Search found 2033 matches

by Cycle
Mon Jan 15, 2024 10:45 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Chicago Vacation
Replies: 56
Views: 4748

Re: Chicago Vacation

My brother lives in Chicago and we take transit all over, including my 3 & 5 yo kids and pregnant wife

Ubers are very dangerous due to car crashes. Per llm, according to the latest data from the National Safety Council, the death rate per 100 million passenger miles for passenger vehicles was 0.57 in 2021. Passenger vehicles include passenger cars, light trucks, vans, and SUVs, regardless of wheelbase. They also include taxi passengers. The death rate per 100 million passenger miles for buses was 0.03 in 2021. This means that traveling by bus is about 19 times safer than traveling by passenger vehicle, including taxis, Ubers, or Lyfts.
by Cycle
Fri Jan 12, 2024 10:11 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Family of 4 debating 3 row SUV
Replies: 71
Views: 8120

Re: Family of 4 debating 3 row SUV

The correct answer is minivan. The kids easily climb in through the side doors, lots of room in the back. We have an '12 Odyssey, upgraded from an '11 CRV.

It's a sedentary lifestyle enabling steel cage, get over the marketing tactics around SUVs and go for the most practicality
by Cycle
Thu Jan 04, 2024 4:08 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How did you make your first $1M?
Replies: 148
Views: 35675

Re: How did you make your first $1M?

target fund in 401k / roths. wife and i have technical jobs but modest salaries. we were able to live below our means by living in a duplex and renting out the other half, and we live in a walkable neighborhood so we only need one car and put 6000 miles a year on it. I am sometimes surprised The Millionaire Nextdoor works exactly as advertised.

we also had kids later in life 35-40yo, which means daycare didn't prevent saving early on
by Cycle
Fri Dec 29, 2023 4:03 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How much to spend on single vacation?
Replies: 108
Views: 26917

Re: How much to spend on single vacation?

You could look into home exchange, swap home/car with someone in vhcol area https://www.homeexchange.com/
by Cycle
Fri Dec 29, 2023 9:24 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Amazon Rate increases - alternatives [Amazon Prime Video]
Replies: 151
Views: 24169

Re: Amazon Rate increases - alternatives [Amazon Prime Video]

Amazon isn't a great value. All the big box stores offer shipping. Ali express, temu, eBay can get one widgets and thingamajigs. The stuff I get at Amazon is always over $35 combined, and I do order a lot of stuff from there sans prime.

If I need something quickly, I walk 4 blocks to the target or 2 blocks to my grocery store or 6 blocks to the hardware store, or bike if it's super urgent.
by Cycle
Fri Dec 29, 2023 9:15 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What was the investment climate like in the bull market 10 years ago?
Replies: 55
Views: 7577

Re: What was the investment climate like in the bull market 10 years ago?

I thought the bailout allowed the market to rebound artificially and that we were due for another bigger correction. I started working in 2006 and experienced the great recession

I was just investing in target date fund at that time so it didn't affect my investments, despite me personally feeling a depression was near. Truthfully I still feel that way, a perennial pessimist, but I can weather an 80% decline in the market and still pay the bills.
by Cycle
Tue Dec 26, 2023 11:50 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: New to Costco
Replies: 239
Views: 60980

Re: New to Costco

Id have to drive like ten minutes to get to a Costco so I just walk to our neighborhood grocery store. If you can walk to do your shopping, whether it be a Costco or local grocery store, that is going to be a major quality of life improvement for you. I used to be a Costco member and did enjoy the deals, but not worth fighting the crowds. Also Aldi is similar in price but more reasonable portions. I'll add Costco delivers via buncha and there are no markups for that and no membership required. I haven't used it but know others who love it Even if I lived next door to Costco, I'd still drive there because there is no way I'd be able to carry everything I buy there in my hands. I'm not suggesting you do this, but Ive used a granny cart, veer...
by Cycle
Tue Dec 19, 2023 3:16 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: New to Costco
Replies: 239
Views: 60980

Re: New to Costco

Id have to drive like ten minutes to get to a Costco so I just walk to our neighborhood grocery store. If you can walk to do your shopping, whether it be a Costco or local grocery store, that is going to be a major quality of life improvement for you.

I used to be a Costco member and did enjoy the deals, but not worth fighting the crowds. Also Aldi is similar in price but more reasonable portions.

I'll add Costco delivers via buncha and there are no markups for that and no membership required. I haven't used it but know others who love it
by Cycle
Sun Dec 17, 2023 7:25 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: SIL considering a PhD in Engineering, worth it?
Replies: 97
Views: 14669

Re: SIL considering a PhD in Engineering, worth it?

I see a lot of people in my office entering the workforce a few years later on account of getting a PhD and this can delay buying a house and starting retirement savings. I think the best approach is to enter the workforce with a BS and have the employer pay for a masters or two, which is what I did.

You can also enter startups from spinoffs in graduate research, but this is not or miss on whether financially it pays off. I have two coworkers who bounced around startups and never hit it big. I have other coworkers who have hit the jackpot after leaving megacorp to work at startups.

If the sil wants the letters tho, he should get them, it's not a wrong decision if it's free.
by Cycle
Sun Nov 19, 2023 5:25 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Painful spending cuts
Replies: 252
Views: 31643

Re: Painful spending cuts

Sold my car in 2018. It was hard at first but moved to a more walkable neighborhood that made it actually more convenient than owning a car. People waste so much money on cars and they are quite a bit of work to deal with, compared to shoes
by Cycle
Mon Nov 13, 2023 7:15 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Winter Driving?
Replies: 115
Views: 9621

Re: Winter Driving?

I live in Minneapolis and something I've done to conquer winter is to not drive in winter.
by Cycle
Sun Oct 15, 2023 8:31 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Car Buying: What's the "smart default" for a Boglehead?
Replies: 113
Views: 40373

Re: Car Buying: What's the "smart default" for a Boglehead?

Driving is expensive any way you look at it. We have a honda minivan, bought it with 110,000 miles on it and put 6,000 miles on it per year. We're able to keep the mileage low because we walk to things and I take the bus or bike to work. The biggest lever to pull prior to selecting a vehicle is to reduce annual vehicle miles traveled. The car you want if you are driving 20,000 miles a year is different from the one you drive 6,000 a year, specifically you can look for a higher mileage car. We got our Odyssey for $12,500 and it should last us another 10 years.
by Cycle
Tue Oct 10, 2023 10:31 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Carbonated Water At Home
Replies: 21
Views: 3060

Re: Carbonated Water At Home

I just add a splash of lemon or dark cherry juice. Also sometimes just do plain. You can make it as bubbly as you want. Chill water first. I keep three bottles in the fridge at a time and 3d printed a little holder so they don't fall over when I open the fridge door

I refill my soda stream bottles from a big CO2 tank in the garage.
by Cycle
Sat Oct 07, 2023 7:50 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Puerto Rico Family Vacation in February
Replies: 25
Views: 5235

Re: Puerto Rico Family Vacation in February

Make sure you do the overnight to vieques (frankly I would do the whole trip there but do a min one night). Plan your trip where it’s a new moon (ie dark outside) and do a bioluminescent kayak trip - it’s amazing Do you think culebra & vieques are worthwhile as day trips? I do not. The allure of vieques is the bio bay and needs to be done at night. Culebra has gorgeous beaches, but probably won't remember that beach anymore than a luquilla, condado or isla verde beach a year from now. Plus doing the boat ride with a 2 and 4 yr old would be stressful for me on the same day. We spent a week in Rincon before we had kids. Great to walk around and visit the beaches, but not worth the drive with kids IMO. I'd stick to condado, isla verde, lu...
by Cycle
Sat Sep 16, 2023 3:44 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Any deals on iPhone 13 Mini?
Replies: 17
Views: 2031

Re: Any deals on iPhone 13 Mini?

Very sad making. The 13 mini is already bigger than I like. I was buying first gen SEs off ebay for years before caving and upsizing to the 13 mini. If they’re really all getting bigger I’ll have to find something else which is too bad because I generally like iphone. Apple already makes the smallest phones on the market, unfortunately. Unihertz is probably the smallest usable one (good battery life, borderline usable keyboard). I just ordered their jelly star. I'm typing this from a pixel 7 pro, so it's going to be quite an adjustment. The iPhone 4 had a 3.5" screen and the jelly star has a 3" screen. My wife will still have a 7 pro for if we want to get nice pictures of the kids. I'd get a feature phone, but unfortunately I sti...
by Cycle
Tue Sep 12, 2023 8:57 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The 3 million for retirement study, question
Replies: 30
Views: 5703

Re: The 3 million for retirement study, question

I'd assume it's in today's dollars if it didn't say so explicitly. I have a rough target, it started at 3.5 million and due to inflation it's already at 5.5 million :oops: Inflating your lifestyle will do that. That’s the mistake many people who start planning for retirement 30+ years out make. They fail to account for the comforts and conveniences that they gradually add and become used to between age 30 and 60. It is easy to get on the hedonic treadmill. My inflated number is just from CPI though, it doesn't accurately reflect my annual spend increase. I have two kids in daycare so i really hope my annual expenses don't go up from here. I think of controlling the big levers, and lifestyle comfort creep outside those levers won't matter m...
by Cycle
Mon Sep 11, 2023 3:31 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What frugal thing did you do today?
Replies: 4535
Views: 625856

Re: What frugal thing did you do today?

Lot of people we know went on fancy summer vacations. We have 3 & 4 yo kids and it can be super expensive to travel by airplane.

Minnesota we have fairly short summers that are fairly amazing, and there are lots of outdoors activities in Minneapolis. Beach, paddling, music etc and nearby state parks

We made it through the summer without a fancy $5-8k jet setting vacation and our kids didn't miss any social time or birthdays with their playground friends.

Definitely going to jetset in February to escape our fairly long Minnesota winter for a week tho.
by Cycle
Mon Sep 11, 2023 3:12 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Gym etiquette [exhausted-put a fork in it]
Replies: 82
Views: 8620

Re: Gym etiquette

I personally like walking to our gym and using it. I sometimes see neighbors and chat. I have had home gyms before and do have some kettlebells, a pull-up bar, spin bike and concept 2; however I mainly use these as last resort like if the kids are to bed and gym is closed or I want to do something during a passive work call. The gym has other stuff like sauna, lap pool, yoga class, group exercise and my kids daycare is there so I often just workout for like 15 minutes before picking them up. The treadmills over look a pedestrian street so it's a fairly non boring place to jog on a frigid or scorching or smoky day Got to be flexible to the circumstances. If nobody is there, sure sit on your phone between reps. If people are around, stand nea...
by Cycle
Mon Sep 11, 2023 2:45 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Electric Toothbrush/Flosser Combo?
Replies: 5
Views: 798

Re: Electric Toothbrush/Flosser Combo?

I spend a lot on floss so it wouldn't take much to recoup the investment in an auto flosser / toothbrush. Water pics don't work great for everyone tho, my dentist recommends flossing
by Cycle
Mon Sep 11, 2023 1:47 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How to budget for a newborn
Replies: 43
Views: 3917

Re: How to budget for a newborn

I used to have a budget and then we had a couple kids, I think I will start having a budget again when they are in school. Get nice strollers/snoo/etc 2nd hand, you can sell them for roughly what you paid. We have a $1200 veer we paid $600 for and will sell it for $600. Bought and sold a snoo for what we paid for it. If you can have one or no car, that will save you a lot of time and money. We lived across the street from our daycare and three blocks from a target. You can save some money by buying in bulk but I've found if you use the coupons at target the price is similar to buying diapers at Aldi or Costco. Formula is expensive so support the difficult work of breast feeding any way you can, but not the end of the world if it doesn't wor...
by Cycle
Mon Sep 11, 2023 1:29 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Google Fi giving away free Pixel 7A phones. Profit opportunity??
Replies: 3
Views: 1441

Re: Google Fi giving away free Pixel 7A phones. Profit opportunity??

It's $18 a line minimum so that's like $450 you'll have to pay over 2 years for those phones you'd sell. If u use the service it's probably a fair deal.

I've had fi. Now on mint with a pixel 7 pro they had a screaming deal on last year. I like fi, especially if traveling internally as mints roaming credits don't work great

A used pixel 5a can be had for like $100. I recently sold a couple on eBay. Something else to consider of just wanting to upgrade a phone
by Cycle
Mon Sep 11, 2023 1:12 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: The 3 million for retirement study, question
Replies: 30
Views: 5703

Re: The 3 million for retirement study, question

I'd assume it's in today's dollars if it didn't say so explicitly. I have a rough target, it started at 3.5 million and due to inflation it's already at 5.5 million :oops:
by Cycle
Thu Sep 07, 2023 9:59 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Building small house yourself as job
Replies: 80
Views: 7927

Re: Building small house yourself as job

Ive renovated a duplex, new kitchens/baths took out a couple walls. I spent $110k to do the renovation, the property cost me $190k. $3200/mo rent on $300k investment. Sold it for $500k 4 years after purchase. If I had to do it again I'd have just put that money in the stock market. Would have come out about the same and saved hundreds of hours of labor. I'm currently a landlord, and can tell you open market or not you are likely to have great tenants (assuming you verify background check and income) but also could end up with bad tenants. Even if questionable, applicants can be put on 30 day lease so you aren't at risk of having bad neighbors for longer than the 60 day notification period. Lot of biased screening processes are now illegal, ...
by Cycle
Wed Aug 23, 2023 11:13 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Rethinking "Keep Your Car for Ten Years"
Replies: 466
Views: 49607

Re: Rethinking "Keep Your Car for Ten Years"

I bought our van when it was 10 years old. Like a single malt whiskey I think cars should generally have 10-12 years age before purchase, and they should not be consumed daily but just for weekends or special occasions
by Cycle
Tue Aug 22, 2023 10:28 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Feeling like the Total Index approach wasn’t the best path
Replies: 225
Views: 33445

Re: Feeling like the Total Index approach wasn’t the best path

I think I have a quote in my profile that says to not look back or something

Just remember time in the market is the biggest predictor of success not the AA
by Cycle
Wed Jul 26, 2023 9:42 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]
Replies: 2923
Views: 521128

Re: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]

This is what I'm noticing too. All the new construction in the area I'm searching in (a bunch of small rural towns 1.5 hours away from the city I work in) are for larger houses going for 800k+. I also tried to look for land to see if I might do a smaller modular homes build, but the stuff that's out there... Woof. I guess all the good land has been snagged up by the pros? I genuinely don't know how anyone gets to do a custom build these days, even if they had a bigger budget. There's even less land inventory. This gets political, but I think a big part of the problem is excessively low property (specifically land value) taxes incentivizing landowners to sit on the sidelines. If they were higher, then there would be more incentive to either...
by Cycle
Thu Jun 08, 2023 8:52 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Giving up the pickup truck?
Replies: 81
Views: 8724

Re: Giving up the pickup truck?

I had a truck when I was younger. Wasn't practical. Dumb and young. A 4x8 trailer that folds up will have way more room (got one from harbor freight). My daily driver now is waking and biking. My vehicle of choice for road trips is a minivan. When the kids are out of car seats I will just rent a car as needed through the local car share company, no more dealing with car drama.
by Cycle
Thu Jun 01, 2023 7:27 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Global Entry Card renewal - wait time?
Replies: 27
Views: 2528

Re: Global Entry Card renewal - wait time?

stlrick wrote: Thu Jun 01, 2023 11:16 am My wife and I applied at the same time early this February, with our current cards expiring in September. We had identical travel histories and identical categories of documentation. She was approved overnight and had a new card within a week. I am still pending.
We did the same. I was approved overnight, my wife is still waiting, been about 6 months
by Cycle
Thu Apr 27, 2023 8:23 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Buying a car in 2023
Replies: 124
Views: 17393

Re: Buying a car in 2023

Carguy85 wrote: Thu Apr 27, 2023 6:01 pm
theplayer11 wrote: Thu Apr 27, 2023 5:48 pm
Apathizer wrote: Tue Apr 25, 2023 6:52 pm Er, maybe don't buy a car? I've been happily car free for about 15 years.

good for you, but not everyone lives in a city or an area with public transportation. I choose to live as far away from that as possible.
I couldn’t imagine living without a vehicle…to me represents freedom. I won’t even go on vacation without renting one…I have a strong opposition to paying someone to drive me I suppose.
On freedom, If you want to go to a doctor appointment and get some steps or exercise on the way, mind indulging me on all the options available to you?

Most car enthusiasts agree cars are terrible for daily transportation, in cities and suburbs anyways, due to the lack of freedom they create and headaches from traffic.
by Cycle
Thu Apr 27, 2023 7:42 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Buying a car in 2023
Replies: 124
Views: 17393

Re: Buying a car in 2023

Apparently my not having a car for the last 5 years hasn't eased up traffic and car demand yet. maybe broaden your search criteria, there are tons of cars on the lots.
by Cycle
Fri Jan 27, 2023 7:03 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Dipping my toes in EV? Tesla 3/Y Questions!
Replies: 272
Views: 26988

Re: Dipping my toes in EV? Tesla 3/Y Questions!

The difference between an ICE car and EV car are marginal, like u put your foot down and it goes. Which ICE and EV cars have you driven? The difference is much larger than that. The utter silence, supreme smoothness, prodigious and instant power delivery is a vastly different experience than a traditional car. And extremely palpable on every drive. My previous car had a BMW I6 twin-turbo and ZF 8 speed transmission, which is a fantastic drivetrain in its own right…but the sensation of a (equivalently priced) 400hp+ EV gloding down the road almost feels like teleportation. Cycle got you to take the bait :D That was an odd post, not just because of the EV statement. I agree an EV is a totally different experience, although same may not prefe...
by Cycle
Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:23 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Dipping my toes in EV? Tesla 3/Y Questions!
Replies: 272
Views: 26988

Re: Dipping my toes in EV? Tesla 3/Y Questions!

When someone mentions an EV, I immediately think of the best selling category of EVs, which are electric bikes. The difference between an ICE car and EV car are marginal, like u put your foot down and it goes. The difference between a traditional bike and an EV bike are more like the difference between tony stark and ironman.

Point being, if you have working cars, I probably wouldn't get new cars unless it's replacing one of your existing cars.
by Cycle
Wed Jan 25, 2023 8:21 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: 3 Car seats - Realistic options
Replies: 9
Views: 965

Re: 3 Car seats - Realistic options

Do you do snow tires on the odyssey? That will do better than 4 wheel drive with all season tires

We have an 8 passenger odyssey, could probably fit all three across the middle. I can't imagine using anything but sliding doors.
by Cycle
Sat Jan 21, 2023 10:53 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: First time trip in snow, need to know what gear to buy
Replies: 69
Views: 5119

Re: First time trip in snow, need to know what gear to buy

Take cold showers the month before and you'll have some brown fat for thermogenesis
by Cycle
Sat Dec 24, 2022 8:16 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Garage freezing - how cold is too cold?
Replies: 30
Views: 5690

Re: Garage freezing - how cold is too cold?

I'm in a town house in Minnesota. It's always a tiny bit above freezing in the garage even when it's around 0. Warm enough to melt the snow off the bikes and trash cans. it's been windy and cold recently and our car read 26 when we started it up, the first I've observed below freezing temps in the garage.

Nothing has exploded as far as I can see. I would just move canned water indoors. I keep our ebike batteries inside during winter as well. Same goes for power tool batteries
by Cycle
Sat Dec 17, 2022 8:27 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Planning to retire in May. Any flaws in my strategy?
Replies: 35
Views: 4569

Re: Planning to retire in May. Any flaws in my strategy?

I would think the roi on those houses would be better off in index funds or fixed income. Unless I'm missing something the cap rate seems low. You might be able to get the same rent with just one house but as a short term rental (Airbnb)...
by Cycle
Sat Dec 17, 2022 8:23 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Planning to retire in May. Any flaws in my strategy?
Replies: 35
Views: 4569

Re: Planning to retire in May. Any flaws in my strategy?

How are you only getting $2000 a month off a rental unit worth $600k.

I had a duplex worth $400k I was getting $3200 rent off of. Sold that because the roi wasn't good enough, and it was absolutely the right move because those investments grew greatly in index funds. I now have a condo I rent for $1600 worth $160k, and that rent is $200 below market. Planning to sell that when the tenants move on. This is in Minneapolis, so housing is fairly inexpensive

I would absolutely liquidate those houses and put it into index funds and cds or bonds.
by Cycle
Wed Dec 07, 2022 2:03 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Puerto Rico Family Vacation in February
Replies: 25
Views: 5235

Re: Puerto Rico Family Vacation in February

If you wish to explore the main island, then do 3 nights on Vieques/Culebra and 3 nights on the mainland. I also encourage you to pack lightly. We've done it with kids, they really don't need much. I got one of the travel cribs when we brought our 2 year old out to Culebra, worked well, packs up very small. I even brought it to the beach so he could nap there, he loved it. Skip a stroller, just bring a baby wrap to carry him around. Car seats can be a pain, you can rent those on the main island but renting one on the small islands might be tricky, you'll have to call. You can judge your risk level but the 4 year old might be able to just go booster, meaning you bring that plus a proper car seat for the 2 year old. If you like snorkeling I ...
by Cycle
Tue Dec 06, 2022 8:48 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Puerto Rico Family Vacation in February
Replies: 25
Views: 5235

Re: Puerto Rico Family Vacation in February

So myself, DW and our two kids (13 and 12) are planning to take a 5-6 day trip to Puerto Rico over February break. Looking to research and book in the next week or so, wondering if anyone has been and could give some ideas on: Places to Stay - We'd prefer a resort with multiple restaurants on site. Somewhere that is kid friendly would be great, but we DO NOT want a Disney World type atmosphere (kids are in that weird tween age, not little kids but not in High School either). We have tons of Marriott points, so have looked at the Stellaris Casino, St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort and Courtyard Isla Verde Beach Resort, but would stay anywhere Good fishing opportunities are a must. Easy access to Golf would be a bonus We plan to make a day trip a...
by Cycle
Tue Dec 06, 2022 8:01 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How Do You Do Cars?
Replies: 153
Views: 16166

Re: How Do You Do Cars?

My wife and I share a 2012 Honda Odyssey with 115k miles. Maybe worth 10k. We put about 8k miles on it a year, mainly road trips. 95% of our trips are done walking, sometimes bike/transit. I chose to live in a walkable/ bikeable neighborhood, which then allows us to limit car use / expenses. This is especially convenient since we have kids and can't waste time driving all over the place. Edit: We used to both have cars and drive like 20k miles each per year. Same jobs now as then. I got hit on the highway on way to work, looked into a bus and started taking the express bus that was very fast. So then we were down to 1 car. But then I realized trying to bike and walk in south Minneapolis was pretty miserable. Plus I had a bus connection. So ...
by Cycle
Tue Dec 06, 2022 7:07 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Puerto Rico Family Vacation in February
Replies: 25
Views: 5235

Re: Puerto Rico Family Vacation in February

Make sure you do the overnight to vieques (frankly I would do the whole trip there but do a min one night). Plan your trip where it’s a new moon (ie dark outside) and do a bioluminescent kayak trip - it’s amazing I am going to PR first week of February. Unfortunately going to miss the new moon. We'll have a 2 and 4 year old with us. Some coworkers recommended Rincon, but I gather the only upside of that side of the island is surfing and whale watching. These aren't big draws for us. Because one parent will always need to be watching the kids, I think activities we can only partake in are hiking, beach time, snorkeling, I'd like to dive once or twice, and dining. I'm interested in culebra for the snorkeling and diving. The ferry appears som...
by Cycle
Sat Nov 05, 2022 1:12 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Merrill Edge - new account not usable
Replies: 6
Views: 1149

Re: Merrill Edge - new account not usable

It's boa, it will take a while to get through, just put it on speakerphone for the hour or so to get through. In my experience with edge it's about 45 minute wait
by Cycle
Sat Nov 05, 2022 11:48 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Specific reasons *not* to switch to Android?
Replies: 105
Views: 8384

Re: Specific reasons *not* to switch to Android?

I recently got the pixel 7 max for $500 at mint. Wanted a great camera to capture photos of the kids.

Also included 6 months free unlimited plan. So $180 for a years plan.

Then got a referral for $90 to do the same for my wife. Ends up being $12 a month each for the first year unlimited data.

I used to have an iPhone, but have everything in Google now. Google sheets and Google photos are pretty great. Messages now shows reactions from apple people, so that is less annoying.

I just didn't like being locked into apples hardware which was always pretty expensive, though high end android is similar these days
by Cycle
Mon Oct 24, 2022 10:29 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards
Replies: 7057
Views: 891243

Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

My wife for some reason changed a default in Venmo and started paying all her Venmo with boa credit card instead of our bank account and each transaction (15 of them) were assessed a $10 cash advance fee each by BoA. $150 in fees. Each Venmo transaction was $5-10...

I'm tempted to call bank of America and contest these, but last time I tried to contact them I was on hold for 2 hours. I guess I didn't read the fine print.
by Cycle
Mon Oct 24, 2022 10:23 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Who here use Grubhub?
Replies: 27
Views: 2351

Re: Who here use Grubhub?

Sometimes we get gift cards to them or door dash as gifts.

I just use the gift card to go pickup an order in person. There are no fees then. I struggle to get my 10k steps every day, but walking to get takeout is a nice way to do it.

Helps I live in a downtown neighborhood. I would never drive to get takeout, much rather pay a $20 convenience fee/tip to have the food delivered. When we do get delivery for a party or having guests over, I just order directly with the restaurant or through their website. The fees are pretty high, I agree.
by Cycle
Mon Oct 10, 2022 11:31 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Disney World: 1 or 2 day visit if worth it
Replies: 96
Views: 7977

Re: Disney World: 1 or 2 day visit if worth it

I went as a teenager, ~15yo. It was fun to explore the park with my siblings independent of our parents, since my every day world was a dystopian suburban neighborhood with nothing to do but play basketball or video games. We had fun at Magic Kingdom and MGM studios.

At that age though the rides weren't super interesting, probably would have been more interested in roller coasters, like at universal studios.

My kids are now prime "Disney Age," we're taking them to Medellin and Cartagena for our vacation
by Cycle
Sat Oct 08, 2022 8:50 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Panasonic whisper quiet [exhaust fan] for a smallish bathroom
Replies: 14
Views: 2314

Re: Panasonic whisper quiet [exhaust fan] for a smallish bathroom

I installed two small ones in small bathrooms in a 1928 duplex
-make sure you do a timer switch bc you won't know they are on outside the bathroom
-follow the calculations, bigger isn't better, it will just pump up your heating/cooling bill
-any kind of noise cancelling for the toilet is lost, so my wife would run the faucet while using the toilet for noise cancelling effect. In the end I prefer a little bit noisy fan
by Cycle
Tue Oct 04, 2022 9:01 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Global Entry
Replies: 44
Views: 4377

Re: Global Entry

Kiosks were empty in MSP when I used them a couple weeks ago. Massive line otherwise
by Cycle
Mon Oct 03, 2022 9:07 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: If things are so bad, how come the market is up 900 points today?
Replies: 141
Views: 15444

Re: If things are so bad, how come the market is up 900 points today?

Difference between now and 2000: Passive investing bubble. Everyone is stuck in everything, unless they trample each other (on way to exit) - Dr. Michael J Burry 10/1/2022

He has really been preaching this will be the mother of all crashes for some time. we will see. In any event a percent or two here or there will be a blip whether we're near bottom now or we have another 60% to go.
by Cycle
Sat Aug 20, 2022 11:30 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Vacation home…financial suicide or reasonable?
Replies: 80
Views: 14970

Re: Vacation home…financial suicide or reasonable?

Brilliant to rent for a year. I grew up with a lake house, many of my neighbors currently have multiple properties, lake houses, NYC apartments etc. Seems like a lot of work. With Airbnb and VRBO it seems prudent to just try before you buy. My sister ended up buying a house on a lake in the city, very expensive but no need to manage two properties. I live in Minneapolis and there is an off street bike path to a wonderful beach 10 minutes away, so If im pretty happy just using the city lakes. The lake life I experienced growing up had us away from our neighborhood friends on the weekends, and there wasn't any town near the lake so it was a lot of the same... Windsurf, ski, put in dock, do endless maintenance, etc. Like I can windsurf or sail...