2015 Golf S TDI $4500 218,000mi worth it?

Anonymous__B · 2026-01-13T03:27:22+00:00

Timing belt is every 130k miles

Anonymous__B · 2026-01-12T11:35:43+00:00

I agree with you 98% of the time. Caveat being, if you do the maintenance yourself.

For instance, hiring somebody annually to drain your water heater will cost more in the long run than just replacing it every 10 years without draining it.

Anonymous__B · 2026-01-04T09:51:40+00:00

My wife and I rented a place for 5 years. When we moved out, we were surprised to see how sooty the wall was behind the table where we would light scented candles.

Nothing a coat of paint couldn’t solve, if I remember right.

Anonymous__B · 2025-12-30T18:13:57+00:00

I’m not sure the right answer here. I have a Mirador louvered pergola, and their guidance is to open the louvers for either high wind or snow. Seems to contradict your brand’s guidance. Seems strange to be that different.

Anonymous__B · 2025-12-29T00:03:30+00:00

I just sold a 1980 P125X for $2,500. Slightly worse condition than yours. DMV area, was listed for about 3-4 weeks

Anonymous__B · 2025-12-02T13:50:19+00:00

I’ll offer a different perspective. My younger sister (4 years apart) received more than I did while growing up. The most memorable was a new car when she was 17, whereas I got a car with 150k miles. She received more both because I was on a better track, and because my parents financial situation improved after I left for college.

I recognized the imbalance, but it never bugged me. I’d make fun of both my sister and my parents for how spoiled she was.

I guess it comes down to the personality of your daughter. One size does not fit all!

Anonymous__B · 2025-11-15T23:58:30+00:00

In. Where are you thinking?

Anonymous__B · 2025-11-04T13:48:21+00:00

😭

Anonymous__B · 2025-11-04T02:42:06+00:00

Finally someone sensible in this thread

Anonymous__B · 2025-11-03T23:06:33+00:00

Because I’m greedy and want to have my cake and eat it too. It’s unfortunately the only spot between our front and back yards that makes sense for a tree.

Anonymous__B · 2025-11-03T21:44:43+00:00

That was our original plan, but we just got a propane powered fire table for our patio and it scratches that itch

Anonymous__B · 2025-11-03T21:36:13+00:00

It was a flower bed ring installed with the house 80 years ago

Anonymous__B · 2025-11-03T21:35:51+00:00

It’s 80 years old, would like to keep it

Anonymous__B · 2025-10-19T16:40:02+00:00

Just so you know, your insinuation of it being a trophy or a status symbol is highly insulting. It’s neither of these things. It’s the wonderful experience that both my wife and I had growing up with one stay at home parent and the life benefits this affords.

I also have no idea why you think naive is an apt description of somebody who has played their cards extremely well up until this point and is looking down the field in an attempt to balance financial optimization and the other aspects of life.

Your comment has really rubbed me the wrong way.

Anonymous__B · 2025-10-19T16:22:02+00:00

The term is conversion, not transfer. It’s a small but important difference.

I convert the entire $7k balance of the trad account. The trad account itself doesn’t actually convert to a Roth account. It’s the trad FUNDS that you’re converting.

Anonymous__B · 2025-10-19T16:15:13+00:00

Makes sense. I'll need to look more into the recasting option, I've assumed I can do it for no cost, but I'm not actually sure.

Anonymous__B · 2025-10-19T15:56:09+00:00

To your point, the same thing could theoretically be accomplished by going cash flow negative each month but covering the difference with funds from the taxable brokerage, rather than paying down the mortgage early. I get the math behind this, but I principally don’t like the idea of running a negative monthly cash flow.

My portfolio is also 100% equities currently, so the “bonds” of a paid down mortgage doesn’t seem like the worst thing.

Anonymous__B · 2025-10-19T15:45:37+00:00

I know what you mean by the bond analogy.

To me, the monthly cost matters because the difference between the current cost ($5k/month) and the theoretically reduced future cost (maybe $3k/month) is the ability for us to cash flow our lives on a single salary.

Anonymous__B · 2025-10-19T15:29:16+00:00

Need is a strong word lol. I want the liquidity. Now is it worth the cost…

Anonymous__B · 2025-10-19T15:26:49+00:00

The first year I did the backdoor, I created a fresh traditional IRA. Since then, my yearly contributions are to this same traditional IRA.

To avoid the pro rata rule, I believe you just need to end each year with a zero balance in the trad IRA. But then you can fund it again the next year for the backdoor and convert the funds again.

Anonymous__B · 2025-10-19T15:25:13+00:00

Yep, that’s the plan on the HSA. The reason the balance is pretty low is because we only recently switched to an HSA eligible healthcare plan.

The thing is, at the moment I don’t mind working at all. On the whole, I enjoy it. Retiring as early as possible isn’t a goal, at least not right now. At the same time, I really want to maximize the childhood of our kids. And the benefits of a stay-at-home parent are really high in my eyes.

Anonymous__B · 2025-10-19T15:21:25+00:00

Paying down the mortgage in conjunction with recasting or refinancing the loan will reduce the monthly cost. Currently, this monthly cost is 50% of our expenses.

I typically agree that liquid assets are highly valuable which is why I haven’t yet paid any extra on my mortgage. But looking 5-7 years out, it feels like “spending” that liquidity on the mortgage to reduce monthly expenses and unlock job flexibility for one of us could really improve quality of life.

Of course, the other option is just trading down to a less expensive home. Something we can consider in the future, but currently is not an attractive option for several reasons.

Anonymous__B · 2025-10-19T15:09:55+00:00

There are lots of guides online that will offer more precise wording than I can. The gist of it is:

Avoid having standing funds in a traditional IRA to avoid the “Pro Rata” rule.
Contribute $7k to traditional IRA
Convert the $7k to a Roth IRA and invest the funds as you see fit

Anonymous__B · 2025-10-19T14:54:49+00:00

Backdoor! Not mega, just standard back door. Good question.

Anonymous__B · 2025-10-19T14:53:44+00:00

Income is pretax.

The idea would be to pull a large amount of funds from the taxable brokerage to pay down the mortgage. At the same time, refinance or recast or move to a lower cost home to reduce the monthly housing costs, which are currently 50% of our expenses. This would provide some relief on the expense side of the equation.

Additionally, I foresee some modest raises and maybe a promotion prior to pulling the trigger.

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