Blow that Dough 2024

[Koolau]

I was talking to my BIL about our trucks. How I thought that my current truck would last me the rest of my driving days. But it has 100k miles. BIL thinks I have enough time left for another new truck. I agree.

I think I've told the story before of a friend (who just passed last year.) Around 2010, he bought a brand new truck with all the bells and whistles. He said "This is my last truck, so I want it just how I want it!" 4 years later, he bought another "This is my last truck" and then four years later his last (and this time I really mean it) last new truck. This last time - he was right. He lived to 87! YMMV

 

[Ronstar]

I think I've told the story before of a friend (who just passed last year.) Around 2010, he bought a brand new truck with all the bells and whistles. He said "This is my last truck, so I want it just how I want it!" 4 years later, he bought another "This is my last truck" and then four years later his last (and this time I really mean it) last new truck. This last time - he was right. He lived to 87! YMMV

Good for him!

 

[TickTock]

My older brother chose work over college. I went to college and benefitted about $20k from my parents that he never saw. This has always been at the back of my mind.

He is getting close to retirement and has always lived responsibly financially. But still things are a bit tight despite his low cost of living.

I told him I was going to even up the long standing imbalance including 35 years of inflation and interest.

Now we are both happy

Nice!

FWIW, DS made different life choices than me. DF and DM subsidized her and her family over the years. While I totally get that it's their money and theirs to do as they see fit, it's still an irritation. Feels like getting penalized for being successful.

 

[street]

I was talking to my BIL about our trucks. How I thought that my current truck would last me the rest of my driving days. But it has 100k miles. BIL thinks I have enough time left for another new truck. I agree.

I think I've told the story before of a friend (who just passed last year.) Around 2010, he bought a brand new truck with all the bells and whistles. He said "This is my last truck, so I want it just how I want it!" 4 years later, he bought another "This is my last truck" and then four years later his last (and this time I really mean it) last new truck. This last time - he was right. He lived to 87! YMMV

I'm thinking this will be my last truck also. If I keep it about 15 to 20 years I'm sure it will be the last. This late spring or early summer I will be getting a new one. I will have a junker for the ranch.
I hope I am in good enough shape mentally and physically capable to drive in my 80's and maybe even beyond.

 

[athena53]

Not to get too morbid, but if you ever got a really bad health diagnosis, you could put a first class round-the-world trip on your cards - and then not pay after you're gone! They couldn't re-possess a trip, unlike a Maserati or bass boat. Heh, heh, pleasant thought, eh?

No, but I'm sure they could go after my estate for the unpaid balance and the money would be there. I'm sure that people with few assets and a bad health diagnosis have done it.

And thanks, athena, for the ideas -- once I'm done w*rking I'll probably try to game a few credit cards like that, too...especially since we'll be traveling more!

Just watch the fine print. Credit card companies have gotten wise to people who churn accounts for the sign-on bonus and most have limits on how often you can do it- usually 3 years for a particular card. There are plenty of cards out there, though. It's also good to hang on to a card or two with a long history because it's good for your credit rating.

 

[Palmtree]

My older brother chose work over college. I went to college and benefitted about $20k from my parents that he never saw. This has always been at the back of my mind.

He is getting close to retirement and has always lived responsibly financially. But still things are a bit tight despite his low cost of living.

I told him I was going to even up the long standing imbalance including 35 years of inflation and interest.

Now we are both happy

That was an exceptionally nice and thoughtful thing to do. Good on ya!

 

[pb4uski]

Dealer near me had a 2024 Maverick hybrid with a sticker of ~$28,000 sitting on the lot last week. I went to look at it and it was marked up $5,000.

My understanding is that if you order a Maverick that the dealer can't include any markup, but if someone orders a Maverick and ends up not taking it and they put it on the t then they can mark it up.

In any event, my dealer didn't include any markup on mine when I bought it (ordered).

 

[aja8888]

My understanding is that if you order a Maverick that the dealer can't include any markup, but if someone orders a Maverick and ends up not taking it and they put it on the t then they can mark it up.

In any event, my dealer didn't include any markup on mine when I bought it (ordered).

I hope your understanding is universally true among all the dealers in the U.S, many of which are known sleeze balls.

 

[wmc1000]

Wanted to upgrade from my regular 2020 lawn tractor to one that had a locking diff for the ditch and hilly area of our 2.5 acres property.

Found a 2017 John Deere X570 with 54" mower and only 89 hours for $3750 but before buying I talked myself out of it!

Instead I spent $9,000 on a 2021 John Deere X738 with 4WD and 317 hours still under warranty until 2025 - 54" mower and powerflo grass collection bagging system! Plus I then needed to upgrade it with armrests, front fenders and LED headlights - BTD Baby!!!!!

Here's the comparison old to new - before I added the extra items.

 

[captain3d]

Nice!

FWIW, DS made different life choices than me. DF and DM subsidized her and her family over the years. While I totally get that it's their money and theirs to do as they see fit, it's still an irritation. Feels like getting penalized for being successful.

I can understand that although I am sure you would not want to switch places.

 

[iloveyoga]

My DH is an anxious flyer so when he goes I book first class seats. That is our biggest BTD. I flew all the time for work so I could pretty much sit anywhere on the plane. But I do enjoy first class.

 

[athena53]

My DH is an anxious flyer so when he goes I book first class seats. That is our biggest BTD. I flew all the time for work so I could pretty much sit anywhere on the plane. But I do enjoy first class.

When DH was alive we bought Business Class on long hauls because he was 15 years older, had a creaky back and was over 6 feet tall.

Now I have no such excuses. I fly Business Class, anyway.

 

[Koolau]

Nice!

FWIW, DS made different life choices than me. DF and DM subsidized her and her family over the years. While I totally get that it's their money and theirs to do as they see fit, it's still an irritation. Feels like getting penalized for being successful.

Yeah, my parents subsidized little sister. She was the smartest of us kids. She breezed through high school, started university but then got pregnant/married/divorced and struggled from then on. I had to beat my head against the wall daily to get good grades in HS and University. I lived at home instead of going to an out of state university like little sis.

I didn't need the help financially, so I totally agreed with the help she got. Still, it sorta felt "unfair." BUT what it really was: Unequal. My parents helped us kids with what we needed when we needed it. It just didn't turn out to be equal amounts. We all accepted it as "their money" and held no grudges.

DW's family was of the "equal" school of thought. If DW's brother got something - we got the same thing or amount. Even at that, DW's brother always sort of resented our better success in life.

Family dynamics are often a bit strange.

 

[akck]

I haven’t been here for eons since we retired, me 10 years ago and DW 7 years ago. Our biggest BTD expenditures have been flying FC/Business if the flight is over 3 hours. This means we’re willing to fly coach to get us to our main hub and then fly FC to get to our destination. Lately, we’ve booked FC for the whole trip, if the cost isn’t that much more (we’ve occasionally seen it cheaper to do so than flying coach/FC). We used to get upgrades when I first retired, but lately they are few and far between. Just too many frequent flyers (I’ve seen 50+ on the waitlist for some flights).

Our only other big splurge is that we bought into the Disney timeshare. We realized that our current lifestyle no longer includes long stays in value or moderate resorts, so now we can stay in a deluxe resort for a value/moderate cost. We do enjoy taking our granddaughter there (her family gets to come too). We’re close to break even (1-2 more years of ownership), so if our interest wanes, Disney is one of the easier timeshares to sell.

 

[hoosier]

Bought a Lenovo ideapad laptop. Blew an extra $20 for double the SSD size

 

[Jerry1]

Been buying some metals from Costco. Bought a few 1oz bars, a couple Maple Leafs and last night I bought a 20 count American Silver Eagle tube. There's a couple more gold coins they've sold in the past that I didn't score that I have my eye out for. Not really blowing dough because I have the asset but it feels like a blow that dough when the credit card comes due.

 

[freedomatlast]

My biggest hobby is cars. I've been running out of storage space, so when this professional garage became available, I was very interested. But the price was high. So I just treaded water for a long time and watched the price come down little by little over time. It was off the market for awhile then back on. Finally seven months later, after a big price cut, I made an offer and negotiations began. Negotiated the lift, tire changer and air compressor in with the deal. There's a two bedroom apartment upstairs that will pay all the expenses and produce some profit too. I've been wanting a place like this to store and work on my cars and just hang out for a long time. And it's only two miles from my primary residence. Settlement was yesterday. Today I started moving cars in!

 

[street]

My biggest hobby is cars. I've been running out of storage space, so when this professional garage became available, I was very interested. But the price was high. So I just treaded water for a long time and watched the price come down little by little over time. It was off the market for awhile then back on. Finally seven months later, after a big price cut, I made an offer and negotiations began. Negotiated the lift, tire changer and air compressor in with the deal. There's a two bedroom apartment upstairs that will pay all the expenses and produce some profit too. I've been wanting a place like this to store and work on my cars and just hang out for a long time. Settlement was yesterday. Today I started moving cars in!

That is awesome!! Nothing better to have something like that to go to and you can enjoy. It is yours!!!

You will get years of happy times.

 

[DrRoy]

Final on the Tuscon Rock, Gem, and Mineral shows. After adding a few more items including a cylindrical blue onyx lamp for DW, and this 5 in Septarian sphere, the grand total came to $4075.
.

 

[street]

Final on the Tuscon Rock, Gem, and Mineral shows. After adding a few more items including a cylindrical blue onyx lamp for DW, and this 5 in Septarian sphere, the grand total came to $4075.
.

Wow!! That is a natural gem/rock?

Beautiful!

 

[jfn111]

Final on the Tuscon Rock, Gem, and Mineral shows. After adding a few more items including a cylindrical blue onyx lamp for DW, and this 5 in Septarian sphere, the grand total came to $4075.
.

Very nice

 

[pacergal]

Final on the Tuscon Rock, Gem, and Mineral shows. After adding a few more items including a cylindrical blue onyx lamp for DW, and this 5 in Septarian sphere, the grand total came to $4075.
.

really cool, I have never seen anything like this.

 

[Phroig]

Two new Pixel 8 phones - one for DW and one for me. My Moto is over six years old, only has 32 GB of storage, and seems to have slowed down considerably. I am still sorry to be saying goodbye to it.

 

[statsman]

DW has been hinting at a new vehicle to replace her nearly 17 year-old Infiniti. The vehicle still runs fine, but it is starting to show its age. Between the two of us, we don't drive that many miles separately to warrant a new 2nd vehicle, but it would be nice to have a vehicle that should easily get 50-100% better gas mileage and use regular gas instead of premium.

What she has been looking at would likely cost about $40-45K before any discounts (if available) and any trade-in (which will be a small amount despite the low mileage of ~70K miles). The only question would be whether to do it as an all-cash deal or finance part of it if the rates are low enough.

 

[Koolau]

My biggest hobby is cars. I've been running out of storage space, so when this professional garage became available, I was very interested. But the price was high. So I just treaded water for a long time and watched the price come down little by little over time. It was off the market for awhile then back on. Finally seven months later, after a big price cut, I made an offer and negotiations began. Negotiated the lift, tire changer and air compressor in with the deal. There's a two bedroom apartment upstairs that will pay all the expenses and produce some profit too. I've been wanting a place like this to store and work on my cars and just hang out for a long time. And it's only two miles from my primary residence. Settlement was yesterday. Today I started moving cars in!

That is so cool. Happy for you.