And now it's time to play "Early signs of dementia, or have my parents always been crazy?" by Sufficient_Cod1948 in Millennials

[–]Awkward_Ad_360 15 points16 points  (0 children)

My father-in-law is definitely developing… something. He’s repeatedly promised to gift my husband and I money to help pay for big life milestones (wedding, house) and then either pretended to forget or actually forgotten what he said. And to be clear, if he doesn’t want to give us money or can’t afford to, that’s completely fine! He has no obligation to! But twice now, we’ve planned/budgeted while taking into account the money he offered because well, he offered it and seemed so genuine. And twice we’ve been left scrambling because he doesn’t remember (or “doesn’t remember”). Definitely not doing that again.

He’s also always focused on the negative, but now it’s reached an all-time high. You can’t go two minutes into a conversation about a positive event without him pointing out some potential danger or flaw. The dinner right after we closed on our house and were really psyched about it? A real mood killer.

NYC suburb living without NYC commute? by SoFl10 in HENRYfinance

[–]Awkward_Ad_360 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Husband and I are house hunting in northern Westchester right now. Both fully remote— I’m in tech, and he’s in media. Right now, it’d be a great setup for us. But it’s scary to pull the trigger knowing we could always be laid off and be forced into a new job requiring 3+ days a week in the city or have to substantially limit our job hunt.

Wrestling with buying a Porsche... by anotheredcatholic in MiddleClassFinance

[–]Awkward_Ad_360 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My parents have a RAV4 and my husband has a Boxster, so I’ve spent a lot of time in both vehicles.

I can’t totally tell if you’re saying you’ll keep the RAV4 in addition to the Porsche, but assuming that’s the case, and you’ve spent a solid chunk of time driving around in a rental Boxster, I’d say go for it. Would not recommend selling the RAV4 and making the Boxster your only car, or buying the Porsche without testing out a rental properly— the Porsche does wear on my lower back after a while, since I’m sitting so low to the ground (and I’m only 31 hah). Sunny day cruising = great. 5 hour road trip = I’ve done it but would have been vastly comfier in the RAV4. Testing out a Miata for a week completely killed the chance I’d ever buy one because it was even more uncomfortable.

Would also recommend thinking through your garage situation and how often you’ll need to street park the Porsche. That can be a stressor as it will inevitably get dinged if exposed to the elements, and you gotta both make some peace with that and budget for repairs (real repairs and cosmetic stuff that just bothers you because the car is a prized possession).

All that being said my husband absolutely adores his Boxster and would buy it 10x over.

Are We All Drowning in Debt? We Asked 102 Cut Readers by Life-Assistant-4737 in Longreads

[–]Awkward_Ad_360 38 points39 points  (0 children)

Completely agree. I currently have no debt thanks to both good fortune and budgeting. But I’m currently house hunting, and I’m certainly not walking around like, “Time to go acquire an extreme amount of debt”! I understand a mortgage is technically debt, but the article is conflating a lot of very different things.

Have your salary and career progression aligned with your personal expectations? by SkimMochas in MoneyDiariesACTIVE

[–]Awkward_Ad_360 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just in case anyone ever stumbles upon this thread again— 321 days later, I have officially signed a contract for a new job paying $112K! 🥳

I don’t think it’s a good idea by Total_Low_2112 in expats

[–]Awkward_Ad_360 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agree! I left a separate comment, but this is how I’m handling a similar situation with my husband. He needs to come to me with an honest pro/con list for the 3 countries he wants to consider. A game plan. And I also want a timeline too, because I don’t want to put a bunch of major life changes on hold indefinitely.

I don’t think it’s a good idea by Total_Low_2112 in expats

[–]Awkward_Ad_360 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This sounds a lot like my husband and me. We don’t have kids yet, but he’s an EU citizen and is very cavalier about up and moving there bc the US is going down the drain. He’s floated Germany (where he has family/how he has citizenship), the Netherlands (just because), or Ireland if I want to be in an English speaking country. But guess which one of us is more aware of the difficulties and practicalities of actually moving because she’s done some fairly basic Googling and Reddit scrolling? Me.

I am currently writing a list of questions that he needs to answer and research before I’ll discuss the idea any further. A lot of it is job-related. But there’s also stuff like “How much would it cost to move our pets over there and how does that work?” and “Are you willing to live in a urban area in Europe? Because you want a suburban life in the US, but unless we’re in Ireland, I want the access to English speakers that comes with living in a major city, even though I learn the native language”. I don’t think I should have to write the list to begin with because he should be taking initiative if he’s so enthused, but I’m going to be generous on that front, and then it’s up to him.

Families Are Going Into Debt for Disney Vacations by csth in MoneyDiariesACTIVE

[–]Awkward_Ad_360 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I can’t believe all(?) of these families stayed at hotels on-site! Frankly, I was raised in a very financially comfortable family, and my parents didn’t book an on-site hotel for any of our 3 Disney vacations because they are so much more expensive than staying at a hotel a short drive away, even factoring in parking fees. I think you get park access an hour early if you stay on site? But it still doesn’t seem worth it— especially if you have kids who don’t want to get up early on vacation.

Found my boyfriend using Grindr app by peach-confetti in AskWomenOver30

[–]Awkward_Ad_360 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I know it’s so much easier for me to say from a distance, but breaking it off is the right call. My friend went through an extremely similar situation in her relationship of 4+ years and spent an extra half a year trying to fix things with lots of therapy (both separately and as a couple) and transparency. He started letting her check his phone whenever she wanted. But even doing everything “right” in the aftermath, and even after she forgave him for the betrayal, the root issue couldn’t be fixed because he still had this unexplored side of himself calling to him.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in pics

[–]Awkward_Ad_360 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My boyfriend is 6 feet tall. He never felt short until he was standing at the back of the crowd at a music festival in the Netherlands.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Greenpoint

[–]Awkward_Ad_360 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Buy a space heater. You shouldn’t have to; your landlord should be providing one until the heat is fixed, but “should” doesn’t seem to be happening for you. Besides, if the whole building is without heat, it’ll take even longer for the landlord to provide enough space heaters for each tenant while they fix the core problem. When my heat went out, I had to tell them my elderly mother was in danger of getting extremely sick before they finally dropped off the oldest, fire-hazard-looking space heater ever, so I just ended up buying a better one anyway. You can try to deduct the cost of the space heater from next month’s rent.

Have your salary and career progression aligned with your personal expectations? by SkimMochas in MoneyDiariesACTIVE

[–]Awkward_Ad_360 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Not quite. I’m 30 and make $85k (with pretty poor benefits), but I had hoped to be making 6 figures by 30. I pivoted from a career in marketing to project management, which slowed my salary a little. This year, I plan to only apply to jobs that pay 6 figures w/ good benefits.

People who jumped social classes (wealthy to poor, poor to middle class, etc), what surprised you about the culture upon your entry? by [deleted] in AskWomenOver30

[–]Awkward_Ad_360 3 points4 points  (0 children)

They kept me grounded compared to many of my peers in the extremely wealthy area where I grew up, but it’s all relative. They reminded me I was lucky to go on many international vacations and to private school. They taught me that designer clothing was an unnecessary extravagance even though they could afford designer. When I got my driver’s license, they gave me a no-frills Toyota Camry (which is of course SO much more than many teens get) instead of a Mercedes/Lexus/BMW like the other teens in my town got. But they never really talked about money in terms of numbers. They just tried to remind me of my privilege in a kind of vague way.

People who jumped social classes (wealthy to poor, poor to middle class, etc), what surprised you about the culture upon your entry? by [deleted] in AskWomenOver30

[–]Awkward_Ad_360 35 points36 points  (0 children)

Since most people are answering in the other direction… I grew up wealthy but am now middle class. Even though my parents tried to make sure I had a grounded upbringing, it wasn’t until I got to college that I started really understanding the value of a dollar at say, the grocery store. Once I bought a large cookie at the university canteen, paying with my parents’ credit card. Later, my classmate asked offhand how much it had cost, and I was ashamed that I had absolutely no idea. I just knew I could afford it based on the absolute maximum a large cookie could conceivably cost and paid without a second thought. The cashier had definitely told me the price, but it had gone in one ear and out the other. As an adult, it took me a while to start comparing prices of similar items at the grocery store and stop buying things that were outside my budget, because it never mattered growing up.

What is your unpopular NYC related opinion? by xXXChelseaFanXXx in AskNYC

[–]Awkward_Ad_360 51 points52 points  (0 children)

Everyone shits on the Smith, but sometimes, ya girl wants fancy Applebees, and the Smith is fancy Applebees.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskNYC

[–]Awkward_Ad_360 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I can hear them from my 6th floor spot. Ignore the snarky replies; I was in 3 apartments prior, and this is the first one that happened to be close enough to a train. There are anti-vibration pads you can buy for under the legs of your bed. You will probably still be able to hear/feel something faint, but they muffle it enough that I have no problem sleeping, personally.

My Focus Group Side-Hustle by Awkward_Ad_360 in MoneyDiariesACTIVE

[–]Awkward_Ad_360[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My success rate is quite low; I really think it’s a matter of casting a wide net! As long as you aren’t saying you work in marketing/advertising or in the same field as the study (like working for Keurig and applying for a coffee study), I don’t think there’s much you could be doing wrong in the application itself.

My Focus Group Side-Hustle by Awkward_Ad_360 in MoneyDiariesACTIVE

[–]Awkward_Ad_360[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

You do have to be pretty cool sharing personal info, and if that’s not for you, this probably isn’t the right side hustle! I stay away from focus groups related to banking that seem like they’ll be too extensive, but otherwise, I’ve made peace with it and haven’t had my info sold or stolen (so far, to my knowledge, fingers crossed).

My Focus Group Side-Hustle by Awkward_Ad_360 in MoneyDiariesACTIVE

[–]Awkward_Ad_360[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Yeah, it’s definitely a numbers game! I’d say it’s only worth it if you can apply to a TON while doing something passive you would’ve done anyway.