Craziest choice you’ve made in the past few years?

[Golden sunsets]

The craziest thing I ever did was start a company which quickly ballooned to 25 employees in two offices in two states, without any line of credit or other source of capital other than our personal assets. We needed to meet a pretty hefty payroll every 2 weeks and had to meet it with cash flow only. We never did face liquidity issues, over a 12 year period, but It took a lot of daily scrutiny to make sure we had the cash to meet payroll.

 

[Midpack]

In 2019 DW & I moved south 750 miles to a state we’d never been to, and knew absolutely no one. So far, so good.

 

[W2R]

Hats off to Frank. He must be a keeper. I mean what was he gonna say? That could have been an awkward conversation. Dammed if you do dammed if you don’t lol.

That's what I was thinking, too! I said, "I mean, do you really mean it? Will this mess up our relationship? I don't want to do THAT so do you think we can handle this? Will you think I'm chasing you, or what?" and so on.

But he kept reassuring me that he thought this was a great idea. I told him, "well, ok, then I'll go for it, last chance to object!" and he thought it was great. The worst part was that we only had a few minutes to discuss. Thank heavens he didn't change his mind. He's definitely a keeper, a good, decisive man for sure.

It probably helped that we had been together for 15 years by that time.

 

[Aerides]

The worst part was that we only had a few minutes to discuss.

Wow! I'd heard about your dream house plenty before, but this was the first time I realized you hadn't been dreaming about this Actual house all that time. I guess I always thought you'd had this particular one in mind, and it was a thing like with you and Frank "hey one day I'll get the one next door that would be ideal!" and then it happened.

But the actual story is even wilder, Heh, now the question is if Frank would say that endorsing your going ahead with the house was one of HIS craziest decisions!

 

[finnski1]

^^^I did this.^^^

But, it was at the beginning of the pandemic and it's the first boat I've ever owned. Learning something new & BTD every day...and loving every minute of it!

Wow. That's quite the boat. Should it be called a ship?

 

[Markola]

I try to avoid crazy choices.

 

[Winemaker]

I decided to order bacon on a gluten free pizza for DW, having our usual green peppers and mushrooms toppings. She was diagnosed with Celiac back in 1982, and wow, have food choices have changed since then.

 

[W2R]

In 2019 DW & I moved south 750 miles to a state we’d never been to, and knew absolutely no one. So far, so good.

So glad your 750 mile move is working out well! What an adventure.

 

[FlaGator]

1. Dated a woman 12 years older. Smart lady and had a lot of fun with her, but teen kids didn't like her, quiet and boring they said. Will be several years before they are gone, so that relationship had no long term future.

Decided to stop doing the easy thing, and find someone that was a better fit for the family, and for me in the future.

2. Ended up re-connecting with a lady I dated in high school 40 years earlier (that's a fairy tale on it's own ). Married her a year ago, and it's getting better every day .

Going to skip over the stupid things I did before those......

 

[Sunset]

Most Everyone talks about the good things... here is a bad crazy decision:

My crazy thing was to have a fellow install my septic system on an island. He had never done one before, but help up there is hard to find.

Well it turned out BAD.... a half done job, that I will have to fix myself and hire a couple of local fellows to carry gravel/dig/heavy stuff.

 

[Scuba]

^^^I did this.^^^

But, it was at the beginning of the pandemic and it's the first boat I've ever owned. Learning something new & BTD every day...and loving every minute of it!

Wow, that is a NICE yacht! Enjoy!!

 

[Scuba]

We RE’d thinking that we already had our forever home, a condo on the So CA coast. 3 years in, we vacationed in Palm Springs for 6 weeks. We had been to the desert for vacations many times before and even used to own a second home here. Started going to open houses, hired a realtor and at first we shopped for a vacation home. Then we realized that if we rented out our coastal condo, we could afford a much nicer, more permanent home in Palm Springs. Fell in love with a home with a gorgeous view and bought it, then gutted and remodeled it. Had to move out for 6 months, but we’ve been back in for about 8 months and we love it!

We aren’t usually impulsive, so it’s still hard to believe sometimes that we moved and did yet another huge remodel after ER, but here we are. And we still own the beach condo so we have options down the road.

 

[mickj]

Well my son just hiked 28 miles down and back in the Grand Canyon, he said it was 116 degrees. Kind of glad I didn’t go with him.

 

[Nick12]

Same!

For those putting in a pool you won’t regret it. Put one in 18 years ago and it was the best investment I’ve ever made.
Grandkids come over just about every afternoon to swim.
When they spend the night they swim at night and get up and swim in the morning. I just love it!
I also swim every night. So relaxing. It’s one of those things that is more important than money.

Now, back to planning my retirement date.

My neighbor regretted getting a pool. Between maintenance and developing a crack in the bottom of the pool he was sick of it. He had a team fill in dirt then resurfaced the area with grass.

 

[Chuckanut]

The craziest thing I’ve done is build my pool. I’m sure I won’t get my money out of it but we’ll get some good times with the grand children out of it. Thankfully me and DW enjoy it, but again, there’s no way it was a financially smart move.

Most home improvements are usually not financially smart. They are quality of life issues which can be very smart. After all you can't hug a bundle of cash, and a fancy car will never great you as warmly as a grandchild who loves to see the grandparents.

 

[NYEXPAT]

Since we are limiting it to the past few years, I will have to skip these:
Retiring with no plan at 34.
Moving to South America to marry a women 28 years my junior, after talking for a few months over the internet.
Having a child at 52.
Having another at 62.

Lets see, what have I done recently. Hmmm, oh I know!
Moved my whole family back to the USA, to a place I have never been, not knowing a soul. Been 4 months and feels like home.

 

[jollystomper]

I did the vast majority of my "crazy" things during my impetuous youth. Fortunately I have apologized, and the statue of limitations has run out on all of them.

I cannot think of anything "crazy" I have done in the last few years, but I am sure those who know me IRL think I am "crazy" for not working or consulting since retiring with the "skills" they perceive I have.

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

My neighbor regretted getting a pool. Between maintenance and developing a crack in the bottom of the pool he was sick of it. He had a team fill in dirt then resurfaced the area with grass.

I hear people complain about pool maintenance and can’t figure out what their issue is.
I’ve had my pool for almost 18 years. I’ve replaced the pool sweep twice but they aren’t expensive.

I pay $100/month for weekly service and chemicals.
Just a few weeks ago I had the pump replaced- not because the old pump went out but I wanted to get a new one before it did!

This is the most expensive part of the pool equipment to replace at $1,800- didn’t exactly break the bank.

I will need to get it resurfaced in the next few years. That is expensive but I’ve been saving for it.

As far as having a crack? Did he even get estimates on fixing?

Like most things in life it is a personal choice. None of these seem outrageous given how much use we get from them pool.

But then I don’t understand spending money on old cars and some people love that!

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

Since we are limiting it to the past few years, I will have to skip these:
Retiring with no plan at 34.
Moving to South America to marry a women 28 years my junior, after talking for a few months over the internet.
Having a child at 52.
Having another at 62.

Lets see, what have I done recently. Hmmm, oh I know!
Moved my whole family back to the USA, to a place I have never been, not knowing a soul. Been 4 months and feels like home.

Not that this is a competition, but.... you win, I think?

 

[Ally]

I think this is awfully crazy, but we don’t care. We have neighbors who hate stray/feral cats and try to harm them. So in 2020, we took the extra pension check my husband received (a 13th check) and caught 6 cats we’d been feeding, had them fixed and immunized. Then we built a huge catio (10ft by 30 ft total) and furnished it with heated cat homes, cat trees, patio chairs, cots, and toys. We took two inside who were kittens and get along with our Siamese. The others live outside. We play with them every day and can finally touch them.

I know people think we are crazy, but it kept us busy during Covid and we’ve come to love them.

 

[Calico]

I think this is awfully crazy, but we don’t care. We have neighbors who hate stray/feral cats and try to harm them. So in 2020, we took the extra pension check my husband received (a 13th check) and caught 6 cats we’d been feeding, had them fixed and immunized. Then we built a huge catio (10ft by 30 ft total) and furnished it with heated cat homes, cat trees, patio chairs, cots, and toys. We took two inside who were kittens and get along with our Siamese. The others live outside. We play with them every day and can finally touch them.

I know people think we are crazy, but it kept us busy during Covid and we’ve come to love them.

You and your husband are my heroes!

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

I think this is awfully crazy, but we don’t care. We have neighbors who hate stray/feral cats and try to harm them. So in 2020, we took the extra pension check my husband received (a 13th check) and caught 6 cats we’d been feeding, had them fixed and immunized. Then we built a huge catio (10ft by 30 ft total) and furnished it with heated cat homes, cat trees, patio chairs, cots, and toys. We took two inside who were kittens and get along with our Siamese. The others live outside. We play with them every day and can finally touch them.

I know people think we are crazy, but it kept us busy during Covid and we’ve come to love them.

I don’t think this is crazy at all! I think you and your husband are very giving people.
And what pleasure you have gotten from helping those cats probably helped your own health.

 

[Ally]

You and your husband are my heroes!

Thank you! I see your sweet calico cat.

 

[mountainsoft]

Ran naked through the grocery store grabbing as much toilet paper as I could carry...

Kidding. I'm boring. I don't do crazy. Then again, if I'm crazy, maybe I wouldn't realize it. So who knows, maybe I've done all kinds of crazy stuff.

 

[Alan]

This was long ago but I think definitely goes down as the craziest decision my wife and I ever made. At least it seemed crazy at the time.

On a Sunday evening in September of 1987 I took a phone call from a work colleague. My wife could hear one side of the conversation. With work we had moved to Scotland from England in 1985 with 2 small children and in 1986 we had moved back to England with work. In both cases I had been “head hunted”.

My wife said it sounded like I was being offered another job and move and I replied that since we had recently been through the whole house selling and buying and moving thing twice that I thought we had decided we are really happy where we are and the children needed a bit of stability. (They were now aged 4 and 6). “BUT”, she said, “Did I not hear the words Houston and Texas? This may be an opportunity we need to talk about”.

The following day I called my colleague and a month later that was the start of a 30 year adventure living in the USA as we all moved out there early October.