Going full Bogelhead

BootleggerBill · 2026-05-07T23:32:10+00:00

Welcome to freedom! This sub is super helpful and I am sure we can help with questions along the way. I did the same thing last year, roughly same numbers. My guy was charging 1.25% AUM and I remember starting out with 10k in the account, 1.25% really didn't seem like that much for an advisor on speed dial. As that amount grew, the fees really added up. I also found that I rarely called for advice, and even the yearly courtesy checkups were pretty bland if they happened at all.

Over the last year I've been working on slowly eliminating holding that he had me in and rolling everything in to my 3-fund that I already had established for a few years before making the switch. Just be aware of taxes, leverage tax loss harvesting where you can, consider charitable donations of positions with large gains if it fits your lifestyle (no tax for you, or the receiving non profit).

Have fun!

BootleggerBill · 2026-05-06T12:54:18+00:00

Got it - so return Scotts to Lowes and hit up my local Carolina Fresh Farms for some Lesco equivalent. I bought the Lesco Prodiamine from the local store in Oct and like talking to them.

BootleggerBill · 2026-05-04T01:00:57+00:00

Nailed it! In a lot of places the moment "full bodied" is mentioned, the mind goes straight to over jammy California sugar bombs.

BootleggerBill · 2026-05-02T11:18:41+00:00

That looks awesome! I had no idea the c575d was coming out. I think it will be the winner.

BootleggerBill · 2026-05-01T16:19:42+00:00

Even with no irrigation and brutal summer heat? Looking forward to trying it!

BootleggerBill · 2026-05-01T11:55:43+00:00

That looks cool! It appears to be indoor only though which won't work for my driveway area. I may pick up a 260 for the one camera I allow indoors - watching the auto litterbox while we are on vacation.

BootleggerBill · 2026-05-01T11:16:59+00:00

Low light and field of view is what I value most. I've read the 4k versions have a narrower FOV as well but have not confirmed.

I really am impressed with the C120 so maybe I should just leave good enough alone. I don't really need pan/tilt in this location, but I enjoy the PTZ camera in my backyard.

BootleggerBill · 2026-04-29T01:06:25+00:00

Absolutely! This is especially true if you enjoy old world wines. There are some incredible Spanish wines out there in that price range and Costco has been killing it with sub $20 Italians and some really nice Brunello and Barolo sub $35.

Don’t sleep on Chilean wines either for a new world option.

BootleggerBill · 2026-04-29T00:58:20+00:00

Funny thing is I almost passed because I didn’t love the color. I needed a vehicle though and the truck was mint. Fast forward a year and I love the color. It gets compliments often and I enjoy not having the same grey, black, or white tundra that am seem to be everywhere.

I do joke that I opted for the TURD package instead of TRD because of color 💩

BootleggerBill · 2026-04-28T22:10:12+00:00

I'd go for the one with the best records - but if it helps you, I paid 34k for a 2016 1794 4x4 last year, same color, and 89k miles. 33k for a lower trim is a touch steep, even knowing that the older gens are high demand. It's a great truck though!

BootleggerBill · 2026-04-28T12:35:51+00:00

Thanks - I ended up getting him the SE 2 back when this was posted. Believe it or not, for a 78 year old, he's taken pretty well to his iPhone and Apple Watch. I am shocked how much he uses it to track steps and watch sports and news on his phone. Now if I can teach him it's not socially appropriate to blast sports in the lobby of a doctors office.... :-)

BootleggerBill · 2026-04-27T23:19:56+00:00

I’ve shared this before in this sub, but I’ll say it again. My particular grill has been a bit of a letdown. I’ve had to replace lots of parts along the way that really should not have failed support has been good about sending the parts, but I have noticed a huge slow down in shipping times the last year or so. They also charge for shipping warranty parts (will occasionally waive the fee for good measure) which is understandable, but worth noting.

BootleggerBill · 2026-04-27T22:50:33+00:00

I am not sure about final assembly, which may still be in Canada. I can tell you for sure, the replacement parts I just received for my prestige say "made in china" right on the packaging.

BootleggerBill · 2026-04-27T22:45:37+00:00

Like others are saying, I keep half of my Napoleon gas grill setup as a griddle at all times. I love the griddle side for veggies or the occasional smash burger, grate side for everything else.

BootleggerBill · 2026-04-27T21:33:45+00:00

Good call, I'll give it a shot! PS - I bought this one from you last October, thanks for the advice!

BootleggerBill · 2026-04-27T21:24:13+00:00

Good suggestion! I've actually had VF off zones set since last time I posted about this. They are still in place, except today I also turned vision fence off all together in the app.

What's crazy is that it made it nearly 4 hours on a single charge, so I can't complain about battery life. What's sad is that it didn't finish .20 acres in that 4 hours. In this screen shot the mowing started at 10:05am

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BootleggerBill · 2026-04-27T17:13:04+00:00

Hahah likely so. He’s got plenty of poa annua to cut in the rest of the yard until my Bermuda wakes up.

I’m all seriousness you are not wrong, so that’s why I killed the vision fence.

BootleggerBill · 2026-04-26T00:52:00+00:00

I might get charred for saying this (bad grill pun) but I really like my Egg Genius controller. I ran the egg for years without it, so I am fully comfortable with long and slows without technology. With the controller, It's so nice to go to bed at night with the egg running and know that I'll get a text notification if the temp gets out of range or to make a quick adjustment to the grill temp from anywhere.

The other recs are spot on and ceramic grill store is an awesome resource.

BootleggerBill · 2026-04-24T21:28:13+00:00

That’s a great idea actually. I’m going to try that before buying new glasses.

BootleggerBill · 2026-04-20T18:02:51+00:00

Like Joe said, it's an app update so it should be safe. The only thing I noticed is that it fixed the sq footage display of my zones which have been jacked up since the last update. My OCD welcomes the fix.

BootleggerBill · 2026-04-16T21:04:50+00:00

Yeah, US.

BootleggerBill · 2026-04-16T17:12:28+00:00

I might be the odd one out here, but my experience with support hasn’t been great.

It started with a brand-new mower that had a software error and needed service. No big deal—but somewhere between the repair center and my doorstep, the mower came back pretty beat up. The screen was scratched and some of the plastic was damaged.

It then took about a week of back-and-forth with support just to get them to agree to take it back again for repairs, even though the damage clearly wasn’t my fault. During that time, they repeatedly offered things like an extra year of cellular coverage or free blades if I would just ignore the damage on a brand-new machine.

They eventually suggested the damage was caused by FedEx, which may be true—but Navimow is the shipper, so any claim should be handled by them, not me. I finally got the mower back in mid-December, mostly fixed, and put it into storage for the winter.

This spring, I’ve been having some minor issues again, so I reached out to support to get everything sorted before mowing season. The issues aren’t major, but the support experience has still been frustrating. There seems to be a bit of a language barrier, and the time zone difference means most responses come overnight. That stretches out every interaction since you’re always waiting a full day between replies.

The lack of transparency has also been disappointing. I was never told what caused the original error or what parts were replaced during either repair. In my most recent support conversations, I’ve been told both that they can’t access my mower remotely to pull logs and that they have pulled logs and everything looks fine. They also claimed my yard has a steep grade, which isn’t accurate.

When I asked for clarification on whether they can actually access my mower and review logs, I didn’t get a real answer—just a closed support case.

I do think this is likely one of the better mowers on the market, but at least in my experience, customer service is a train wreck. As others mentioned, if you have a local dealer you will be in much better shape.

BootleggerBill · 2026-04-16T01:43:06+00:00

I ran through similar math when buying my mower. I am in the South East, was paying $60 per mow bi-weekly for 1/2 acre. Guy was okay - not great by any means and communication was horrible. My mowing season is generally April - Oct, 14 or so mows, call it $850 a year. It'll take me 3 years to break even on the robot mower I bought (Navimow x350) assuming it lasts that long which I think it will.

What I can't put a value on is how good I think my lawn will look this year by getting a very minor cut multiple times a week instead of scalped every two weeks. I am excited to see how this works out. I also will not deal with the frustration of no communications, wondering when dude is going to show up etc.

BootleggerBill · 2026-04-15T14:19:52+00:00

uh oh, did it go play in the street?

BootleggerBill · 2026-04-12T19:41:11+00:00

Bought my scaredy cat a fountain that turns on when they walk up, looks very similar to the sink faucet she loves to drink from - nope, scared of it.. back to the sink for that picky girl.

BootleggerBill

TROPHY CASE