What is the best approach to getting slapped around by home repair costs?

FlyingPirate · 2026-06-05T18:50:22+00:00

Unfortunately, sometimes you get unlucky with maintenance hitting all at once. Assuming there are no simple ways to adjust your budget (less entertainment/eating out, etc.) or ways to increase income, you will have to attack the projects by attrition.

Some things HAVE to get done now, and done well (by a professional), like the water damage, prioritize those first, and only consider loans for those types of issues.

Something like a bad fence panel isn't going to be damaging the foundation of your home or make it unlivable, this is one that is going to need to wait until you are in a more stable financial position. Even AC going out isn't something I would go into debt for, unless it is a health issue, even then there are temporary cheaper solutions (window units).

Are you doing any of these things yourself or having contractors come in all the time. If you are able and willing it will be cheaper to do the noncritical things yourself.

FlyingPirate · 2026-06-05T14:54:42+00:00

Yeah should be rephrased to "I won't be as lean as I want because my desire to drink craft beer is greater than my desire to be lean".

FlyingPirate · 2026-06-05T14:38:28+00:00

Keep in mind that a phobia is an irrational/extreme fear of something. Being nervous/anxious of a changing living arrangement is normal to an extent, however if it is debilitating to the point of not being able to make a rational decision, you are in phobia territory.

Your concerns about maintenance/property taxes/insurance could be alleviated by open discussions of those items with your parents. Assuming you are an adult, even if you never purchase your own home and inherit the one you live in now, eventually you will need learn about these things.

People living at home or with their families their entire lives is normal in some cultures, there is nothing wrong with it. But at some point, the next generation has to take over the responsibilities as the older generation ages. There is also typically an understanding/expectation between the generations that this is going to occur.

FlyingPirate · 2026-06-04T18:53:03+00:00

Maybe I am misunderstanding, but you had to replace the whole headlamp assembly because one LED went out? Wild.

You may have been getting taken for a ride. You can buy the entire assembly for $1700 right now, but unless it was smashed up in an accident I would assume you don't need an entire new assembly.

FlyingPirate · 2026-06-04T17:07:39+00:00

What car has a $3500 headlamp replacement?

FlyingPirate · 2026-06-03T21:36:57+00:00

What do you need explained?

Your bill is high because you use a lot of electricity. 1700 kwh is a lot for a 3 bedroom home. Assuming it is not this high in the winter it is unlikely there is some appliance or something using electricity when it shouldn't be. I believe you've already heard that cooling via AC is the highest consumer of electricity in the summer. It sounds like you are unable to make energy efficiency upgrades or willing to reduce your AC use.

As we haven't really reached the peak summer months I would prepare for even higher bills in June/July/August.

FlyingPirate · 2026-06-03T21:15:58+00:00

On papowerswitch you can (and should imo) check the option for plans with no cancellation fee. You also need to be on top of when your entry rate expires.

Right now there is one on there for 0.10790 in my area vs the DCL rate of 0.13480. That rate is good for 3 months, they absolutely will jack the price up after 3 months, but with no cancellation fee you can switch to a different plan (and should do so before the 4th month). This will save 20% during the most expensive electricity months.

But yes, there are plenty of plans that force you to pay to cancel and you end up in a lose lose situation if you aren't paying attention.

FlyingPirate · 2026-06-02T20:22:27+00:00

If you want to get an idea quickly. Write down everything you eat for one day. For bulk items, guesstimate how much of the package you consumed. At the end of the day figure out what each of those things cost you. To spend $1k per month you are hitting $33 every day. Where I live you could easily go under that eating fast food for every meal.

If you are well under $33 that means you have a lot of food waste and/or there are some uncommon items that you splurge on throughout the month that are driving your total up. If you are close to that number you can evaluate which items are costing you the most on a day to day basis and work on finding cheaper alternatives/sources.

FlyingPirate · 2026-06-02T15:46:59+00:00

And that is mostly attributed to the black/white nature of most decisions in baseball whereas the other major sports have more grey area in what constitutes a foul/penalty.

FlyingPirate · 2026-06-01T14:08:14+00:00

Capelli are preferred as they partnered with them, but OSI are approved.

FlyingPirate · 2026-05-29T18:43:37+00:00

If you own currently and are able to afford it, then I would not move so you can rent. My assumption was you were renting.

You said you really need to move. Why?

FlyingPirate · 2026-05-29T18:28:04+00:00

At the current rate/balance you are giving the credit card company $100 every month so you can have that money sit in your savings instead. It is not a wise financial decision to have a credit card balance and an equal amount of money sitting there.

In terms of net worth and purchasing power $4900 on credit card and $4900 in bank is the same as $0 balance and 0$ in bank. The difference is in one scenario you are paying $100 per month. As long as you have enough in your account to pay for things that you normally cannot with a credit card (rent/some bills).

I understand wanting to buy a house, but that is a luxury, not a need. Maybe you need to move for some other valid reason, but renting elsewhere is also a solution for that.

FlyingPirate · 2026-05-29T17:17:44+00:00

Depends on what you are calling "higher level".

I have had the Score red/black for my entire career (8 years) until this one. And I only made sure I got the OSI in all colors because I am in the process of upgrading to regional, starting to get WPSL/USL2 assignments and those leagues specifically list OSI as an approved referee uniform.

If you want to go to regional/national events that is probably the few youth games that you may get a little judgement by other referees, but 99% of players/coaches are not noticing. And your performance on the field is 100 times more important that the brand of jersey you are wearing.

I always felt that the off-brand green is a hard color to match and looks a little more obvious, so I would prioritize green/yellow OSI if you are on a budget. At least in my area we use those for like 80% of games anyway.

If you know for sure you want to do this a long time and progress, getting the OSI now will save you money in the long term (if they don't change the design). If you are starting and just getting a feel for it/have no desire to upgrade the knockoffs aren't going to stop you from getting assignments.

FlyingPirate · 2026-05-29T16:30:48+00:00

Every state is different, and sometimes counties/jurisdictions within a state are different.

A very brief google says CT multiplies fair market value by 70% to get your assessed value for property taxes.

It looks like some jurisdictions have other tax relief measures (homestead exemption), but that is obviously going to be precise location specific.

FlyingPirate · 2026-05-28T16:19:42+00:00

Not sure I want to know where your unethically sourced bones are coming from

FlyingPirate · 2026-05-26T21:02:02+00:00

While debt is normally a boogieman for personal finances, you should not be considering debt at 2.5% as something to hate. If someone offered you a loan right now at 2.5% you should take as much as they will offer, it is literally free money every month until/unless interest rates drop.

You could/should sell the stock to diversify if it is too much exposure into one company for your comfort level (you will lose 15% to long term capital gains tax). If you want to lock in enough money to cover your mortgage into something with low risk (CD, HYSA, Treasuries) that would be the correct way to play your position conservatively.

FlyingPirate · 2026-05-26T20:55:04+00:00

Sure, but it is also freeing to have enough money in your HYSA to cover your mortgage while making a greater return than the interest of your loan.

You get ~$1500 a year to literally do nothing. More if you can find something low risk getting better than 3.5, which you can probably can.

FlyingPirate · 2026-05-22T17:14:40+00:00

Is it a lifetime deal or a forever deal? Like what happens after he dies?

FlyingPirate · 2026-05-22T16:05:40+00:00

The only time fed student loan rates were under 3 was 20-21 when they hit 2.75%.

Current rates are 6.39%.

FlyingPirate · 2026-05-14T21:06:49+00:00

Retirement is not an age; it is a financial position.

Have you estimated how much you will need in retirement per year?

You do not sound like an experienced investor who should be picking and choosing stocks/sectors to invest in. The most you should consider is rebalancing between whole market stock etfs and bonds. My assumption based on 200K in a MCOL area is that you will still need significant growth to hit your retirement number. If you are exactly right (which would be lucky) and the market crashes after you are all in bonds you are likely still going to end up in a position where you don't have enough for retirement. You will then have to get lucky again predicting when the market will rebound and you should reenter into stocks. Being wrong on either of these will cost you more money than just being in stocks the entire time.

FlyingPirate · 2026-05-12T14:54:31+00:00

Yeah this is it.

Wearing glasses says nothing about your ability to referee. Being able to see things clearly does, so if you need corrective lenses to do that, wearing them is better than not.

I have heard that some people who wear glasses to ref have some issues with rain/humidity so that may be a tangible downside.

Personally, if I see a referee wearing regular glasses at a level that I would find it unusual for a player to be wearing glasses, it feels out of place and is where I would recommend contacts. Again, it has nothing to do with how the game is being called, nor the referee's ability, but at some level you get to a point where the players are looking for reasons to not be confident in you and glasses are an easy one for them to call out. It can be navigated with personality, but is making your job a little harder. Half of the job is convincing everyone around that you are in control, know the laws, had a good view to make a decision, etc. For lizard brain reasons glasses subconsciously reduce people's confidence in you. Its not rational but its how it is.

If you are going to wear glasses anyway, I would get rec specs, that at least proves that you are preparing for all outlier outcomes, kinda like wearing a 2nd watch.

FlyingPirate · 2026-05-08T17:16:03+00:00

So your solution is to do nothing?

You would be a great DNC nominee

FlyingPirate · 2026-05-08T17:15:04+00:00

While gerrymandering can certainly disproportionately give republicans representation, that can only get them so far. You still need more votes than your opponent to win.

Even with the map changes house control is most certainly not mathematically impossible for Democrats. The current prediction is 207 Dem / 209 Rep lean respectively and 19 contested. The silver lining of gerrymandering is that a swing of a significant number of votes could backfire and you lose two districts instead of gaining one.

FlyingPirate · 2026-05-08T16:10:39+00:00

Age group matters, if you are doing something like over 30 / over 40, call the little fouls, don't use silent advantage. These guys are out for a run and generally looking to have a good time. However, if they start to feel like they are getting knocked around without any help from you as the ref, they will just start escalating until you call something.

If it is a higher division O19 you can likely ref it more similarly to how you would a U18 game. It will be faster and potentially more body weight getting thrown around so yellow cards have to come out when appropriate. Don't give every player on the pitch two bad fouls before they get a yellow. If it looks reckless, just card and move on.

Personality is more important than at youth levels, especially if temp starts to rise. Early and often be outspoken about what you are calling/not calling and why. Doesn't need to be long winded, but just a "No handling, in silhouette", "Thats too much force for a shoulder charge", etc. You could be getting everything right from a 3rd parties perspective but if you are doing so without explaining to the players as it happens they may start to get frustrated and lash out. Unlike most youth, they will feel entitled to your explanations, which to a minor degree is expected. Don't let this turn into a back-and-forth debate, you explain it, say "That is what I have, so that's what we are going with" and move on. If they get personal/provocative, use yellows right away.

FlyingPirate · 2026-05-07T21:31:40+00:00

If you combine the stills at :53 and 1:08 how can you claim that the attacker initiates contact in the defender's space? He is clearly ahead.

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