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Home > Archive: November, 2014

Archive for November, 2014

Car payments

November 28th, 2014 at 04:27 pm

Made over $1,400 of car payments this month.

So as of now, our car payoff is 7 months away. However, I plan to keep putting extra so that I can remove one more line from my "liabilities" column on the household balance sheet.

Plus, once car payment is gone, it is like increasing our income by the amount of the payment.

I do not want to know how much things cost. It depresses me.

November 24th, 2014 at 03:23 pm

And lessens my enjoyment of the item.
I would like to just pick what I like, swipe my card, and not have to see the price or pick based on price. It robs all the joy out of it.

Isn't it better, to have everything you bought just charged to your account every few months (without itemizing, of course, so that I still don't know the cost of items consumed)? You would just know if you are generally gaining debt or have a healthy savings account.

Doesn't the above system sound insane to you?
Yet there are so many people who say that about nutritional information. That exact same attitude!

A person has a very limited amount of calories to "spend" every day, even more limited than money for many. And there is a price to pay and debt(fat) to be accumulated, regardless of if you look at the price or not. I want to know how much things cost in order to make an informed decision. Luckily, NYC has the most consumer oriented laws in this respect, with calorie info displayed on menus, boards, right on that cookie that is next to a barista counter... But I wish it went further and applied not only to medium chains but a small ones, or my favourite bakeries (that ship country wide btw, so they are big enough) and anyone who sells food and is bigger than a stand-alone individual proprietor operation.



Who is spoiled and what is normal?

November 11th, 2014 at 08:30 pm

It is a matter of perspective.

Some people may think spending 2K on food is a luxury, but think of having 2 bathrooms as a necessity.

While watching those HGTV shows, I get an understanding that 1 bathroom is something unthinkable to everyone, from the recent graduates to old empty nesters. Here, even those of my friends who live in apartments that are worth 1-3 million don't have and can't even dream of the second bathroom or a washing machine. It is just so beyond ones reach, even if European vacations or $35 a lb wild fish is not.

Or a concept of a "guest bedroom". How is that not wasteful? you are paying a substantial percentage of a biggest investment most people make, it gets heated every day, taxes paid on it ever year, maintenance, etc. All for maybe 2 weeks a year it would get used. And yet most people are not comfortable with not having an "extra" room for something. That is it something that is expected, normal, and not wasteful or luxurious, in other words "a want".

Same goes with having a laundry room on a main floor - people are not happy that they just have a laundry room.
Depending on location, people don't think of these things as luxuries, they think of them as something they "need", because it is set by expectations.

Just a different spin on things. We always are taught to view certain expenditures as "wants", but see what we ourselves accustomed to as normal.

2 iPad Airs. Now need to cut back.

November 6th, 2014 at 03:24 pm

Picking up today (pre-ordered online trying to get 5% from online shopping on Discover card this quarter), around $1,500! My ipad will replace my 2 year old generation 3, this new gold one one looks awesome and really thin, and the other one is a birthday gift for my mom(she is very hard to please). It is a big enough gift that it will cover her holiday gift as well.

I am now trying to be very mindful of groceries and eating out this month, and trying to make up some of the difference there, I'm going to try for $200-$300.