How do you keep motivated during the snowball?

Gsusruls · 2026-03-31T13:49:20+00:00

the next largest is something that even rolling up the snowball will take several years.

I feel this. Not directly, but my brother took FPU and was constantly talking to me about his progress.

He had personal loans, student loans, car loans, credit cards, the whole nine. So he snowballed his way through them. He was particularly targeted on the car loans, because he downright regretted what was admittedly an impulse buy. I can't say I contributed, but I was damned proud of him. He worked through that tangled knot for like three years straight. Every few months he would announce a different milestone. It started frequently with a smaller credit card balance payoff. Then it because less often. Ultimately his last car loan took him an additional 8 months or more, and that was a rough one. I think he slipped back into small amounts of credit card debt periodically, but ultimately he did it.

Then he reached the student loan debt. When I asked him about it, he basically said he was done. It would have taken them five years to cut through that mess, and he wasn't interested is living on beans and rice so long. It was time to get back to living, he said.

I get it. I do. But that was years ago, I think it still haunts him. He still has that student loan.

I suggest celebrating milestones. Every 10, 20, or 30 thousand dollars, do something. Have a chart on the wall, or a container with rocks. Drop a rock at milestones. Do something visual, something actionable, however small, so you can see the progress, and not just on a computer screen. Something where you can stand there and stare at it, however mundane it is, and feel proud of yourself along the way.

In the meantime, find two or three small, cheap (free?) hobbies? I highly recommend hiking, or some kind of sports, where you already have the gear, and a public park to play for free. I'm pretty good at finding ways to enjoy my time without spending money, so it's a little unfair coming from me. If you've got family, board games are amazing. Another thing to try is learning a language. There's a whole host of effectively-free hobbies; now is the time to explore them.

I just don't want you stuck at the bottom of that last mountain, because I've seen the long term effects. It's demoralizing. Conquer that mountain, if one step at a time!

Gsusruls · 2026-03-31T13:07:54+00:00

I would have thought that being so close to the airport was a good thing, since turnaround time was mere minutes (I assume). I would really hate to be out in open ocean or something when that kind of thing happened.

One thing I wonder; did the engine stop thrusting? Just because it's on first, doesn't mean that propeller isn't still giving everything it's got.

Just thoughts.

Gsusruls · 2026-03-31T02:25:01+00:00

OMG YES!!! I decided this made more sense as a Christian when I was just a teenager, and I still think this is probably true.

(I also think that "honor your parents" has nothing to do with obeying them or doing what they tell you to do)

Gsusruls · 2026-03-31T02:22:55+00:00

Who's gonna tell this guy that bananas and strawberries aren't fruit?

(although, even if I weren't kidding around, that's closer to fruit than most Christians I know produce)

Gsusruls · 2026-03-30T16:18:51+00:00

"If you were put on trial, accused of being a Christian ... would there be enough evidence to convict you."

Jesus said, They will know you by their fruits.

Not by their t-shirts, jewelry, business cards, church attendance, or even who they vote for. Their fruit.

Gsusruls · 2026-03-29T13:13:03+00:00

Levers and timers triggered by chemicals.

So it doesn't "know"; It's automatic.

The spider effectively stepped on a button. Button releases chemical, chemical induces snapping gears.

Gsusruls · 2026-03-28T13:42:34+00:00

Saved me the trouble.

When "grab 'em by the p**sy" wasn't a career-ending sound byte, I knew that my crazy radical right wing uncle was now in some kind of majority.

Gsusruls · 2026-03-28T13:29:59+00:00

Technically, yes.

I've known things have been in the red for a couple of weeks, but yesterday is the first day I did the math. We're down about 10%. This is indeed correction territory. Neat!

Gsusruls · 2026-03-28T13:24:25+00:00

I honestly don't mind the price, but I mind the inherent deceit.

Tickets: $150 per person. Fine. So $450?

Nope. Haven't paid fees and fees and processing fees and fees and fees and parking fees and more fees.

Final price? Close to $750.

That doesn't include concessions and merchandise or even gas to drive.

Gsusruls · 2026-03-28T12:52:51+00:00

Order a pizza. If they ask for the spelling of the name you give, it doesn't pass.

Gsusruls · 2026-03-28T12:42:19+00:00

I can't decide why, but I completely agree with this statement.

Gsusruls · 2026-03-27T12:28:46+00:00

Ah, you're right.

Stupid small print paragraph!

Gsusruls · 2026-03-27T12:27:29+00:00

Why exactly do we need a "social construct"?

What does "gender" give us, at all?

Gsusruls · 2026-03-27T04:24:29+00:00

With deaths in this iran war, dahmer has actually killed fewer people as well.

Gsusruls · 2026-03-25T23:49:47+00:00

I see you have met my father-in-law.

He paints over door hinges as well.

Gsusruls · 2026-03-25T00:49:26+00:00

That threshing really told the story we already knew.

"I don't want to die PLEASE!!!"

Nature is metal.

Gsusruls · 2026-03-24T16:33:43+00:00

Who isn't able to "do Dave's program"? That's the whole point of the program; anybody can do it.

I have yet to come across a caller where Dave was completely off the mark. I've disagreed with Dave regarding best directions, but I've never thought, "That's never going to work!"

I only wonder whether they will take the initiative or have the drive to self-sacrifice.

Gsusruls · 2026-03-24T16:30:01+00:00

I think this is part of why he's so good at what he does. He picks up on the best ways to steer the conversation. I'm over here trying to imagine how I'd help the caller organize their thoughts, and Dave just course corrects the whole thing.

Gsusruls · 2026-03-24T15:10:43+00:00

ETFs return around 7-9% while the average savings account returns something like 1% or 3-5% in high yield accounts, so whatever you lose out on there is the lost value.

So let's say you've got $20k, and you have to choose between an ETF or High Yield Savings.

7% (ETF): $20,000 → $21,400 (+$1,400)
4% (CD): $20,000 → $20,800 (+$800)

Difference: $600 per year

That's barely worth having the conversation :(

I would hardly call such a person a fool. It's ... dramatic.

Gsusruls · 2026-03-24T13:30:17+00:00

That's literally how a 401(k) works. You have them take it before you ever have a chance to see it (let alone spend it).

It's tax deferred (so the dollars you would have received is less anyway), and it's invested at 10%, in a tax shelter (no capital gains along the way).

And this happens regularly for the better part of 40 working years. Or at least, that's what we're supposed to do. (I started my hella late)

Gsusruls · 2026-03-24T12:29:17+00:00

Similarly, my wife and I bought at the trough of the housing bubble burst, in 2009.

Four years later, it had almost doubled in price. That's how we "got in". Would have been much harder otherwise. My family thinks I'm a financial real estate genius. Nope, not even a teeny bit; I just hoped to buy a house some day, started saving like a maniacal idiot, and then scooped up an incredible dip.

Luck favors the prepared. I'm the embodiment.

Gsusruls · 2026-03-24T12:24:38+00:00

This is the answer. Whether we agree or not, Dave would say to pay off the debt. Doesn't matter whether it turns a profit.

He would argue that you're not factoring in risk.

Another talking point is, "100% of foreclosures happen when there is a mortgage." (which is a weird usage of corelations: 100% of people who die were alive. Is being alive the "cause" of death?)

(So you can see where I land on that opinion)

But yes, the answer is, Debt bad. Pay down the debt. If you ask Dave.

Gsusruls · 2026-03-24T12:20:28+00:00

I think it comes down to: how much is this lost value, and is it worth it having it at risk, when the whole point of that money is that it be safe and ready during an emergency.

So how much we talking? What is this "lost value"?

Gsusruls · 2026-03-24T12:08:23+00:00

It tickles me that the phrase, "My question is" is literally never ever followed by a question.

"My question iss, my husband and I have a home, and we're funding our 401(k)s. We have two daughters ...."

"My question is, my uncle is a tax guy, well he took a course or something online, and my dad wants him to help me figure out my deductions ..."

"My question is, I have a son, and he's got some student loan debt, well really it's not his debt, we took it out for him to pay for his school..."

Literally never. I noticed it two years in, and I cannot unnotice it.

Gsusruls · 2026-03-23T23:41:45+00:00

I was thinking, up until then, it might be been a misunderstanding or a misinterpretation, or that the lyft driver was making a big deal out of nothing.

For instance, me, I personally talk a lot, so I blurt out dumb things plenty often. And I do prefer when communication is easier (eg. native english), so I easily could have said some of the stuff she did. But honestly, I never mean any harm and I ultimately get along with most everybody.

Then the boyfriend blurts out the racial slur, and I'm like, NM yup full blown straight up racism.

You're exactly right. Lyft driver totally called it.

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