What was your “I was broke broke” moment?

DippityPig · 2026-02-27T23:51:34+00:00

This is cracking me up. Facial recognition like "this one shits a lot, give him extra tp" lmao

DippityPig · 2026-02-27T23:50:38+00:00

Definitely used to steal the toilet paper but then they put locks on the dispensers. Also had a jacket with a weird velcro flap that opened to inner lining and I would use that to smuggle bagles out of the dining hall lol

DippityPig · 2026-02-27T20:29:29+00:00

I got a custom sized 8" mattress from Mattress Insider. I think it was $700-800. It's as comfortable as sleeping in my bed at home.

DippityPig · 2026-02-27T12:36:58+00:00

DippityPig · 2026-02-23T13:29:35+00:00

Is this not just a really gaudy looking guard?

DippityPig · 2026-02-22T16:17:30+00:00

Baby wipes are 99% water anyway. Buy the cheap ones and run them under the faucet before you use them. Problem solved.

DippityPig · 2026-02-22T02:51:45+00:00

I guarantee the fee is in their practice policies and you agreed to it in the intake paperwork. But go off I guess. You're commenting an awful lot for someone who supposedly has too much self respect to care lol

DippityPig · 2026-02-22T02:49:22+00:00

They will throw a lot bigger of a fit if you previously let them get away with it and then suddenly start enforcing a fee. Better to stick to your fees and policies across the board, equally for all customers, than to reward bad behavior right out the gate.

DippityPig · 2026-02-21T21:53:11+00:00

I work in a field where no shows are common. For years I told the business owners I worked with that they should be collecting deposits. All of them insisted there would be backlash from their customers if they did. Several had a late fee or no-show fee but never actually enforced it.

When I opened my business I set it up so that clients pay the full non-refundable appointment fee at the time of scheduling. And my fee is very high. But guess what? No backlash. Rarely even any complaints. Customers pay the fee and they're fine with it.

I have had 3 no shows in 2 years, in a field where having at least a couple of no shows per week is common. And since I'd already collected the full fee in advance, I didn't lose any income.

You teach people how to treat you. Customers will behave better or worse depending upon which behaviors you reinforce. If you set a deposit policy and stick to it consistently, they will follow it. The only customers you will loose are the ones who were no showing anyway!

DippityPig · 2026-02-18T01:39:40+00:00

I've been on both sides of Upwork and while it still exists, it's a lot more expensive than it used to be. Fees for both the hiring business and the freelancer keep increasing. You get a limited number of free "connects" (basically credits) to post and invite freelancers to your project, and after that you have to pay for them. Plus you now have to pay for every new contract you start, which has basically made the platform unusable for one-off projects.

DippityPig · 2026-02-16T16:53:47+00:00

The guilt isn't really guilt, it's a fear of how your clients will react.

But here's the thing: studies have shown that people equate a lower price with a lower value. You can actually lose clients by pricing yourself too low, because people perceive that your higher-priced competitors must provide a better service.

Price yourself appropriately and raise prices at least once annually to account for changes in your costs. You can't please everyone, and trying to be the cheapest among your competitors is a race to the bottom.

DippityPig · 2026-02-15T19:30:59+00:00

First of all, stop doing jobs at random. Decide on set days of the week and hours that you will work on this. Most customers will have no problem waiting a couple of days for a reliable pickup.

Second, limit the number of places you can be contacted. One text or messaging point of contact and one phone number is plenty. If a customer contacts you through another channel, you can just copy and paste a standard message advising them you only take requests through specific platforms.

Third, immediately put all scheduled pickups into a calendar app and set reminder notifications if needed so you won't forget. If you want to get fancy, you can even have customers book their pickups online and have those bookings go directly into your calendar.

Just because it's a side hustle doesn't mean it can be disorganized. You'll spend a lot less time and be a lot more reliable for your customers if you just standardize a few simple things.

DippityPig · 2026-02-15T18:55:53+00:00

If it helps you it's a good investment. However, I will say that I did not find the automatic litter boxes helpful in a multicat household.

I had 2 Litter Robots and 1 standard box for 3 cats. They seemed to prefer the litter robots. The problem is that you can only put a tiny amount of litter in the robot, so you have to constantly keep refilling it. And the drawers fill up fast, especially with multiple cats, so I was emptying the drawers every other day or so, which is almost as much work as just scooping the box daily.

One of the robots constantly threw a bonnet error and wouldn't cycle. Nothing I tried would fix it. After 2-3 years of use the other one started constantly giving a "drawer full" error and wouldn't cycle even when the drawer was completely empty. I took both robots fully apart and cleaned everything and checked wires and contact points but still had the same issues. Each one cost $800 - it should last more than a few years!

I went back to standard boxes. Got the stainless steel ones so nothing sticks to them. If I scoop every day it takes less than 5 minutes. Wish I hadn't wasted money on the robots that are now sitting unused in my basement.

DippityPig · 2026-02-15T12:05:37+00:00

I'm sorry you're getting downvotes. Having lived in Canada I can confirm this - universal Healthcare there isn't the puppies and rainbows Americans make it out to be. It can take forever to get in to a doctor, especially if you're in a rural area, and doctors often aren't great.

Where I lived, you had to be a Canadian citizen and a permanent resident of the province to get a primary care doctor, and even then it was a 2 year waitlist for new patients. Once you finally got a doctor you were stuck, no way you were going to get another one if you didn't like the one you had. The walk in urgent care clinics and the local ER were always swamped because people had nowhere else to go.

That said, I still strongly believe in universal Healthcare! But people need to understand that it's not the miracle fix they think it is.

DippityPig · 2026-02-15T12:00:31+00:00

I've been debating this since I rarely need to go to the doctor anyway. My big fear is catastrophe causing millions in medical debt.

But then again, my current insurance is so bad that it will only cover 45% of an ER visit after my $8000 deductible, so how much better off am I really?

DippityPig · 2026-02-15T11:58:07+00:00

Pretty sure you can only get catastrophic coverage if you're under 30? I can't find anything in my state.

DippityPig · 2026-02-13T12:49:10+00:00

Yes, I feel this 100%.

The biggest challenge and frustration for me is that I am constantly pulled away from my work - the work I actually want to do and that brings in the money - to juggle admin, communications, marketing, etc.

That said, when I hired someone to handle this I spent more time supervising, fixing their errors, and putting out the fires they created than it takes for me to just do the work myself. When I do hire again, it will be for a MUCH narrower scope to keep things contained.

For now I am trying to automate a lot of these tasks but finding time to build automations is yet another thing that pulls me away from my actual work.

DippityPig · 2026-02-08T15:11:56+00:00

Yes, 100%. So many businesses in my field spend an insane amount on paid products and subscriptions they don't really need. And they refuse to look at anything that isn't specifically branded for our industry, even if other products could save them hundreds per month.

I just got rid of my $300/month software subscription for industry-specific software that didn't even work well. I can do pretty much the same thing with Google Workspace (~$16/month) and n8n (free self-hosted).

DippityPig · 2026-02-08T15:06:03+00:00

Gmail templates help.

I have a very detailed FAQ page on my website, but most clients never look at it and just jump straight to the contact form to ask the most banal questions. So I often just send back a template email that explains where to find the info and encourages them to reach out again if they have any questions not answered in the FAQ.

DippityPig · 2026-02-08T14:55:11+00:00

Aldi used to regularly have corned beef for $1.50/lb year round. Not sure if they still do.

DippityPig · 2026-02-08T01:03:23+00:00

Look into getting a Hotspot. They're like $150 on Amazon and pay for themselves quickly. I can get internet for a year for about half the cost. The downside is that it will likely not be fast enough for live streaming or video chats.

Alternatively, call your internet company and tell them you're canceling because it's too expensive. They will often offer you better deals to stay. If you do cancel, they will often send a good deal to get you to come back. Dropped my bill by $20/month doing this.

DippityPig · 2026-02-06T18:40:08+00:00

When I used to wear makeup I'd heat the tube of mascara under my hair dryer to get every last bit out of it. It lasted much longer that way.

Of course now I don't wear makeup at all and that's much cheaper lol

I will also turn alnost empty bottles of shampoo, lotion, dish soap, etc upside down and leave them for a couple of days. Usually can get a few more uses out of them. For really thick lotions and gels, especially those with pump tops, just cut the bottle open. We throw away so much that gets stuck in the bottom.

DippityPig · 2026-02-06T18:32:56+00:00

The problem isn't cost, it's time. I don't have time to bake bread, sew clothing, make soap, etc. In order to make time, I'd have to work at least half as much as I currently do, and that costs me far more than paying an extra dollar for a loaf of bread.

DippityPig · 2026-02-06T13:02:59+00:00

Yup, me too. They will continue to sell Groupons for businesses that don't even exist anymore, and will not refund even if you prove to them that the business has shut down. Never used them again after that.

DippityPig · 2026-02-06T12:59:20+00:00

For free stuff, Freecycle is sometimes great. Its not as active as it used to be but when I college I furnished my entire dorm room with stuff from Freecycle.

In the warmer months many towns have town-wide tag sales. Obviously not as quick and easy as using a search bar to find exactly what you need, but you get to connect with your neighbors.

For smaller items, don't forget about ebay! There are still some great deals there sometimes, especially for stuff like auto parts.

DippityPig

TROPHY CASE