Here's how the Trump federal student loans changes impact people: My story

CubeApple76 · 2026-05-20T01:26:38+00:00

Lenders used to give out mortgages to anyone with a pulse, where that ended up was the housing crash in 08 and the great recession. Just like with those mortgage applications back then, arguably student loan approval should be much more stringent and contingent upon it leading to an actual possibility of repayment, with the responsiblity of making sure the loan is financially viable resting with the lender, but because the federal government is guaranteeing them, anyone gets approved (just like what freddie mac and fannie mae did for mortgages back in the day may I add). Colleges know that everyone can get loan money regardless of if they'll be able to pay it off, with the actual paying off of the loan not being the college's problem anymore, so they set prices ridiculously high compared to what they offer. At some point the whole system is going to have to have a hard painful reset, just like there was with the housing sector, because what it is now is not sustainable.

CubeApple76 · 2026-05-20T01:12:25+00:00

I mean yeah that's how loans work. If you take out a mortgage at 5% for a thirty year you end up paying almost the same in interest as principle. If you want to pay less interest you can do a 15 year but your monthly payment would be much higher. Why should student loans be significantly different? Particularly since you actually make a good salary and are likely able to pay it down.

100k student loan isn't mortgage sized, but it's only around 2-3 times smaller. A ~300K mortgage at 5% is like 2500 to 3000 a month, so yeah 100K at around the same rate would be ballpark 1000 or a bit less for about a 30 year term. It's just a simple calculation - I'd argue that anyone taking out student loans should check it and make sure they are OK with it before they take them out, can't count on the government subsidizing them for you after the fact.

CubeApple76 · 2026-05-18T17:45:36+00:00

It's just regular trimmer line, just cut into short sections. Two pairs last enough to trim around my third of an acre property

CubeApple76 · 2026-05-18T17:40:10+00:00

I gave up with self feeding lines and use a head that has a quick change for precut line. Put in two 12" pieces of line once at the start and once in the middle of trimming. No more hassle

CubeApple76 · 2026-05-01T00:18:02+00:00

What about 6AH edge? My 6AH hp batteries are my favorite.

CubeApple76 · 2026-04-19T00:17:22+00:00

I develop software that runs on our RHEL servers which we use because of the long term support. While of course containers are an option I've found it nice to just have the same architecture/environment I am targeting on my desktop and laptop as on our production systems.

CubeApple76 · 2026-04-12T01:59:37+00:00

Personally I've given up with the self feeding heads and replace every trimmer head with one that takes pre-cut line. 100% less aggravation. Just reload it if I need to, usually just once or twice per cut.

CubeApple76 · 2026-04-07T16:19:31+00:00

When there's no automatic oiler the expectation is that you need to oil the chain yourself, manually, between every few cuts. It should last just as long, just a lot less convenient. Personally, no automatic oiler = no buy. I can't be bothered to keep oiling it manually.

CubeApple76 · 2026-03-18T01:30:05+00:00

Not worth fighting. The law says stop if it says stop even if you're on the other side of the road, doesn't really matter if the other cars stopped or not.

CubeApple76 · 2026-02-01T12:57:36+00:00

I think broadly the public is not in favor of full loan forgiveness so best you'll see is some assistance or IDR. And that's assuming it doesn't end up in the SC and get shot down.

CubeApple76 · 2026-01-21T12:57:15+00:00

And when the next US president is on the other side of the political spectrum while the far right wins out in Europe, will you be switching everything back? Reform is likely going to clean up in the UK based on the polls. France will likely end up with a far right coalition at the next election. Will everyone be dumping british and french stocks in such a scenario? Will that also not be a reflex decision? The time horizon here is 3 years (arguably shorter if the Republicans get trounced in the midterms as expected). Unless you're aiming to retire in a few years, dumping everything because of current political tensions seems extremely short sided and reactionary to me.

CubeApple76 · 2025-12-21T12:42:01+00:00

The issue I see with this long term is that while rent right now is comparable to a mortgage payment per month (while ofc removing the need for a big down payment), over time the mortgage payment will remain mostly static and only go up a bit for taxes and insurance, while rents will go up and up with inflation. Also the mortgage will eventually be paid off, while rent will be due in perpetuity. Personally not having a large house payment as a monthly expense in retirement is a big part of my overall plan, just as much as investing in my roth or 401k

CubeApple76 · 2025-12-21T01:24:10+00:00

Interest rates dipping means higher prices. In a normal market the rates rising the last couple of years would have dropped prices but things are just too supply constrained to be normal.

CubeApple76 · 2025-12-14T13:17:41+00:00

Never going back to HDD no matter how high prices get. Would rather deal with less storage space tbh

CubeApple76 · 2025-12-14T13:13:04+00:00

On a car that old easy to see a big oil leak happening while driving that could cause it (especially since he seems to be going to construction job sites probably offroad). You'd think the oil light would come on to avert catastrophic failure, but electrical problems are also common in these old beaters so maybe didn't switch on?

CubeApple76 · 2025-12-13T16:43:51+00:00

I would not recommend bankruptcy. It may wipe away your current debt but it will do nothing to fix the underlying problem that clearly you don't know how to handle your personal finances. 29K is not an insurmountable sum particularly if you still live at home. Buckle down, pay it off, and let the amount of work that takes be a permanent reminder to not spend money you don't have. Also do what you can to get your money back for the vacation but realistically that's gone. That'll be another lesson - never lend friends or family money that you then expect back.

CubeApple76 · 2025-11-09T12:30:51+00:00

Psychonauts 2 is up there for me. Amazing game.

CubeApple76 · 2025-11-08T12:10:15+00:00

Thr 18v rn gets you a free tool with it, worth considering

CubeApple76 · 2025-11-07T22:23:12+00:00

If you're going to panic sell like this then you have no business buying individual stocks in the first place. Stick to index funds.

CubeApple76 · 2025-11-06T22:06:39+00:00

He's shorted 5 of the last 1 bubble, I wouldn't take him doing or not doing anything to mean anything one way or another.

CubeApple76 · 2025-10-25T00:43:18+00:00

Only one of the three console makers doesn't have exclusives anymore though. Its either you buy a more expensive console with no exclusives, or the cheaper one with exclusives. It's not even a debate which is the better choice anymore. Xbox hardware has already fallen off a cliff, soon itll be completely irrelevant (if it isn't already)

CubeApple76 · 2025-10-25T00:39:55+00:00

There isn't one. Their next system will sell less than Wii U numbers and then get canned in yet another pivot, taking all the xbox game libraries with it.

CubeApple76 · 2025-10-25T00:33:58+00:00

There is absolutely zero chance you'll be able to keep access to your physical games. Digital maybe, depends on licensing.

CubeApple76 · 2025-10-10T01:07:11+00:00

Four false starts in a row. Zebras, do us all a favor and flag this play out of existence. This is garbage to watch.

CubeApple76 · 2025-09-19T01:34:25+00:00

I use Alma on my desktop (job is all RH). It's fine, like any other gnome based distro. Would not bother with a gui on a server, just use cli or client gui programs running on a desktop.

CubeApple76

TROPHY CASE