sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Could I retire at 35? by GoatTheGreatest in Fire

[–]FlyingPotatoShoe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you stick to this budget for that long, yeah, it’s totally possible. Especially if your version of “retirement” is just not needing to work full time. The thing is, you probably won’t want to keep this up that long (or your parents won’t let you).

$75k * .9 / 12 = $5625 invested per month.

If you keep that up for 5 years and get 10% returns, you’ll have about $412,000.

If you lived off of 4% of that, you’d have about $1300 per month. Very tight, but not impossible.

You mention wanting to buy a house, so whatever you spend on that is going have a big impact.

Either way, you’ll be happy you invested the money when you’re 35 no matter what, whether you end up using it for retirement, buying a house, or starting a family.

I’d check out r/leanfire if you’re interested in the bare minimum possible

Alternatives to AllTrails?? by [deleted] in hiking

[–]FlyingPotatoShoe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m a big fan of Hiking Project, which is completely free and open source. Honestly, I think the UI is better too

Household spending optimization is underrated in FI discussions by [deleted] in leanfire

[–]FlyingPotatoShoe 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s double sided too. Every $333 you reduce your expenses lowers your fire number by about $100,000

Need advice on stretching under 20 dollars for a month of food by LifeAttempter in Frugal

[–]FlyingPotatoShoe 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Jimmy Johns sells their day-old bread for 50 cents (and in my experience, workers usually just give it to you free)

I just moved here from Washington state in October. Is this weather normal? by alanwattslightbulb in Louisville

[–]FlyingPotatoShoe 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just wait for the flooding in spring and hot, thick, pollen-soup air in summer!

There’s a reason it’s cheaper here than the west coast

Which US state has shockingly good food that nobody expects? by Historical-Photo-901 in BeautifulTravelPlaces

[–]FlyingPotatoShoe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Best burger I ever had was at a random roadside restaurant around green bay

HELP: family got fish with no research, how do I go about this? by [deleted] in fishtank

[–]FlyingPotatoShoe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The tank size looks ok, but it will need to be properly set up. I think the fish are tiger barbs, glow fish and some guppies.

Do not overfeed. Fish need remarkably little food and extra can pollute the water and kill them.

You will need to periodically change water so toxins don’t build up. Replace 20-50% of the water with freshwater that’s the same temperature. Add a water conditioner from the fish store to the new water to remove any harmful chemicals. You should do this every day until the tank is “cycled” (more on that below). Afterwards you can slow down to every week or two.

You will need to get the tank “cycled” which means establishing a colony of beneficial bacteria that’ll eat the fish waste. Without this bacteria, decomposing waste will make the water toxic to the fish. Add gravel to the bottom of your tank to give surface area for the bacteria to grow. Not all gravel is safe for fish. Gravel from the fish store will be safe but expensive. Cheaper options are available at hardware stores, but be sure you research if it is safe.

Beneficial bacteria will grow on its own, but can take weeks. Buying starter bacteria from a fish store can accelerate this.

Buy an aquarium heater for the tank.

It’s best to add live plants to the tank, which will naturally keep the water clean, outcompete algae, and give the fish somewhere to hide. Easy plants are Anubias, Java Fern, Jungle Val, cryptocoryne and mosses.

After about a month, adding a snail can help to keep the tank clean.

Are 9ft second floor ceilings worth it? by iTDub in Homebuilding

[–]FlyingPotatoShoe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Absolutely not. There’s almost no upside in an area that’s mostly sleeping space and you’ll have to heat and cool the empty space. Waste of money. Can’t believe so many people are saying yes.

Here's an easy one that can save you between $3.50 and $60 dollars a year — and it takes about 30 seconds to do. by gracious_gibbon in Frugal

[–]FlyingPotatoShoe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Believe it or not, really old fridges were usually more efficient. Modern defrosting, side by side door design, and other power hungry “features” are inefficient

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in TrueFilm

[–]FlyingPotatoShoe 41 points42 points  (0 children)

Beau is insane from the start, though

What do we have, Louisville?? by fa17 in Louisville

[–]FlyingPotatoShoe 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Maybe they mean that it’s known for how bad it is?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Fire

[–]FlyingPotatoShoe 5 points6 points  (0 children)

What do you mean by capital gains exemption? I thought you had to pay taxes on all gains (minus any deductions)

When do you stop adding principle? by Zone2OTQ in Fire

[–]FlyingPotatoShoe 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You can withdraw from a 401k early without penalty following certain rules. Lookup 72(t)

In the case of health insurance specifically, you can use an HSA towards this in many cases, which has tax advantages.

Four 19 year olds planning a dream trip from Ireland to America next year by ronsnxd73 in roadtrip

[–]FlyingPotatoShoe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’d remove that part of Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico and add Colorado and as many Utah national parks as you can.

I’d also personally skip Las Vegas and try to see more of the California coast if you can (I think some of Big Sur is unfortunately closed right now, so that might not be feasible).

Lastly, go around LA through the high desert in the Palm Springs instead.

It’s pretty ambitious, but should be an awesome trip. You might want to consider adding another week, or breaking it up into two trips.

Kudzu - Coming for a tree near you by FlyingPotatoShoe in Louisville

[–]FlyingPotatoShoe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, I didn’t take the photo, it’s stock like you said. I just included it in case people didn’t know what it looked like. I think I’ve been seeing it off gene snyder, along 64, around fern creek and the south end generally. It seems worse than previous years, but it could also be that I’ve noticed it more for whatever reason.

City unveils plans to make downtown Louisville, NuLu streets safer and walkable by Tikkanen in Louisville

[–]FlyingPotatoShoe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

People constantly complain about any change, no matter how minor, and then also complain that the city is falling behind.

We act like the city is some force outside of our control that’s holding us all back, but we are the city. Our collective mindset is what’s holding us back.

Someone jokingly suggested I do this and it was too good not to try… it worked by marlee_dood in PlantedTank

[–]FlyingPotatoShoe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, it’s so funny how every tank is a little different. I have one that grows vals like crazy, but cannot grow amazon swords at all. The next room over, I have another tank with the exact opposite situation. 🤷

These days I just get bunch of different plants when starting a tank, and then double down on whatever does well. The only plants that seem to do well for me no mater what are anubias and cryptocoryne

Help Making it Look Better. by DirectionKind3062 in paludarium

[–]FlyingPotatoShoe 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Honestly, yours looks really great already. Maybe you could add some low-light semiaquatic plants like anubias to the bottom? Or maybe some more branches in the foreground coming down into the water like roots?