|
I have another idea. I'm going to use this thread as a sounding board. I will tell you the problem I'm trying to solve and you tell me the way to get it done without going overboard. Problem 1: I have a steel table that I got with the house, and it's rusty as gently caress. I want to get rid of the rust and in general clean it up along with the rest of the garage workshop area. Solution idea: Get some rust remover like CLR or something and work it in. I want to get a Dremel with a grinder/sander/polisher attachment (I already have the attachments and I want the Dremel for other stuff too) and use that to get rid of any rust and poo poo I can't work out with a scrub brush.
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2015 15:02
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 25, 2024 08:10 |
|
|
DIY is over there. What's your plan for not spending $700 on gaming stuff in August?
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2015 15:17
|
|
|
slap me silly posted:DIY is over there. What's your plan for not spending $700 on gaming stuff in August?
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2015 15:18
|
|
|
How did that work for you in July?
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2015 15:19
|
|
|
OK, so to be less dismissive, I'm trying to operate with the idea "Can I actually use this right now?" So for gaming, it's "Will I paint/play this in the next month?" So far everything I've been looking at and wanting to buy comes back with a resounding NO. I will not use those molds in the next month. I will not use those minis in the next month. I have poo poo that needs to be painted NOW, so whatever. That poo poo will still be there a month from now, a year from now, whenever I please. I think if I hold myself to only buying stuff I will use in the here and now, it'll go a long way. No
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2015 15:22
|
|
|
I'm not sure that rule will be as easy for you to follow as setting a hard numerical limit. You mentioned that you have YNAB so you're going to be setting that limit anyway...might as well figure it out now and post it in here ti be held accountable at the end of August. Also, signalnoise posted:It's from shopping on Amazon and being too lazy to look up what I bought That's like a 5 minute task. Come on man.
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2015 15:28
|
|
|
The hard limit, right now, is 100 bucks a week on stuff that's purely bullshit hobby stuff. I'm trying to also work in "don't buy what you won't use immediately" to stop maxing out every week. The plan then is see how much I spend when I'm not buying stuff I won't use, and reduce the cap. Should maybe also budget against home improvement items, etc..? It's kinda difficult to see what should be something that comes out of my spending budget and what should come out of some other budget. pig slut lisa posted:That's like a 5 minute task. Come on man. Honestly you could probably just say it's all hobby. signalnoise fucked around with this message at 15:33 on Jul 25, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2015 15:31
|
|
|
signalnoise posted:The hard limit, right now, is 100 bucks a week on stuff that's purely bullshit hobby stuff. I'm trying to also work in "don't buy what you won't use immediately" to stop maxing out every week. The plan then is see how much I spend when I'm not buying stuff I won't use, and reduce the cap. $5,200 a year on hobby stuff seems insanely high when you have nearly twice that much credit card debt and a backlog of already purchase hobby stuff you haven't even touched. Have you read this article I posted in the newbie thread? http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/04/18/news-flash-your-debt-is-an-emergency/
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2015 15:36
|
|
|
Yeah it was initially supposed to be for restaurants and stuff too. Maybe it'd be better to eliminate that budget and simply track my spending with a new set of rules surrounding what I can buy? The idea was that this would be a way to balance my spending with my wife's spending, but clearly it's just been a way to give me carte blanche to waste money.
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2015 15:39
|
|
|
Can you come up with better challenges for yourself when trying to persuade yourself from not purchasing games? I think a good rule that would calm down your need to buy more would be something concrete and simple like only games on discount, and only after I've played a different game or am first experiencing a game for at least 15 hours. That way you have to face what you've bought also before moving forward to do more things. Games get discounted fairly quickly on steam too so it'll give you a time buffer to make better decisions. Of course all of this on top of financial responsibility in general and whatnot. signalnoise posted:Fortunately I'm already seeing a mind doctor so I'm good there, though it's pretty expensive! Diet and exercise is amazing and so is cooking. Those alone will save you more money, keep you occupied, and help you in being better. Also good since you are seeing brain doctors I'd also track your spending habits vs what different meds you've been on. It's super helpful in figuring out what helps!
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2015 16:43
|
|
|
Veskit posted:Can you come up with better challenges for yourself when trying to persuade yourself from not purchasing games? I think a good rule that would calm down your need to buy more would be something concrete and simple like only games on discount, So you know, this is what I do. It's not video games that kill my wallet, it's miniatures and miniatures related stuff. I very rarely buy video games full price.
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2015 16:45
|
|
|
signalnoise posted:So you know, this is what I do. It's not video games that kill my wallet, it's miniatures and miniatures related stuff. I very rarely buy video games full price. Then you can throw out the discount rule and employ a painting rule. 15 hours of painting before you spend 50 dollars on minis. It'll be near impossible to come over budget if you do something like that, and painting is where a lot of the rewarding fun of it all even comes from. My overall point is to try and come up with a way to take away the fun from buying the product and move it toward having fun using it. You'll lessen the spending the problems doing something like this.
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2015 17:07
|
|
|
That works and it'll be a neat exercise to see how long it actually takes me to paint.
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2015 17:11
|
|
|
Are we taking Warhammer figurines, Star Wars like the other thread, or am I completely ignorant on how big and diverse the miniatures market is?
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2015 18:13
|
|
|
SpelledBackwards posted:Are we taking Warhammer figurines, Star Wars like the other thread, or am I completely ignorant on how big and diverse the miniatures market is? I don't buy Warhammer stuff or anything else made by Games Workshop. I do have some X-Wing miniatures, "only" about 100-200 dollars worth. But there's a wide wide world of miniatures stuff, terrain, paint, all kinds of poo poo to do with miniatures. Then there's storage...
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2015 18:18
|
|
|
signalnoise posted:Everyday Expenses Groceries $0.00 $24.88 I'm curious, what did you eat in May? $103.59 at restaurants doesn't feed two people for a month. You didn't go to the store for drinks or snacks or anything? Or would that not fall under groceries? Good to see you start getting harder on yourself with regards to non-essential spending. I hope some of these plans work well for you!
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2015 22:38
|
|
|
COOL CORN posted:I'm curious, what did you eat in May? $103.59 at restaurants doesn't feed two people for a month. You didn't go to the store for drinks or snacks or anything? Or would that not fall under groceries? It's likely entirely fast food. I don't eat well when I'm traveling to job sites. Also that is only the last 10 days of May.
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2015 22:54
|
|
|
signalnoise posted:It's likely entirely fast food. I don't eat well when I'm traveling to job sites. Also that is only the last 10 days of May. Ah okay, that makes more sense. I'm sure you know this, but eating from grocery stores is a lot cheaper than fast food. Though, of course, that can be difficult on the road. Do you and your wife have separate bank accounts?
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2015 23:28
|
|
|
COOL CORN posted:Ah okay, that makes more sense. I'm sure you know this, but eating from grocery stores is a lot cheaper than fast food. Though, of course, that can be difficult on the road. We have 3 bank accounts right now. One is for our joint expenses, and then we each have a bank account for "spending cash" so we can have our allowances marked separately without having to necessarily track every purchase (a problem for me it seems).
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2015 23:49
|
|
|
signalnoise posted:We have 3 bank accounts right now. One is for our joint expenses, and then we each have a bank account for "spending cash" so we can have our allowances marked separately without having to necessarily track every purchase (a problem for me it seems). Problem is a good word for it, and I only say that from personal experience. When my wife and I (then girlfriend) were dating with separate bank accounts it was easy to spend way too much on things with no accountability. Now they we have consolidated down to one joint account, it's a lot harder to spend excessively because I have someone I'm accountable to. Not telling you that's something you necessarily need to do, just saying that's what made a change in my own life.
|
|
#
?
Jul 26, 2015 00:48
|
|
|
COOL CORN posted:Ah okay, that makes more sense. I'm sure you know this, but eating from grocery stores is a lot cheaper than fast food. To toss in my personal experience with this: Before I started budgeting, I ate primarily at restaurants and was always wondering where all my money went. After I put together a budget and put a $100/month limit on my restaurant spending -- which I quickly discovered would be drained dry in a week if I kept up my past habits -- I decided to eat primarily at home, with a $300/month limit on groceries. That limit applied to everything that I buy at a grocery store: bathroom supplies, razor blades, cleaning supplies, and so on in addition to food items. That limit worked for as long as I was buying canned soup and frozen stuff and other "instants" for the majority of my food. When I started cooking for myself -- first the "helper" meals and stuff, then moving on to more elaborate things composed of scratch ingredients -- I quickly found that I was never hitting the $300/month limit at all; it became functionally a $200/month limit. My ability to scrimp further is somewhat hampered by a weakness for craft beer, and the fact that living alone means that the range of things I'm able to cook is limited by the perishability and reheatability of my ingredients and finished dishes. If I was living with someone I'd have more leeway to leave large amounts of leftovers that I could trust not to go to waste. Learning and perfecting new recipes is a ton of fun, spending lots of time picking produce makes you feel really smug, and trust me when I say that if all you've been eating is fast food all the time, a home cooked meal tastes loving amazing. I also hear the OP got himself an awesome new kitchen! 
Pittsburgh Lambic fucked around with this message at 13:42 on Jul 27, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2015 13:35
|
|
|
Pittsburgh Lambic posted:Learning and perfecting new recipes is a ton of fun, spending lots of time picking produce makes you feel really smug, and trust me when I say that if all you've been eating is fast food all the time, a home cooked meal tastes loving amazing. I also hear the OP got himself an awesome new kitchen! Yeah, I fully intend to cook a lot. A LOT. I have been starved for my own cooking for years.
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2015 13:55
|
|
|
I am adding up the costs of all the poo poo I want to add to the house like shelving and stuff and it definitely makes an impact when you add up all the costs and look at a total.
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2015 14:12
|
|
|
signalnoise posted:I am adding up the costs of all the poo poo I want to add to the house like shelving and stuff and it definitely makes an impact when you add up all the costs and look at a total. Home buying is expensive. Home ownership is very expensive. Most people in the Home Ownership thread expect to have several thousands or more of post move-in costs as you start finding everything to fix and furniture to buy. Just remember that rent is a price ceiling and a mortgage is a price floor. Your monthly mortgage payment is the cheapest your home ownership experience will ever be so you need to remember to budget for that.
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2015 17:02
|
|
|
signalnoise posted:I have another idea. I'm going to use this thread as a sounding board. I will tell you the problem I'm trying to solve and you tell me the way to get it done without going overboard. 1) Buy a handheld wire brush for $2. 2) Paint it with Hammerite (whatever the equivalent of a rust preventing paint) Realise that you are trying to justify buying a new toy that you don't really need for this job by imagining that you will need it later. This is a fundamental issue that you need to resolve to curb your spending.
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2015 17:15
|
|
|
spog posted:1) Buy a handheld wire brush for $2. Yeah I suppose I should read the thread title 
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2015 20:58
|
|
|
spog posted:1) Buy a handheld wire brush for $2. Harbor fright has acceptable angle grinders, but their sanding disks are trash. For a single table Id say use a wire brush and a rust inhibitor or similar. Ask in DIY.
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2015 21:02
|
|
|
Stopped by Home Depot and picked up a bag of steel wool and rust remover. It's not fun but it is working.
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2015 03:04
|
|
|
Put an angle grinder and assortment of flap discs on your future wanted list 
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2015 19:41
|
|
|
I talked to my therapist today, and she suggested I eliminate my "spending account" money for a month or three, so I can focus that money on home poo poo but only the home poo poo I actually need. That way I can get accustomed to not having the money at all when I go back to having a spending account with half as much or less in it. I also have to track my spending, and I only get to make Amazon purchases on Sundays and Wednesdays, so I can see in a lump sum just how much I'm spending on this poo poo instead of nickel and dimeing myself. Thoughts?
|
|
#
?
Jul 30, 2015 02:21
|
|
|
signalnoise posted:I talked to my therapist today, and she suggested I eliminate my "spending account" money for a month or three, so I can focus that money on home poo poo but only the home poo poo I actually need. That way I can get accustomed to not having the money at all when I go back to having a spending account with half as much or less in it. I also have to track my spending, and I only get to make Amazon purchases on Sundays and Wednesdays, so I can see in a lump sum just how much I'm spending on this poo poo instead of nickel and dimeing myself. Thoughts? This is your assignment from your therapist so I say follow it strictly. Even from what you have said your therapist has set this up so that you can both learn and change habits. I also endorse these type of budget experiments because they can shed a lot of light on where you money is really going.
|
|
#
?
Jul 30, 2015 02:30
|
|
|
signalnoise posted:I talked to my therapist today, and she suggested I eliminate my "spending account" money for a month or three, so I can focus that money on home poo poo but only the home poo poo I actually need. quote:I also have to track my spending quote:and I only get to make Amazon purchases on Sundays and Wednesdays, so I can see in a lump sum just how much I'm spending on this poo poo instead of nickel and dimeing myself. Thoughts?
|
|
#
?
Jul 30, 2015 02:31
|
|
|
COOL CORN posted:Solid advice. If just willing yourself into better habits isn't working (which it doesn't seem to be), forcing yourself into them is the way to go. I've been tracking, just lazy about it. The amazon stuff is, I mean, we get a bunch of our house stuff from amazon cause they're the cheapest when we look at all the options a lot of the time. So this will be only stuff we would've bought with joint money anyway.
|
|
#
?
Jul 30, 2015 02:40
|
|
|
I decided to take one final pull into my spending account before going off it, but I disabled the automatic withdrawal immediately after. Right now I have about 175 bucks to last me at least 5 weeks. Things I've resisted buying since I did this Dying Light - 40 dollars Headset - 150 dollars Miter saw - 100 dollars Spraypaint - ?? dollars Terrain - 100 dollars Jesus loving christ
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2015 05:04
|
|
|
I'd recommend un-saving your account details from any website you tend to buy stuff at besides maybe amazon. Like if you're going to miniature-maniac.com every day and checking out the sales, at least close your account. For that matter, it might be a good idea to stop checking them out all the time. I love old tools but I don't constantly go to auctions and check out estate sales and troll craigslist because I don't have any money to spend on that stuff. No point in knowing what the deals are if you aren't buying anything anyways.
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2015 14:55
|
|
|
That's really not the problem. The problem is I keep coming up with problems to solve that weren't problems before I started thinking about them. For example, with regards to spraypaint, it's total bullshit. I have TONS of acrylic paints and I own an airbrush. I have zero reason to buy spraypaint other than the fun of trying out new things. I am an absolute novelty addict. Take for example how I went about this headset poo poo. I whipped myself into a frenzy over buying a wireless xbox one headset, SO THAT I WOULD START EVEN PLAYING MY loving XBONE.
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2015 15:21
|
|
|
I have some good news - I resisted buying a yacht, a pony, and a Barrett M99 .50 cal rifle, all just yesterday!
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2015 15:59
|
|
|
Not window-shopping is good advice. There was a time when I used to just browse stuff on eBay, add it to my watch list, see what it ended up selling for, but somehow I kept spending money - once I stopped seeing the deals that were out there, I magically stopped spending money!
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2015 16:03
|
|
|
I came to the realization that having less poo poo actually was more rewarding to me than buying some poo poo, with the bonus that my spending decreased.
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2015 16:23
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 25, 2024 08:10 |
|
|
COOL CORN posted:Not window-shopping is good advice. There was a time when I used to just browse stuff on eBay, add it to my watch list, see what it ended up selling for, but somehow I kept spending money - once I stopped seeing the deals that were out there, I magically stopped spending money! OK it's at least part of the problem SpelledBackwards posted:I have some good news - I resisted buying a yacht, a pony, and a Barrett M99 .50 cal rifle, all just yesterday! Do tell
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2015 16:35
|
|