Blow that Dough! - 2018

[Time2re]

I'm in this game too. Finally decided I was old enough to treat myself to a high end car and I'll be going to Sweden next month to pick up a new Volvo XC60. We'll drive it around western Sweden for a bit, then turn it in and let them ship it home for me.

Volvo's Overseas Delivery (OSD) program is really amazing. Not only do they give you a sizable discount from MSRP, you also get two free SAS tickets to Sweden and a night in a top hotel. Plus the free shipment and no dealer prep charge.

We'll be spending a few days in each of Copenhagen, Gothenburg, and Stockholm, so it'll be a fun trip, even in March.

But the "blow that dough" aspect is that it will be roughly twice what my last car cost. Doesn't bother me a bit, since I feel I've reached the age when I'm allowed to do what I want.

Have checked out Volvo's OSD program a few times, would like to do it next year - sounds like you should save some money, other than what you will spend on your own. Would love to hear what you think after the trip.

 

[Time2re]

Signed up to go solar. With the net metering changes proposed by our electric company which take effect later this year, great time to be grandfathered in. No down payment, no payments for 18 months (so you can receive the significant tax breaks to apply to the cost) so we will likely use our HELOC in Sep 2019 to pay for it, rather than their inhousing financing at 5%- during which time our electric bill is $5 a month.

 

[Walt34]

I ordered a new Spektrum DX6 R/C transmitter to use teaching DW's grandnieces and the older grandnephew to fly an R/C airplane. This will "bind" with the DX9 that I have and connect them wirelessly. Then when the student loses control I can just move my sticks to regain control. I also ordered a FPV (first person view) screen with a DVR so the one not flying can watch as if he/she were in the airplane. It's amazing how small and light a TV camera and transmitter can be. Also, the kid next door expressed an interest in R/C airplanes so I'll ask his mom if I can practice teaching techniques on him.

Not exactly on the same level as a new truck but I'm looking forward to this when the weather warms up.

 

[GravitySucks]

Imma gonna to turn the heat up to 70!

 

[Finance Dave]

We are going to San Fran and Phoenix this fall. We are Oakland Raiders fans and have a tradition of going to 2 games/year at away cities. Our goal is to see them play at every NFL city. We have been to 19 cities, and after this year it will be 21.

I enjoy hi-performance cars...so while in San Fran I'm considering one of the ultra-exotic car drive experiences. There are two basic flavors:

1) YOu get to drive a few exotic cars on city streets for about 30 minutes each...trading cars with others in your "group" so you each get to drive all the cars. Upside is that you get to try 3-4 cars, downside is that you don't get to accelerate or attain high speeds.

2) YOu can pick one car and drive it at sustained high speeds around a track designated for the event. Upside is that you get to "race" the car and experience the full potential. Downside is you only get a few laps, in one car...and the whole thing is over in about 30 minutes.

Which would you do and why?

That's going to be my "blow the dough" for 2018...either event costs about $1,200-$1,500. Not super expensive, but certainly not a necessity.

 

[audreyh1]

Imma gonna to turn the heat up to 70!

LOL!

 

[Cayman]

We are going to San Fran and Phoenix this fall. We are Oakland Raiders fans and have a tradition of going to 2 games/year at away cities. Our goal is to see them play at every NFL city. We have been to 19 cities, and after this year it will be 21.

I enjoy hi-performance cars...so while in San Fran I'm considering one of the ultra-exotic car drive experiences. There are two basic flavors:

1) YOu get to drive a few exotic cars on city streets for about 30 minutes each...trading cars with others in your "group" so you each get to drive all the cars. Upside is that you get to try 3-4 cars, downside is that you don't get to accelerate or attain high speeds.

2) YOu can pick one car and drive it at sustained high speeds around a track designated for the event. Upside is that you get to "race" the car and experience the full potential. Downside is you only get a few laps, in one car...and the whole thing is over in about 30 minutes.

Which would you do and why?

That's going to be my "blow the dough" for 2018...either event costs about $1,200-$1,500. Not super expensive, but certainly not a necessity.

Dave - My choice would be one car on the track. For the acceleration. For the speed, the responsiveness, and to take the curves tight. To push the car and have fun with its performance. You can't lose with either of the choices though. Have fun blowin' that dough.

 

[audreyh1]

Upgraded to Netflix 4K Ultra version - a whole whopping $3 more per month! LOL!

Hey it’s working very well even though we could only upgrade to 20 Mbps internet. It tested at 21Mbps when DH tried it. A bit shy of the 25 recommended.

 

[Finance Dave]

Dave - My choice would be one car on the track. For the acceleration. For the speed, the responsiveness, and to take the curves tight. To push the car and have fun with its performance. You can't lose with either of the choices though. Have fun blowin' that dough.

Thanks. It appears from your screen name that you may be a Porsche fan. When I was in my '20s I was an auto technician. I drove numerous Porsches, as we had a dealership near us and their used car department let us do all the alignments and tire/suspension work on the cars that came in (their new car division charged them more than we did lol). At that time, there was no more fun car to drive (at least than I'd ever driven...and I drove about 8-10 cars a day) than the Porsche 911.

 

[marko]

Hey, hey, hey.
Wait a minute, wait a minute!
Have all you people gone crazy?! Have they put something in the er.og air vents?

For the past ten years, all I've heard here is LBYM this, LBYM that. "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without"

Now it seems that everyone here is trading in their 14 year old cars for new Jags, un-cutting their cable cords with 60 inch TVs and considering fractional ownership of private jets!

What's going on here?

Ok, so I did go out and buy a new Mercedes and a BMW for DW but...that's me. Not you guys!

Please, bring back my old forum! Let's get back to recycling dryer sheets and catching rain water to flush our toilets! Please!

Respectfully,
marko

P.S. Robbie, you're a bad influence!

 

[Another Reader]

Hey, hey, hey.
Wait a minute, wait a minute!
Have all you people gone crazy?! Have they put something in the er.og air vents?

For the past ten years, all I've heard here is LBYM this, LBYM that. "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without"

Now it seems that everyone here is trading in their 14 year old cars for new Jags, un-cutting their cable cords with 60 inch TVs and considering fractional ownership of private jets!

What's going on here?

Ok, so I did go out and buy a new Mercedes and a BMW for DW but...that's me. Not you guys!

Please, bring back my old forum! Let's get back to recycling dryer sheets and catching rain water to flush our toilets! Please!

Respectfully,
marko

P.S. Robbie, you're a bad influence!

Don't worry. Not sure who gave the "wheeee" signal this time, but the coming correction will stop all this wasteful spending and bring people to their senses!

 

[Dawg52]

Upgraded to Netflix 4K Ultra version - a whole whopping $3 more per month! LOL!

Hey it’s working very well even though we could only upgrade to 20 Mbps internet. It tested at 21Mbps when DH tried it. A bit shy of the 25 recommended.

I upgraded too. With a 4k tv.... got to have that 4k content! Youtube has lots of nature 4k videos that are impressive. Free.

Hey, hey, hey.
Wait a minute, wait a minute!
Have all you people gone crazy?! Have they put something in the er.og air vents?

For the past ten years, all I've heard here is LBYM this, LBYM that. "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without"

Now it seems that everyone here is trading in their 14 year old cars for new Jags, un-cutting their cable cords with 60 inch TVs and considering fractional ownership of private jets!

What's going on here?




Please, bring back my old forum! Let's get back to recycling dryer sheets and catching rain water to flush our toilets! Please!

Respectfully,
marko

P.S. Robbie, you're a bad influence!

We're all 10 years older too. The Grim reaper is peeking through our window.

 

[donheff]

We're all 10 years older too. The Grim reaper is peeking through our window.

+1 We all spouted the mantra of the danger of a bad initial sequence of returns but then got a good sequence. I'm a few months shy of 70 and see my 80 something siblings slowing way down and figure I may as well enjoy myself while I can. Even with a big increase I would still spend less than 3% so still LBYM.

But, as others pointed out, the looming correction may pop the exuberance bubble.

 

[audreyh1]

Hey, hey, hey.
Wait a minute, wait a minute!
Have all you people gone crazy?! Have they put something in the er.og air vents?

For the past ten years, all I've heard here is LBYM this, LBYM that. "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without"

Now it seems that everyone here is trading in their 14 year old cars for new Jags, un-cutting their cable cords with 60 inch TVs and considering fractional ownership of private jets!

What's going on here?

Ok, so I did go out and buy a new Mercedes and a BMW for DW but...that's me. Not you guys!

Please, bring back my old forum! Let's get back to recycling dryer sheets and catching rain water to flush our toilets! Please!

Respectfully,
marko

P.S. Robbie, you're a bad influence!

LOL! I suspect that:

• The spenders have been lurking, and this thread gave them an excuse to decloak.
• After a multi-year market rally folks have built up more disposable cash.
• Oh, yeah, Dawg52 makes a great point about being 10 years older and more aware of the Grim Reaper.

I am impressed by the spending plans in face of the recent market volatility. Used to be folks would quickly cut their discretionary spending when markets started dropping. Maybe they’ve taken some profits while the going was good. I know we kept unspent funds out of the more volatile investments so that we could still use them even if markets dropped drastically. We

I admit I am also surprised!

 

[audreyh1]

We're all 10 years older too. The Grim reaper is peeking through our window.

Good point!

I told DH that at our ages (62, 58) when we travel far to visit places chances are that we won’t be back. Unless it’s something compelling - so I try not to miss good stuff.

We are way under LBYM. So we’re trying to intelligently step it up a notch.

 

[marko]

Oh, yeah, Dawg52 makes a great point about being 10 years older and more aware of the Grim Reaper.

In all seriousness, that has been on my mind too. In 14 short years, I'll be 80 if I'm lucky and one of the real reasons I went out and bought that Benz.

 

[jabbahop]

2017 was our big blowout

I started “blowing the dough” last year and plan to continue as long as the market cooperates. Lots of reno’s, extra travel, clothes, art, watches, gift to daughter for house purchase, new boat, sea-do’s, come to mind. Maybe 15-20% bump.

Several home big home projects, 2 replacement cars. 2018 “should” be back to normal.

 

[Zathras]

We are buying a new Model 3 and three PowerWalls. At that point, we are done for a while

 

[HFWR]

2018 is only year three of FIRE for me, so still early. It appears that my planning was a tad too conservative, so there is room in the budget for some extra stuff. Won’t be any BMWs forthcoming, though...

 

[Danmar]

Hey, hey, hey.
Wait a minute, wait a minute!
Have all you people gone crazy?! Have they put something in the er.og air vents?

For the past ten years, all I've heard here is LBYM this, LBYM that. "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without"

Now it seems that everyone here is trading in their 14 year old cars for new Jags, un-cutting their cable cords with 60 inch TVs and considering fractional ownership of private jets!

What's going on here?

Ok, so I did go out and buy a new Mercedes and a BMW for DW but...that's me. Not you guys!

Please, bring back my old forum! Let's get back to recycling dryer sheets and catching rain water to flush our toilets! Please!

Respectfully,
marko

P.S. Robbie, you're a bad influence!

actually the LBYM thing was getting a little old no? This is a refreshing change. But I don’t think it will last long.

 

[GTFan]

Went shopping for a new truck today to replace the old one that's 14 years old. Wow, if you're ever in the mood to blow some dough just go look at a new truck!

You've got that right, truck prices are insane. Can't believe that the $12k Frontier I had 20 years ago is double that price now. Yeah it's a bigger truck but it's not any nicer, just twice as much.

I need to replace my 15-year old car too but am having a hard time pulling the trigger even though I have plenty of money to buy anything I want. LBYM got me to FIRE and it's still grabbing me hard 3 years after I ER'd. Plus I'm not even putting 200 miles a month on my old dog which makes it even harder to justify when the old dog won't die.

 

[aja8888]

DD is getting married in April for the first time (at 37 years old). Since that's my only living daughter, and she has been a great child and is very responsible, Dad is footing the bill for a good size wedding. That's really "blowing the dough"!

If there is any money not spent from the budget, I may by a used open top sports car for me.

 

[audreyh1]

Oops I forgot: DH is also getting a 4K videocamera. That’s partly why the upgrade to 4K TV, etc. He reminded me this morning that he plans to order it this month.

Watched some ultra 4K nature video this morning - and wow!

I guess when we’re in out 80s we won’t have to travel anymore as long as we have high speed Internet!

 

[unclemick]

+1 We all spouted the mantra of the danger of a bad initial sequence of returns but then got a good sequence. I'm a few months shy of 70 and see my 80 something siblings slowing way down and figure I may as well enjoy myself while I can. Even with a big increase I would still spend less than 3% so still LBYM.

But, as others pointed out, the looming correction may pop the exuberance bubble.

I can see 80 on the horizon coming up on 75.

heh heh heh - I should say something other than I like this thread but wisdom escapes me.

 

[braumeister]

Have checked out Volvo's OSD program a few times, would like to do it next year - sounds like you should save some money, other than what you will spend on your own. Would love to hear what you think after the trip.

I'll be happy to report after we get back. Fellow forum member Scrapr made that same trip last year and had lots of good to say about it. You might look for those posts.