Search found 3497 matches

by iamlucky13
Mon Mar 18, 2024 4:24 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Lawn care for first time home buyer
Replies: 32
Views: 1434

Re: Lawn care for first time home buyer

The basic tools I'd say most homeowners will want are a mower, a line trimmer (aka "weed eater"), and pruning shears. You probably also want a hose for cleaning and/or watering, and maybe a sprinkler. 0.4 acre is getting in the range where a lot of people choose to go with a riding or zero turn mower. While faster, they're obviously more expensive and take more space to store. There also are inevitably locations they can't reach, so you either need to use a line trimmer to do those locations, or if there are enough such areas, you might still want a walk behind mower. My preference for 0.4 acre would be walk behind. That is a large enough property that self-propelled is very nice to have. Your choice whether to go gas or electric....
by iamlucky13
Fri Mar 15, 2024 8:35 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: "22 of the funniest novels since Catch-22" (acc. to the NYT)
Replies: 29
Views: 2867

Re: "22 of the funniest novels since Catch-22" (acc. to the NYT)

“They’re not going to send a crazy man out to be killed, are they?” “Who else will go?” Catch-22 was at its best when it pointed out that some things that are utterly absurd are also perfectly sensible in a way. I listened to Slaughterhouse 5 and then Catch-22; one after the other. Catch-22 wasn’t in the same class as Slaughterhouse 5. Catch-22 is redundant, not all that funny, and definitely not as insightful or impactful. I read both and didn’t care for either. I just didn’t get why they are so popular and well regarded. They certainly did not seem funny, but rather more antiestablishment and mocking, which is not the same thing. I suspect they appeal more to people who chafe at tradition And authority and who want to see themselves as a...
by iamlucky13
Fri Mar 15, 2024 6:44 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Navigating Speakers for in home theater
Replies: 41
Views: 2647

Re: Navigating Speakers for in home theater

. By the time I have a complete 8k signal chain in one room . . . I have a lot of screens in my house. Currently, the largest one is 83” diagonal. I can imagine maybe placing a 100” screen somewhere, but to be honest, 4K is plenty. I’m not one of those Luddites who claims that 1080i is good enough, etc. Rather than 8k, I wish they’d stop degrading audio quality in particular and streaming bandwidth more generally. The benefits of 4K resolution are marginal for the screen size and distance of most living room setups, but it doesn't really matter anyways. There aren't many TV's being sold anymore that are not 4k. Of course, available content is another piece of the puzzle, but any decent upscaling is going to make it very difficult to see di...
by iamlucky13
Fri Mar 15, 2024 3:05 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Navigating Speakers for in home theater
Replies: 41
Views: 2647

Re: Navigating Speakers for in home theater

A buyer today looking at new or lightly used receivers in the middle of the market (which I'm supposing for the sake of discussion is $1000+) is not going to have trouble finding models that can push a clean 100+ W per channel in 9.4. I would personally be willing to wager it will be a while before it is common to have more than 9 channels, much less before viewers are outright lamenting, "I really feel like we miss out on a sense of immersion and important directional cues with sound only coming from 9 different directions at once." And of course, LoveTheBogle specifically said their baseline plan is 5.1.2 or 5.2.2. Agree very much on the audio side, but personally pretty bitter at how quickly my 4k ready AVR was obsoleted by ha...
by iamlucky13
Fri Mar 15, 2024 11:57 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Navigating Speakers for in home theater
Replies: 41
Views: 2647

Re: Navigating Speakers for in home theater

I'd disagree with the notion of expensive speakers = expensive AVR. Your speakers will last for years while AVRs are often quickly obsoleted by technology advances...my approach is to buy the minimal viable product to meet your needs today and leave budget to upgrade in a couple of years as needs / technology changes. A fundamental decision is whether you want to rely on your AVR for amplification or invest in separate amplification. I would look at it one of two ways: 1) If LoveTheBogle is unsure how far down the rabbit hole they want to go, but probably wants to experiment, figure out what they like, and evolve towards their ideal system, buying minimal now and upgrading as they determine their needs makes sense. Get the room wired with ...
by iamlucky13
Thu Mar 14, 2024 9:44 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: "22 of the funniest novels since Catch-22" (acc. to the NYT)
Replies: 29
Views: 2867

Re: "22 of the funniest novels since Catch-22" (acc. to the NYT)

I haven't even heard of most of those. But then again, I clicked on the topic simply out of relief that a high profile outlet like the NYT is suggesting Catch-22 is one of the funniest novels out there. Since it's every bit as much a tragedy as it is a comedy, with some moments being downright dark, sometimes I wonder if I should be worried about having laughed as hard reading it as I did. I listened to Slaughterhouse 5 and then Catch-22; one after the other. Catch-22 wasn’t in the same class as Slaughterhouse 5. Catch-22 is redundant, not all that funny, and definitely not as insightful or impactful. I felt like they're different enough books that I wouldn't compare them at all, nor read them back-to-back. With that said, I wonder if readi...
by iamlucky13
Thu Mar 14, 2024 8:47 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: 5M, probably enough to retire to a frugal lifestyle
Replies: 180
Views: 15177

Re: 5M, probably enough to retire to a frugal lifestyle

Hy, 44, says he’s sitting on about $5 million, probably enough to retire to a frugal lifestyle , but likely not enough to sustain his family forever in pricey, coastal California. .... His RadReads business, which includes coaching for hard-charging professionals who want to rebalance their lives, generates about $200,000 annually. I admit I don't know how much he was earning before he switched to the Mr. Money Mustache career (I get that same vibe of "if everyone was more like me, they'd be happier and more wealthy. They just need to start out in the right career at the right time and then transition into a highly successful social media-based business!"). However, accruing $5 million by age 44 on presumably in the ballpark of $...
by iamlucky13
Wed Mar 13, 2024 3:12 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Kid's Accounts and How They Use Them
Replies: 22
Views: 1941

Re: Kid's Accounts and How They Use Them

We absolutely did not require that they give 10% of their gift money to charity. Or any money to charity. The point of giving to charity is that it is voluntary. Involuntary giving is taxation. Regardless of whatever you want to label it, our decision was that the allowance they are given carries with it the condition that a portion of it will go towards concerns other than their own. One of my goals is that by the time they are earning their own money, they have become accustomed to sharing some of what they have with others. In between now and then, I also want to start discussing with them some of the variety of worthy causes that exist, and have them take a role in choosing multiple causes to support. For the present time, we started w...
by iamlucky13
Tue Mar 12, 2024 4:02 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Kid's Accounts and How They Use Them
Replies: 22
Views: 1941

Re: Kid's Accounts and How They Use Them

I've seen a lot of different opinions about this. As kids we didn't have an allowance, but we did earn money from 4-H projects and selling produce and eggs (grew up on a small farm). There wasn't a strict expectation laid down, but we had an understanding that we discuss purchases with our parents. Observing the trend in their input evolved organically into greater autonomy as we grew older. Having kids of my own now, and not living in a rural area with quite the same opportunities for kids to earn money, we decided to give them an allowance, but also to implement a little more formal of a budget. 1) 50% goes into long term savings in their bank account. They will build up their own accounts for important expenses in the future (car, colleg...
by iamlucky13
Sat Mar 09, 2024 7:28 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How much do you spend a month on food?
Replies: 334
Views: 29195

Re: What's normal for grocery costs for a family?

The USDA creates sample food plans for four different budget levels, and monitors prices in order to establish average costs for the US for following those plans. See here for the price data, and follow the relevant links on that page if you would like to see what the plans are composed of. https://www.fns.usda.gov/cnpp/usda-food-plans-cost-food-monthly-reports My wife does our grocery shopping, so I don't have a clear breakdown. I think we hovered around the low cost plan. When I lived on my own, I think I was generally slightly below the thrifty plan, but my wife is more convenience oriented than I am. I'm trying to get in the habit of tracking our spending rigorously in order to answer questions like this, but since there are some non-fo...
by iamlucky13
Sat Mar 09, 2024 9:24 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Portable generator issues
Replies: 20
Views: 2069

Re: Portable generator issues

Saphomd wrote: Fri Mar 08, 2024 10:01 am I was actually thinking of buying a Harbor Freight Predator 5000W generator. I dont know if anyone has any experience with this. Its definitely not 3K.
I noticed they're doing one of their parking lot sales this weekend. Looks like the 3500W and 9000W are on sale, but not the 5000W.
by iamlucky13
Fri Mar 08, 2024 3:11 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Drop Homeowner Ins- Self Insure
Replies: 63
Views: 4438

Re: Drop Homeowner Ins- Self Insure

So basically I’m insuring a total loss of $500k plus old furniture and clothes for my new premium of $360/month. I just checked mine, and on a dollar adjusted basis (premium / structure value), you're paying over 3 times my rate. I suppose that could be due to particular local hazards. If this were me, I'd probably talk to my insurance agent to find out which portions of my coverage cost how much. Basically figure out what is driving that high monthly cost. Then you can make a better informed decision which coverages to drop or lower the value of, or whether it makes sense to change how much liability is covered under the home policy versus umbrella, for example. Speaking of which, in reviewing my own policy just now, I learned it doesn't ...
by iamlucky13
Fri Mar 08, 2024 11:57 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Interesting Price Differences For $4k Streaming Increases...
Replies: 10
Views: 1686

Re: Interesting Price Differences For $4k Streaming Increases...

(let's ignore for the moment that I at least have a bit of a hard time telling the difference between 4K upscaled material vs 4K native streaing!) Actually, that is relevant to your topic, so let's go ahead and discuss it for a moment. It's not just you. It's human physiology. RTings has a pretty good article discussing viewing distances, TV size, and resolution. I had in the past done some research on my own relying on research papers on the average capabilities of the human eye and can confirm this article is well founded and accurate: https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/by-size/size-to-distance-relationship The short of it is that if you set up your TV for a common 30 degree viewing angle that balances immersion with the ability to take i...
by iamlucky13
Thu Mar 07, 2024 9:11 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit
Replies: 1772
Views: 194714

Re: Washington State Long Term Care Trust Act - 0.58% payroll tax - $36,500 lifetime maximum benefit

wingman4uz wrote: Thu Mar 07, 2024 7:46 pm For those who are interested in what others are doing, I cancelled my private policy today. Part of the calculus was that I don’t have a lot of work years ahead so even if they decide to demand proof of current coverage, it won’t hit me that hard.
Thanks for sharing your thinking. That makes sense to me.

I have quite a few work years left, and I suppose the policy is not entirely without value (although I'm not at high risk of needing to make a claim, and I suppose the surrender value is currently nothing), so I'll continue to pay the premium for the moment and try to monitor developments.
by iamlucky13
Thu Mar 07, 2024 8:35 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Putting in two weeks notice same day as bonus payment
Replies: 25
Views: 2774

Re: Putting in two weeks notice same day as bonus payment

If the payment has already been deposited, I can only imagine it is very difficult to claw it back even if they wanted to. I suggest looking in any employee handbook or other document that addresses payment or bonus conditions that may exist. That may clarify when you are considered to have actually earned the bonus. I suspect there is a time period even before the deposit actually arrives when it is possible to quit and still receive the bonus. Such a document probably won't explicitly say whether or not you could forfeit a bonus already deposited in your bank account, because even if it is somehow legal, it's so outrageous only an absolutely horrible employer would even consider it, and probably wouldn't be able to keep it a secret. I’d s...
by iamlucky13
Thu Mar 07, 2024 7:54 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Contractor sent an additional invoice that was not agreed upon
Replies: 10
Views: 1634

Re: Contractor sent an additional invoice that was not agreed upon

I'm not sure I have a clear picture of the arrangement. As mjg observed, if the quote was a value per foot, how was the amount to pay before starting work agreed upon? If it was per foot, then that also seems almost to implicitly exclude the price including the water line, pump, and pressure tank from the price. Is it possible you tried to ask if the price includes the water line, pump, and pressure tank, but the company misunderstood and thought they were only confirming that they could do that work on top of drilling? Spitballing some ideas for less direct evidence aside from a written quote/contract: Do they have a website, Facebook page, or anything else that might state their policy is that full payment is required before starting work...
by iamlucky13
Thu Mar 07, 2024 3:44 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Should I buy this phone?
Replies: 24
Views: 1875

Re: Should I buy this phone?

I'll preface by noting that I'm NOT a expensive phone person. I'm dubious anyone needs a $1000 phone. But if you recognize it as a luxury purchase, and your budget supports it, then there's nothing wrong with buying a $1000 phone. Also, if you use it for 3+ years like your previous phone, then on a recurring basis, the cost is of a similar magnitude as a weekly latte. I do caution against rationalizing expenses as seeming small comparatively like I just did (many small expenses add up quickly together, especially over long time periods), but again, if you have a good understanding of your budget, and that budget supports it, you have discretion about these kinds of expenses. With that said, it has long appeared to me that the additional uti...
by iamlucky13
Mon Mar 04, 2024 8:18 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Undersizing whole house generator?
Replies: 62
Views: 4814

Re: Undersizing whole house generator?

alfaspider wrote: Mon Mar 04, 2024 5:14 pm Nobody is going to be using all of those at peak at all times. Doubly so on generator power. 15-20kw might be reasonable. I could see 40kw just to be safe, but I maintain 100kw is nuts.
My pet theory is the topic author is the Youtuber "photonicinduction." If so, then "nuts" is an accurate description (in a good way).

Wouldn't want to have to stop crazy science experiments testing high power electrical components just because the grid is down.
by iamlucky13
Mon Mar 04, 2024 11:52 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Need better sound for music enjoyment
Replies: 20
Views: 2888

Re: Need better sound for music enjoyment

You don't need 5.1. Most of the music out there is in stereo. 2.0, 2.1, or 3.1 are all fine. 3.1 theoretically helps with dialogue in movies mixed in surround sound, but I believe these days it's the norm for home theater receivers to downmix the center channel into stereo if you just have a 2.0 or 2.1 setup. The simplest answer is going to be to get a good soundbar or a Sonos kit. The best value option is going to be to get a good stereo amplifier (or used home theater receiver), a pair of good bookshelf speakers, and possibly also a subwoofer. The subwoofer isn't for the purpose of shaking the room with bass. Properly set up, it just adds in the lowest frequencies at a volume that matches the bookshelves in the manner intended by the engi...
by iamlucky13
Mon Mar 04, 2024 10:16 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Undersizing whole house generator?
Replies: 62
Views: 4814

Re: Undersizing whole house generator?

You can have as few circuits as you want connected to the generator, even down to one. They'll need to be on a separate panel connected to the transfer switch. Having multiple sub-panels already, the simplest install would be if one or more entire sub-panels can be connected to the transfer switch. When you start contacting installers for quotes, they should be asking you what you will want powered in the event of an outage. They'll size the generator based on that input. If this is a very large home with multiple HVAC systems, you may want to consider keeping only part of the house heated/cooled to help reduce the generator size requirements. They might also offer a load shedding controller, which can allow more circuits to be connected fo...
by iamlucky13
Mon Mar 04, 2024 1:41 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: At what point in a car’s life do you try miracle elixir fixes?
Replies: 36
Views: 3313

Re: At what point in a car’s life do you try miracle elixir fixes?

I'd be willing to try a seal conditioner like AT-205 or a high mileage oil. It's not a miracle product. The users who mentioned miracle products failed to help low compression or failed emissions checks were dealing with very different issues than a seal leak. You can also try switching to a heavier oil - eg, from 0W-20 to 5W-30. If you browse the bogleheads-equivalent site for oil, bobistheoilguy.com, you will find quite a few people do so with older cars without issues. The problem with rear main seals is it takes a lot of disassembly to access them, so you pay for quite a few hours worth of work to replace a relatively cheap part. Personally, if that was the only thing wrong, I'd probably just try the above, and if it didn't work, just b...
by iamlucky13
Wed Feb 28, 2024 8:21 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: When do electric cars stop making sense?
Replies: 210
Views: 16091

Re: When do electric cars stop making sense?

fortunefavored wrote: Wed Feb 28, 2024 8:12 pm Thanks.. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going crazy.. the hype around "everything electric" was making me doubt my sanity.

I think we'll look at a hybrid perhaps with >45 mpg, maybe in 10 years or so things will shake out better for electric.
The fuel cost comparison is not going to improve over the next 10 years in EV's favor unless your electricity costs decrease, or your gasoline costs increase.

But with electricity rates as high as yours are, there is a very good chance that it would be economical to invest in solar, which in turn could help make EV charging costs more favorable.
by iamlucky13
Wed Feb 28, 2024 6:28 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: rider mower club cadet or john deere
Replies: 21
Views: 2151

Re: rider mower club cadet or john deere

lomarica01 wrote: Wed Feb 28, 2024 10:02 amcannot wait as I am in CA and gas mowers, leaf blowers weed eaters etc... are now banded. One can only buy what is left in stock.

....

Lastly I will be keeping my 20yo old mower as a backup
I suppose there could be a price premium on gas mowers next year when they're no longer available new.
by iamlucky13
Wed Feb 28, 2024 6:19 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: rider mower club cadet or john deere
Replies: 21
Views: 2151

Re: rider mower club cadet or john deere

I've had my JD LT160 since 2008 and it still does the job and does it quite well. As several others have said, I recommend buying from a JD dealership and not the big box store as they are NOT the same. I've not owned a zero turn, however, I do agree on the advantages if there are obstacles to negotiate. As with any equipment, maintenance is a must if you expect it to perform well. Besides oil changes you need to keep the blades sharpened. Good luck! I don't know for sure if JD dealers sell the same model numbers as the big box stores but I do know those same dealers prepare all those models for final delivery to the customer. I have a E150 (from Lowes) and its treated me well. If you decide on JD, I would try to avoid the "quick chan...
by iamlucky13
Tue Feb 27, 2024 6:53 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: rider mower club cadet or john deere
Replies: 21
Views: 2151

Re: rider mower club cadet or john deere

If you are looking for long term reliability (10+ years of service) then you need to upgrade at least for the cub cadet to a GT model. The LT models are good for small yards but anything close to an acre or more or lots with hills may be to much for the transmission long term. You would be better off trying to find a used GT model with the heavy transmission and commercial grade engine with under 500 hours that have been taken care of. They are made like the old lawn tractors were 20+ years ago. They make the XT2 GX model but my local dealer says they are not made as good as my older GT2000 mower. The higher end mowers will give extra confidence in their longevity in addition to more power and more robust decks, frames, and axles, but from...
by iamlucky13
Tue Feb 27, 2024 5:38 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: rider mower club cadet or john deere
Replies: 21
Views: 2151

Re: rider mower club cadet or john deere

The general advice is that a zero turn is faster, mainly because it can maneuver better around obstacles, and a lawn tractor will track better on side slopes and tow better, especially at a similar price point. Your apparent budget is just slightly below the starting price for zero turns. Those on a tighter budget don't have zero turns as an option. Regarding these tractors: John Deere obviously has the long-standing reputation based on their dealer models. The S140 is one of their higher end big box models, built in a different factory from the dealer models, but they're still good mowers. If you compare detailed specs, you will see that both manufacturers use similar engines and transmissions in different models. For a given price point, ...
by iamlucky13
Mon Feb 26, 2024 9:14 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What got you out of poverty?
Replies: 111
Views: 12844

Re: What got you out of poverty?

And if the answer is basic Boglehead principles, what was different about you or your decisions that allowed you to get out, but not those around you? What was different for me was exactly that: I followed basic Bogleheads principles, while those around me largely did not; Mainly live below your means, set a long term financial plan, and stay the course. I didn't grow up in genuine poverty, but we did grow up relatively poor in US terms and I think we were not far above the poverty line at times (family qualified for food stamps at times, and I believe Medicaid CHIP most of my childhood), due to being in a large family, and in a rural area with limited income potential for my dad's line of work (a deliberate compromise my parents made beca...
by iamlucky13
Mon Feb 26, 2024 8:04 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tech Compensation
Replies: 39
Views: 5178

Re: Tech Compensation

You will get paid much more to do societally worthless but lucrative things such as selling ads, quick cat videos, or Amazon-branded doodads. You won’t make this much money working in nuclear fusion tech, for example. As a semi-relevant addition to this thread, working on nuclear fusion at one of the start ups that is hoping to find a simpler method to build a viable fusion power plan than the big ITER project pays up to $200k per year for senior engineers, plus stock options, according to their current job postings. Nice PTO package, too, although a poor 401k match, and no indication is given about overtime expectations: https://www.helionenergy.com/careers/ Their project intrigues me, but what holds me personally back from pursuing that ...
by iamlucky13
Sat Feb 24, 2024 6:57 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tech Compensation
Replies: 39
Views: 5178

Re: Tech Compensation

Programmers are in demand, and likely to remain in demand for the foreseeable future. But there is a range of income levels, and my impression is the majority of programmers make slightly more than those in other technical fields in the same locations, even though the stories everyone remembers are about the people who stumble into the right businesses and find themselves reaching mid 6-figure total compensation levels. Keep in mind that often those total compensation figures are dependent upon RSU's, and there is potential for the pay to drop down to base salary as competition in a specific field matures. Also be careful of the pitfalls of focusing too much on the money part of it. It sounds like the person your spoke to learned a hard les...
by iamlucky13
Fri Feb 23, 2024 1:42 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Punctured tire on Model 3 - WWYD
Replies: 16
Views: 2028

Re: Punctured tire on Model 3 - WWYD

Short answer: Replace all 4. Longer answer: I don't know the starting tread depth, but assuming these are the low tread tires that are common now that come with 8/32, then being at an average of 7/64, your tread is 75% used up. Option 3 is not economical and can be dropped from consideration. You will pay 31% of the full replacement cost to get only 25% of the remaining longevity for all 4, and it's the worst part of that longevity (the ability of the tire to channel water continually decreases with tread depth). Option 1 is cost-neutral at first glance. You would pay 63% of full replacement cost, and get an average of (100% + 25%)/2 = 63% of the remaining longevity. However, in roughly 8000 miles, you will have replace the two partially wo...
by iamlucky13
Thu Feb 22, 2024 8:45 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Anyone use Shoe Goo to increase the life of their shoes
Replies: 38
Views: 3774

Re: Anyone use Shoe Goo to increase the life of their shoes

Yes, I recently decided to give it a try. I hate shopping for clothes. When the soles of my running shoes started to separate, it offered me the prospect of delaying buying replacements. Inhaling the Shoe Goo solvent is much less unpleasant to me than trying to make a fashion-related decision like buying a pair of shoes. That was 2 months ago. I noticed a section of sole was loose again this weekend (I mainly wear them on weekends). I still need to take a look and see if it was a location repaired with Shoe Goo that is failing, or a new location. I had cleaned the area to be bonded with rubbing alcohol, and applied pressure for several minutes to get a good tack, so it should be a good bond. In the past, I have tried super glue, but I think...
by iamlucky13
Thu Feb 22, 2024 10:54 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: The Shrinking Lifespan of Large Appliances
Replies: 108
Views: 10062

Re: The Shrinking Lifespan of Large Appliances

GE appliances are no longer made by GE. They spun off the name to a Chinese conglomerate. That's a good illustration of how confusing this gets, because they did indeed sell their appliance business to Haier along with a license to continue using the GE name, but even before the sale they were moving some of their production previously offshored back to the US. As far as I have read, Haier now builds around 80% of the appliances for the US market in the US and continues to expand US production: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/money/companies/2023/09/27/ge-appliances-completes-450-million-investment-announces-new-tech/70909207007/ But which individual appliances are built in the US versus China is difficult to figure out. Same for Wes...
by iamlucky13
Wed Feb 21, 2024 10:04 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Realtor handling both sides
Replies: 28
Views: 2536

Re: Realtor handling both sides

What does that mean for the side getting limited representation? For my in-laws, there were promises made that issues noted during the inspection would be remedied. They were not diligent about keeping their own records of concerns and ensuring they were stated in the offer. Unsurprisingly, when they later realized these had been left out of the offer, the seller refused to uphold their verbal promises, resulting in significant unplanned costs to my in-laws. I'm under the impression the seller's agent also discouraged them from making a lower offer due to a supposedly competitive market. On the other hand, my own parents have bought a couple properties without agents, which has gone well in part due to past experience with purchases (inclu...
by iamlucky13
Wed Feb 21, 2024 6:41 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Full solar ECLIPSE April 2024!
Replies: 80
Views: 9387

Re: Full solar ECLIPSE April 2024!

I just checked air fare again for visiting my brother, who lives in the path of totality. I've been looking every couple of weeks since November. It looks like the low point might have been a couple weeks ago, but I'd have to take nearly 2 weeks off work to get tickets for prices I could stomach paying for the full family. I'm really glad I was able to see the 2017 eclipse, but my wife was feeling unwell and chose not to join us for the drive into the path of totality. If I had known what it would be like, I wouldn't have let her say no. She missed out by only getting to 99% coverage. I was awestruck at the difference totality made. This is accurate: https://xkcd.com/1880/ I was really looking forward to taking her to see the 2024 eclipse u...
by iamlucky13
Wed Feb 21, 2024 6:03 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: The Shrinking Lifespan of Large Appliances
Replies: 108
Views: 10062

Re: The Shrinking Lifespan of Large Appliances

Last time this happened to me it was a 150 dollars of labor and 300 bucks for a controller board for a 800 dollar dishwasher. That there is its own problem. There's not much to do about the $150 labor cost. These days, that's just what it costs in many areas to cover non-billable time inherent to in-home service calls, plus other overhead. There could be a slight improvement if manufacturers made the parts more accessible/easier to remove, but not a lot. But the $300 controller board is a big problem for keeping appliances economically repairable. It probably cost $30 to make. While the spares business does have relatively high overhead, it also is one of the highest margin business segments for most manufacturers, because the market is ef...
by iamlucky13
Wed Feb 21, 2024 5:48 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: The Shrinking Lifespan of Large Appliances
Replies: 108
Views: 10062

Re: The Shrinking Lifespan of Large Appliances

It's a useless observation, but old-fashioned electromechanical control systems (turn the cycle select knob and hear jingly clicks of microswitches following cams) were definitely more reliable than digital electronics. Even the electrical part (e.g. motors) are less reliable. Last summer we had to finally drill a new well. When they pulled the old pump from the old well they showed me the pump and noted that the pump was almost 40 years old and still going strong but they cautioned me not to expect that kind of longevity with current technology. It's not the technology. It's the quality of the design and construction. A properly designed solid state control board or power circuit can last practically forever. They're very common in indust...
by iamlucky13
Mon Feb 19, 2024 9:49 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best < $100 purchase?
Replies: 299
Views: 55780

Re: Best < $100 purchase?

I think a wireless phone charger might have been one of the best gifts I've ever gotten my wife, especially since I got her a stand up model that lets her charge while she has a recipe or show up on her phone while she cooks. Of course, I use it, too, but she uses and therefore charges her phone more, and made it so convenient to get a top-up charge that it was a minor transformation in her habits. The catch is it more or less eliminates budget model phones from her consideration, since they leave out wireless charging compatibility, and it's now a must-have feature for her. 1. Which one did you buy / own? 2. How do you determine if your present phone supports this? 1. It was a couple years ago, but it looks like the same model is still av...
by iamlucky13
Mon Feb 19, 2024 6:30 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: 20-30X income, is that the "retirement rut"?
Replies: 90
Views: 13495

Re: 20-30X income, is that the "retirement rut"?

It might help to clarify the question. If you're simply asking is it normal to feel less motivation to do better when you're in a position where you don't need to, I would say definitely yes. I'm not in the position of having saved nearly as much as you have, but even I notice less interest in my part as my savings accrue in working more paid overtime than I used to, for example. If you are asking if you actually do have enough saved to walk out on your boss if they annoy you too much, then that depends on your expenses. I go off of income because my cost of living is variable. If my portfolio is down 30% I could just forgo the vacations, clothes, or new car upgrades, and wait until the market rebounds. I could retire today if I really want...
by iamlucky13
Fri Feb 16, 2024 6:16 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Any recommendation of a book that chronicles the downward spiral of an ordinary person
Replies: 102
Views: 9199

Re: Any recommendation of a book that chronicles the downward spiral of an ordinary person

Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes. What an extraordinary story. It absolutely fascinated me when I read it the first time. I have to acknowledge the pushback from others against is valid for some readers, but personally I highly recommend it. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde Yes, this is one of the classics about a downward spiral, although I found the character very unrelatable, which seems to be the OP's interest. Moby Dick observes Captain Ahab's obsession, but only gives glimpses of his experience of it. I liked the detailed exhibition of everything related to whaling, but I'm sure plenty of others find the book tedious, and the fact that Melville seemed to have an even bigger vocabulary than the dictionary and liked to br...
by iamlucky13
Thu Feb 15, 2024 8:46 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What inferior good do you love?
Replies: 232
Views: 25524

Re: What inferior good do you love?

Chv396 wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2024 3:07 pm McDonald’s Egg Mc Muffin sandwiches, we eat about 1x per week.
I know someone who shares your taste in inferior goods:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/warren- ... nt-17.html
by iamlucky13
Thu Feb 15, 2024 11:03 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best Dumb Phone
Replies: 20
Views: 2275

Re: Best Dumb Phone

Look at the Alcatel phones; My previous phone was an Alcatel flip phone. It's the worst phone I've ever owned - very slow and buggy. It needed to be restarted fairly frequently because it would do things like just ring but refuse to answer. The alarm wouldn't reliably set, so I always had to double check or risk it not going off. Texting was pretty painful, too. I thought T9 was a pretty-well established feature, but Alcatel managed to make their implementation worse than previous phones. That phone died when my kid had a gnarly bike crash - not because the kid was carrying the phone, but due to related issues. Urgent care said to take him to an emergency room, and since it wasn't a life threatening situation and I was really uncertain und...
by iamlucky13
Wed Feb 14, 2024 11:00 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best < $100 purchase?
Replies: 299
Views: 55780

Re: Best < $100 purchase?

I think a wireless phone charger might have been one of the best gifts I've ever gotten my wife, especially since I got her a stand up model that lets her charge while she has a recipe or show up on her phone while she cooks. Of course, I use it, too, but she uses and therefore charges her phone more, and made it so convenient to get a top-up charge that it was a minor transformation in her habits.

The catch is it more or less eliminates budget model phones from her consideration, since they leave out wireless charging compatibility, and it's now a must-have feature for her.
by iamlucky13
Wed Feb 14, 2024 10:48 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What inferior good do you love?
Replies: 232
Views: 25524

Re: What inferior good do you love?

I really like hanging my bath towels to dry. They seem to absorb the water better after my showers. If you normally use fabric softener, that could be the reason. It gradually builds up on fabric and reduces absorbency. I think you're right about mechanical drying affecting longevity. Dive bars Good one! Others might be rain boots and wear, and yard tools. Hmm...rubber rain boots seem to have come full circle. They're now a fashion item you can spend hundreds of dollars on. The floral print, glossy finish fad might have peaked. It looks like Nordstroms is now focusing more on the barn boot style. I got mine for around $30 at the local feed store. It looks like Nordstrom's has very similar for $175, which I think is more than my wife spent ...
by iamlucky13
Wed Feb 14, 2024 9:45 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What inferior good do you love?
Replies: 232
Views: 25524

Re: What inferior good do you love?

you can't live without. The above is less figurative in my case than you probably intended. I sometimes get severe enough headaches that my life is effectively on hold. Ibuprofen seems useless against the worst of them. But a packet of Maruchan ramen noodles can sometimes bring me back to life. Presumably the root cause is low electrolytes, so the big dose of sodium is the source of the magic (I think milk and bananas have also been of some help at those times). A sports drink could also work, but when I have one of these headaches, Gatorade is outright repulsive to me. A non-food item: incandescent Christmas lights. I haven't yet found an LED set that looks as good to me. i enjoyed your response! thank you. I'd never thought of LED Christ...
by iamlucky13
Wed Feb 14, 2024 6:14 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What inferior good do you love?
Replies: 232
Views: 25524

Re: What inferior good do you love?

hicabob wrote: Wed Feb 14, 2024 6:06 pm Harbor Freight tools.
Except lately Harbor Freight is targeting those with rising incomes. Most of the Icon brand lineup is more expensive than the main brands at home improvement stores. Still less expensive than the pro brands, though.
by iamlucky13
Wed Feb 14, 2024 6:12 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What inferior good do you love?
Replies: 232
Views: 25524

Re: What inferior good do you love?

dunk1234 wrote: Wed Feb 14, 2024 5:24 pmyou can't live without.
The above is less figurative in my case than you probably intended.

I sometimes get severe enough headaches that my life is effectively on hold. Ibuprofen seems useless against the worst of them.

But a packet of Maruchan ramen noodles can sometimes bring me back to life.

Presumably the root cause is low electrolytes, so the big dose of sodium is the source of the magic (I think milk and bananas have also been of some help at those times). A sports drink could also work, but when I have one of these headaches, Gatorade is outright repulsive to me.

A non-food item: incandescent Christmas lights. I haven't yet found an LED set that looks as good to me.
by iamlucky13
Mon Feb 12, 2024 9:30 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Recent paint work is already failing
Replies: 27
Views: 3214

Re: Recent paint work is already failing

Also, the paint might have a warranty so maybe contact the manufacturer of the paint. This will be a complete waste of time. Any paint issues are going to be due to the painter, not the paint. There are different quality paints. I guess I can't speak from experience trying to make a warranty claim on paint, but I'm skeptical much will be achieved. Even cheap paints don't fail in 4 months when properly applied, and of course, cheaper paints are less likely to have a warranty anyways. Furthermore, most contractors don't use cheap paints. I'd expect a manufacturer response somewhere in the range from "not covered due to improper surface prep" and "if you show us your receipt, we can give you another gallon to fix the failed pai...
by iamlucky13
Mon Feb 12, 2024 1:59 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Supermarket pizza - any good ones? Any great ones?
Replies: 145
Views: 12478

Re: Supermarket pizza - any good ones? Any great ones?

Signature Select from Safeway/Albertsons/etc., to us, is the winner. We used to keep one or two of these in the freezer for those occasional nights when our culinary ambitions don't arise beyond frozen pizza. Their rising crust supreme was my favorite. At one point, I compared the Safeway frozen pizza to DiGiorno and Freschetta. I considered it on par with one of those, and better than the other (I don't remember which), and significantly cheaper than either. The Signature Select Pizzas at Safeway are occasionally offered at $0.99 or $1.99 on a Safeway for U special. At that price, I can add a few additional ingredients if I need to and still came out ahead. I think the "for U" coupons are based on things you have previously boug...
by iamlucky13
Sun Feb 11, 2024 7:35 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Supermarket pizza - any good ones? Any great ones?
Replies: 145
Views: 12478

Re: Supermarket pizza - any good ones? Any great ones?

Signature Select from Safeway/Albertsons/etc., to us, is the winner. We used to keep one or two of these in the freezer for those occasional nights when our culinary ambitions don't arise beyond frozen pizza. Their rising crust supreme was my favorite. At one point, I compared the Safeway frozen pizza to DiGiorno and Freschetta. I considered it on par with one of those, and better than the other (I don't remember which), and significantly cheaper than either. Unfortunately, and maybe this is regional if they produce them in multiple locations, Safeway decided to ruin them a few years ago. Over time, the toppings got progressively fewer and less evenly distributed. When it got to the point where it became necessary to spend 10 minutes pryin...
by iamlucky13
Sat Feb 10, 2024 6:12 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best < $100 purchase?
Replies: 299
Views: 55780

Re: Best < $100 purchase?

Channellock 13 in 1 ratcheting screwdriver. It’s my most used tool. I looked this one up since I'd been considering replacing the convenience screwdriver in my kitchen drawer, and Channellock has remained a pretty good brand. It also looks like it avoids getting too fancy like the Wiha screwdrivers that our techs at work have a love/hate relationship with. Those cram 26 bits into a fancy spring-loaded "magazine" that likes to periodically eject half the bits into the bowels of whatever you're working on. But $48 for a screwdriver? Sure, it's within the limit of this thread, but they're making Klein look like a budget brand. * Edited to add: Another lesson for this forum, where Amazon is so popular - I was somewhat misled. Only Am...