom this could make sense, financially.
But then he'd just be involving other people's vehicles in his curse, ending with him being banned by every bus, taxi, and limo company in Canada.

I'd say walking would be a better option, but then tuyop's legs would break going down the stairs or something.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

tuyop posted:

I read novels and nonfiction all day and I'm relatively content with that. It's just infuriating whenever I have to write a memo or email, find out where a building is, get a phone number or hours for a government office, or want to watch a movie or do pretty much anything that isn't read a book or exercise (like sort out my wedding in August :supaburn:). I get it done, sure, it's just really not ideal or so much work that it's not worth it.

Not to mention the fact that I like to keep track of my exercise, calories, and budget and I've just got an LG flip phone so I feel like this stuff is pretty much out of control beyond trying not to buy things and trying not to eat too much or overdo exercise. Combine that with my... personality, and the fact that everything seems totally out of control in all other facets of my life, and I spend my evenings trying really hard not to flip out and make it in one piece to the next day without drinking my face off or something.
This is annoying, but is it really so annoying that you honestly can't wait a couple weeks until you have computer access again? You can track stuff with a pen and paper. You clearly had enough computer access to write this post, you can deal with it being "really not ideal or so much work" for a few weeks if you have an email that's really important to write. Nothing you listed is something that would be urgent enough that you'd need computer access right then and there to accomplish them.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

Fluffy Bunnies posted:

Tuyop, do you have any volunteer opportunities locally? It'd give you something to do and it'd be free if you rode your bike there.

E: Hell, if you wanna do school teaching can you volunteer at an after school program thing to help kids out with school subjects?
If nothing else, he has one at the same spot he's been getting internet access - his library. Libraries always appreciate volunteers! It'd also look slightly more relevant to teaching than most other volunteer positions that'd be open during summer.

There are also a ton of other things to do if you're just willing to take a minute and look into some free community resources(your local visitor center would have pamphlets for these, and the library might have them too):
-Go admire some outdoor art installations. Even a small town will have a sculpture or two hanging around many of their parks.
-Attend a free outdoor concert. It might not be your favorite genre, and it almost certainly won't involve a band you've heard of, but it'll expand your horizons and give you a chance to meet some new people.
-Help out a community garden. I know you're limited by your back, but surely there's some low-intensity stuff you could do.
-Attend free days at local museums & other attractions, if they have them.
-Check out free(or cheap, since we'd rather see you spend $20 on a cooking class than $500 on a laptop you don't need) classes for skills you're interested in.
-Attend free events you see on your local community calendar. It's summer, so there's bound to be several.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

tuyop posted:

Speaking of paying off the car: The loan is 1.9%, I can make more than that on conservative investments if I just keep the 17.5k that the loan is worth. If I don't sell the car, doesn't it make sense to not pay off the loan?


The same goes for consumer goods as well. If, for instance, we want to buy a washer and drier* for $1000 and they can be had for, say $0 down, 0% financing over 12 months, or $1000 cash, doesn't it make sense to save the cash, invest it, and make the payments?
The problem with that line of thinking is this:
With consumer goods, the "0% financing for months!" generally skyrockets to a ridiculous interest rate if you miss a payment, or don't pay the entire thing off in time, or mess something else up that's in the fine print. In many(most?) cases, the interest will be retroactive, putting you in even deeper poo poo than you'd have thought. Even if you swear from the bottom of your heart that you'll make the payments on time and pay the whole thing off with your investment before the 12 months are through, it's not worth the risk of absentmindedly doing something that gets you in deep poo poo. Companies don't offer these promotions out of the goodness of their hearts; they know a considerable number of people will gently caress up at some point & be on the hook for it.

With the car loan, the problem is it's another payment hanging around your neck every month no matter what your income situation is. The sooner it gets paid off, the more flexibility you'll have in the future. Your life is changing constantly enough that I'd say the flexibility is worth more than a few extra dollars in your investments. I also don't remember if you're still underwater on the car loan; if you are, you at least want to make the loan worth less than the car so you don't run into problems selling it if you need to.

I've also seen it phrased like this: Would you take out a $(value) loan at (whatever)% interest to invest? If you wouldn't, why would you do the same thing with a loan you took out for something else?

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

tuyop posted:

/\/\ I think we'd just like to live somewhere a little bit nicer. We also REALLY want control over our yard, improvements, plumbing and space to build things. That part is worth a lot of broken water heaters to us
And it is worth that for many people, but you can't afford to jump into buying right now. You should wait until you're done with school, at the least.

quote:

I don't even know what you'd call our apartment now. It's a cheap basement apartment in Northwest Edmonton. 825 a month, one bedroom, ~700sq ft. Our stove doesn't work very well and everything is kind of on a 6 degree slant. Power is absurdly cheap (7.007c/kwh) though and we have unlimited fast internet and great water pressure!
There's going to be something wrong with every place you live, whether you're renting it or own it. I think you're just experiencing a case of "grass is greener elsewhere" since this apartment is new to you. If your apartment's faults still bug you that much by the time your lease is up, fine, move. Just be aware that every place is going to be a trade-off between its best qualities and its worst qualities. My apartment has an ancient stove with no window to see inside it, no self-cleaning setting, & only one rack to cook things on, and my shower is tilted so that water pools away from the drain, but it's balanced out by the fact that it has a shitload of closets, that the rent is cheap, & that the neighbors are mostly quiet.

quote:

Yes I know these things. And part of this is weird peer pressure where I'm learning some sort of ascetic financial understanding from the internet, while everyone around me is like, "Dude you make nearly 100k a year and live in a shithole. Why?"
Nobody knows your financial situation better than you and toeshoes; they don't know that you can't afford a house right now. You have too much debt to deal with, along with that loving car. You also have to understand that a lot of people are lovely with money; they may look like they're well-off, but that's because you only see the things they own and not the mountain of debt they used to finance it. Telling these people that you're trying to save money, urgently pay off debts, and live below your means is like telling a vegetarian how delicious a sirloin steak is; they can hear the words, but they won't really understand.

Stop trying to keep up with the Joneses.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

tuyop posted:

Which I still think is stupid if I have debt at a higher APR than my savings. It doesn't cost me anything to have literally 60k in credit available from seven Canadian banks including credit cards. It costs me around 150 a month to have 30k in debt and some amount in savings and pay my debt down over a year.

So I'm paying 150 a month for... what? The security of having cash in case all seven of my creditors decide to sever all ties with me at the exact moment that my house burns down, car explodes, and bike breaks? (that would be about 2300 in cash expenses)
Personal finance is as much(if not more) about behavior as it is about math. This is why debt snowballs are a thing - it might make more mathmatical sense to knock out the highest APR debt first, but it's more psychologically rewarding to see all the small debts evaporate before your eyes. This is also why budgets(other than "this is an extreme emergency I have to deal with NOW" budgets) have entertainment expenses built into them - you may not be able to afford $150 concerts, but you need to do something to keep yourself amused or else you'll go "gently caress it" and blow a bunch of money.

Savings doesn't make mathmatical sense compared to just using that money to pay down loans, but it helps you get out of the "can't afford this, so let's just use debt to buy it! :haw:" mindset. It also helps train you out of spending every last cent of your paycheck, which is something you'll need to do even once you're out of debt - it's easy to say you'll start saving once your debt is gone, but habits take time to build up.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

FrozenVent posted:

You still don't need a MBA.

You still can't afford a MBA.
Please read this until it sinks in. As a student, you need a laptop capable of using Office apps and web browsing. That's not exactly power-intensive. If I were you, I'd search for the cheapest used laptop that didn't weigh 20 pounds & use that. It won't be :sparkles: Apple :sparkles:, and it won't be cool looking, but you don't need Apple or cool-looking(and as some people pointed out, cool-looking/Apple could be an actively bad idea since those are the laptops thieves will target) - you need acceptable functionality at the lowest price you can find.

Tuyop posted:

My car is pretty excellent, I've lived in it for weeks at a time. It's even on MMM's non-stupid car list!

We have very few belongings, except for the couch and coffee table and other stuff we bought used, everything fits into my car. The stuff that we do have is used every day.

As for bikes, over the life of this thread I've biked nearly 1800 kilometers and spent literally 650 dollars on bikes and stuff for bikes. I'm out of control!

And I understand that this all sounds like justification from a shopping addict or something to you guys, but consider that we live in tiny apartments and don't spend most of our income and have had roommates. You can only buy so much stuff that you don't need in situations like ours.
To me it just sounds like you're going down the same "I've deprived myself so much that I deserve something nice" line of thought we've seen several times in this thread. You don't seem to understand that you already gave yourself several years worth of 'something nice'(racking up debt in the process) and now you have to tighten your belt to make up for it.
I won't begrudge you getting a laptop for college, but a Macbook is a needless luxury that you can't afford right now, and you need to get out of the habit of buying needless luxuries you can't afford.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

tuyop posted:

The current plan is to not go home for December. We'll take a vacation to Cuba at some point next year instead.
I know we're still focusing on the Macbook and tuyop's past poor buying decisions, but what about this? Is there an actual savings fund set aside for this, or is it going to turn into another "oops, we suddenly need money for this, looks like we need to rack up more debt/reduce savings" thing when the time comes? How much do you expect to spend on this? Have you done any research into how much a trip to Cuba will realistically cost? Do you think you've learned from your past vacation mistakes?

tuyop, in the very first post of the thread posted:

I caused the debt by going on many, many vacations. Last year alone I took fourteen vacations. Each cost well over 1000 dollars.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

MrEnigma posted:

Or grab a free transit card/map that has this on it already?
Seriously, just do this. 90% of this navigational stuff won't be any problem at all after a week or two, at which point any money poured into electronic mapping/scheduling solutions will have been pointless. Everyone gets lost the first time they start at a new school and have to find a bunch of new places. They stop getting lost because they learned their way around, not because they sunk $70 into an iPod.

Of course, the best idea would have been to scope some of this poo poo out ahead of time(class schedules & locations should have been given at least a week or two before classes started, and even if they weren't, it's not like it hurts to get more familiar with campus before confused freshmen are blocking all the sidewalks), but that's a moot point now.

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Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender
For what it's worth, 95% of what I used my laptop for in college in 2008-2012 was computer usage in my dorm room(and it was easier to move every year than a desktop). I didn't even haul it to class with me because it was too damned heavy, and I preferred taking notes by hand(lots of chemistry and biology classes that required drawing charts and diagrams and whatnot, which would have been ten times harder on a laptop). Group projects usually only needed one person to bring a laptop along, sometimes two.

Realistically speaking, unless your course very specifically requires you to have a laptop in class, you don't really need a laptop. It's nice, especially if you hate taking notes by hand, but it's far from a requirement. Doubly so in Tuyop's case since he already has a computer at home.

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