Bogleheads.org

Greentree

Having grown up in Worcester I would not want to return to the armpit of New England. If you haven't been back, it is a lot nicer than it used to be. https://www.npr.org/2018/10/23/658263218/forget-oakland-or-hoboken-worcester-mass-is-the-new-it-town My opinion having grown up there is that people ...

Greentree

I grew up near WPI and I never really considered it. Now being older, I realize that it is a very good school. A friend who went there, who had average grades in high school (I believe he had some help getting into the school), went on to become very successful. He seems to have excelled there and m...

Greentree

I am a mechanical engineer and do this type of work. We design products for customers/companies and then work with a manufacturer to build it. I don't know what your product is, but having something at a $150 price point with lower volume is easier than volume in the millions at a $3 price point, be...

Greentree

I have done a BW trip 3 times about 12-15 years ago. Having difficulty finding a camping spot is not an issue. Maybe it'll be different with covid and more people getting outside, but it's more likely that after a day or so that you won't see anyone. They give you this map to follow with tons of lak...

Greentree

I'm just about finished with reading "The Two Income Trap" by Elizabeth Warren in 2003. It is decent, if not obvious for most bogleheads. Her points: - While we eat out more, food costs are much less than years ago so it is about a wash. - Cars are more expensive, but they last longer and ...

Greentree

Go out and treat yourself to something nice. Like a 2022 Toyota Corolla.

Greentree

Similar thing happened to me recently. I was ordering some expensive screws and hardware on amazon, just before buying, I checked home depot online. They were significantly less for the same product. Ordered on home depot and had it shipped to my house, so no difference in service. I remember Amazon...

Greentree

I’m going to butcher the details but I often think about the updated intro to “Intelligent Investor” which was written by Warren Buffet. He talked about a time frame (believe it was late 1970s) when he was certain the market was going to collapse. It proceeded to go up for two years at a good clip. ...

Greentree

Assuming that you can work from home right now, why not move to a LCOL place, set your budget at $45k and work for one more year (or a few months) to test it out? There's almost never been a better time to do this.

Greentree

Many of my friends bought a condo at about your age, then had kids a few years later. Once they had kids, they didn’t enjoy condo living and had to sell it for no gain (or loss) after realtor fees. I think it does come down to how long you’ll stay in it. If you won’t be staying long enough to recoup...

Greentree

Toyota’s are pretty easy to work on. Everything snaps or screws in. Watch a few YouTube videos, think it through then give it a shot. When I started working on cars, I always had a back up plan in case I couldn’t figure it out. Worst case, throw the bumper in the car and go to a shop or call a mobil...

Greentree

I also applied through Chase. They were slow to start, there was no communication throughout, and I quickly had little expectation that I would ever hear back. I get the feeling that the smaller banks were able to process a higher percentage of their customer loans. We are small fish for Chase, and ...

Greentree

It seems like CR bundles all issues together and has a total quantity rating. I really don’t care if the radio is a problem as long as the transmission doesn’t go in 5 years. One nice thing about buying used cars is you can research forums to see what issues came up with particular models and then ...

Greentree

It seems like CR bundles all issues together and has a total quantity rating. I really don’t care if the radio is a problem as long as the transmission doesn’t go in 5 years. One nice thing about buying used cars is you can research forums to see what issues came up with particular models and then b...

Greentree

I like Teslas and think they are the best electric car out there. There is no reason for such a high valuation of the company though. I think this is one of those things where people buy the stock because they like the product, instead of evaluating the actual value of the stock price. As I understa...

Greentree

People do some dumb things on scooters. They wear sandals, go between cars, no shirt. They attract stupid behavior. I've ridden one like a normal person (not top speed, not weaving, with real shoes) and they are pretty fun and a good way to travel. Seems like a good way to go. You might even have fun.

Greentree

Not sure if this is what you had in mind but...I'm trying to take things less seriously. I got to thinking about this over the long holiday break and as you say, it's not so much a resolution as something I'm trying differently. I think I got to the point where everything was so serious that I was h...

Greentree

I agree with you willthrill81, that was the case.

Greentree

I had an aunt that was very frugal. She drove a cheap car, lived with relatives and didn't spend money. She was generally a fearful person. When she passed away, it turned out she had saved almost $1 million. My uncle on the other hand had a very low paying job, was frugal as well, but was easy to t...

Greentree

We had a home project quoted in 2006 at $10k. It was maintenance work and the contractor told me we could probably wait a few years to do it. I called him in 2009 to go ahead with the project and the new quote came back at $5.5k. I don't think this will happen everytime, but I think contractors were...

Greentree

I like to use craigslist for selling local stuff. I've never had an issue with scammers personally. I had to remove a big iron gate for our cars but didn't want to pay someone so I was planning on doing it myself. I posted it for free for anyone who remove it. A man and his wife came with all their ...

Greentree

I live in Chicago and have kids so this is what I'd do to enjoy myself and the kids: Millenium park: stop at the bean then walk east and a little south (in Chicago, all directions are given in north, south, east, west, there is no such thing as left and right) until you get to Maggie Daley Park. You...

Greentree

Contract or not, I think my first response would be "we agreed on 12K, is there a problem with my work"? Start simple. I’d go here. And I would document via email. It turns out that Joe really did not realize we were time and materials. Once he saw the first emails that laid out our terms...

Greentree

Thanks for all of the replies, it is really helpful. While I was hoping everyone would say hold out for the full payment, it looks like most say take the $10k and make it up later, so that's the way I'll go. I will get a contract in place and get a system in place for anytime hours exceed the estima...

Greentree

My work is independent contract hourly service work and have been in business for 5+ years. I did a small project for someone who used to be the president at my former employer, let's call him Joe. We outlined our terms when the project started in an email: we are time and materials and we bill at t...

Greentree

Renting a truck at Home Depot is a pain compared to having your own means if you are doing a decent amount of work. I have a wagon with a roof rack as own main car and I can fit everything on top of it. When I've rented from our local Home Depot, it takes me ~30 minutes to wait in line and sign the ...

Greentree

For people who say 3% is the new 4%... 1/30 = .033, or 3.3%. Meaning that if you stuck your money under the bed and pulled out 3.3% a year, it would make it 30 years exactly. So using 3%, you are figuring on the stock market or bonds decreasing over the 30 years (in which case you should just stick...

Greentree

For people who say 3% is the new 4%... 1/30 = .033, or 3.3%. Meaning that if you stuck your money under the bed and pulled out 3.3% a year, it would make it 30 years exactly. So using 3%, you are figuring on the stock market or bonds decreasing over the 30 years (in which case you should just stick ...

Greentree

I enjoy the DIY projects because I like learning and I like saving money. If you do too, then just keep at it and you'll look back and be amazed at how much better you've gotten. My first projects were total disasters. I tried to make a basic cabinet and it fell apart. That was 10 years ago. Last ye...

Greentree

I had a Ranger for a while, I think it was a 96. It never gave me any trouble. Ford makes some reliable cars and some not so much. The Ranger falls into the reliable side, mostly because they are basic and they never really change anything on it. Compared to a Toyota, it was not as refined but I thi...

Greentree

Redfin charges 1-1.5%, instead of the typical 2.5-3% seller agent's fee. It seems like technology will eventually push it's way in. I think it would change more quickly if the buyer directly paid the 3% themselves. It just seems easy to have an agent do a little work for you when you don't feel like...

Greentree

I guess I view this differently than other responders. 50x is the amount to relax and not worry about working at all. But if you are planning on continuing to work and save, I think you can definitely mentally relax at 2mm. Probably can relax at 1.5mm. That doesn't mean you can hang it up, but you c...

Greentree

I guess I view this differently than other responders. 50x is the amount to relax and not worry about working at all. But if you are planning on continuing to work and save, I think you can definitely mentally relax at 2mm. Probably can relax at 1.5mm. That doesn't mean you can hang it up, but you c...

Greentree

There is a good chance that teaching will financially be a better move if you can last longer even at a lower salary. It will also keep your brain engaged longer and give you more enjoyement. I vote for option 2.

Greentree

We used www.simplenannypayroll.com. I don't think it has as many features as the others but you enter in the payroll amount and it tells you what you owe where. I think it's a glorified excel spreadsheet but at least it helps navigate. At the end of the year, it gives you a summary of each employee ...

Greentree

I just went through a process to simplify my accounts. I also had capitalone, as well as vanguard and chase. I moved everything (except a little bit that stays at chase) to fidelity, since that is where my 401k is. I just like knowing that if I get hit by that bus there is one place for my wife to l...

Greentree

By the time you retire in 20 years, there is a good chance there will be an uber type autonomous driver service. A prediction is that something without a driver would be less expensive per mile than owning your own car. I could imagine very few people in the bigger cities would own a car at all.

Greentree

If it really is unusual, take a look at bringatrailer.com. They auction really nice cars as well as just weird stuff you don't see around.

Greentree

If you think taxis are courteous, you'll love Uber:). I always hated taking taxis because they generally drove like nuts in our bigger city. Uber drivers drive like normal people. My only bad experience over many trips is a suburban driver who didn't know how to drive in the city. It took us forever...

Greentree

I actually took that train once. It worked out well getting there. On the way back, we had to wait a while for a few freight trains. As long as you're not in a rush, it should be good.

Greentree

Not crazy at all. I don't know why gifts have to be new. I asked for a backpack from Craigslist last year because new they were $250, and Craigslist they were $50. I felt bad having my wife waste the money.

Greentree

We went with metallic epoxy coating and area rugs. The metallic epoxy is applied to the bare concrete floor. It looks sort of like stained concrete. Not as cold as tile but not as insulating as vinyl. The kids play on the area rugs. It was 4.75 / sq ft installed. We are happy with the look and we do...

Greentree

I would never buy a used car off any dealer. Except carmax. If you want to save money, but take more risk over carmax, you can buy used on Craigslist. 1. Determine make and model of car you want. The nice thing about used cars is you can find out if they have any issues with the model. For instance,...

Greentree

I used ZipCar and some other car shares. It is a bit of a hassle but I would pull out my phone and take a quick video walking around the car before and after the rental. Nothing too detailed because I figured I could take screen shots if an issue ever occurred that I needed to argue.

Greentree

I remember these days:). It took a while before I actually enjoyed going to work. Most of it is exactly what you said, bosses and politics. I remember one day seeing a garbage man and thinking, hmmm, that might not be so bad, I think they make pretty good money. That is a true story. Changing jobs a...

Greentree

We did a nanny share with a nearby family. We rotate houses, our house one week, their house the next week. With two children, it is a bit more social and it is less expensive than a daycare. We tried daycare, but none were taking new children or gave us any kind of idea of whether we would be able ...

Greentree

I used this for a brake job. I can't remember the price but it was very competitive. I think the key, like you'd expect, is who do they give you. I saw the reviews for the mechanic beforehand and they were very good. It saved me a trip to a shop, the work was good and it was inexpensive. I was happy...

Greentree

We got a 2005 Matrix with 112k miles for $5300. It is in nice shape and is practical.

You can find the 2003 and 2004 for less, in the $3500 - $5000 range.

The Pontiac vibes are the same car, just couldn't get myself to drive a Pontiac.

Greentree

I remember reading something Warren Buffet said, I think it was in the updated Intelligent Investor. He was talking about how hard it is to figure out the top and bottom, and an example was some period of time I believe in 70s. At the time, He said the market was too high, and it went up a lot from ...

Greentree

I'd personally rather work 20 - 30 hours per week all year than 4 months on / 8 months off. I agree with the others that you should try to figure out a way to do that on your own.

Search found 157 matches