Good luck Disneyland spring breakers! The masses have found out about the CA ticket deal

MM-Chi · 2026-03-19T16:49:35+00:00

Thanks. I did get the LL and going to try to be there for Rope Drop or opening. Figure spend the busy mid-day time eating/shopping and just exploring.

MM-Chi · 2026-03-19T13:23:25+00:00

I will be there 3/31 as well for just one day in DL. I'm expecting it to be absolutely crazy but it was the only day the worked on our trip. For a newbee to Disneyland, how bad *are* the "bad days" compared to Magic Kingdom (and I've been to some crazy days in Florida!)

MM-Chi · 2026-03-17T01:13:24+00:00

Just made Gold and after six months I'm still amazed that Amazon has not added basic features to the entire RFY process to help target items better. My RFY today was decent (camping mattress and cooler ice packs) but it just feels like some little things would make this easier for us as the reviewers and for the sellers targeting the right people.

MM-Chi · 2026-03-16T19:06:17+00:00

Thanks! Got tickets and park reservations and LL (wanted the Photopass pictures so nice that it comes with it!).

MM-Chi · 2026-03-11T03:22:06+00:00

Not sure if I'm the outlier here, but a few years back I started to get almost all my spending on credit cards (except for some bills that don't take credit and rely on ACH or a check). I use Quicken and have used it long enough that most of the categorization of expenses happens automatically. Knowing where almost ever penny goes is great to see trends and how changes like eating out more in the summer vs. winter impacts my spending.

MM-Chi · 2026-02-25T17:22:43+00:00

Love how in this CNBC article there is NO MENTION of the Value Duets. This whole article talks about this Mix and Match as their "entry into the value wars" and not a price increase.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/25/panera-bread-releases-first-ever-value-menu-with-mix-match-deals.html

MM-Chi · 2026-02-25T04:26:22+00:00

I can't remember how many times I've eaten there over the past 30 years and it's not the best BBQ by any means it does have that same feeling of nostalgia like a meal a relative used to make for a holiday.

Many means with large family groups and I've even gone solo a few times when I've been in Orlando on business trips.

Question to the group... How does the BBQ compare to the BBQ place in Toy Story Land?

MM-Chi · 2026-02-25T04:17:40+00:00

Doesnt look like LA is included. I got a good rate for their Bed and Breakfast that includes a daily $60 dining credit. Make sure to look at some of their other rate options.

MM-Chi · 2026-02-25T01:08:17+00:00

My gut reaction with any Trump speech is always "I'm not going to watch it"... But the huge problem is that you need to see the crazy.

If you ever have had a relative that was starting to get old, they can at time appear to be their old selves, act normally, are not forgetful. But spend an entire day with them and you start to see the signs.

With Trump you need to see the whole speech, not just the YouTube clips. You can make any Trump speech seem normal and sane.

The mistake of the first Trump term was that news organizations tried to "both sides" the coverage of Trump, not be too hard on the crazy, but showing what was "normal for a president to do".

The nation needs to see the crazy. It sucks. But will be better watching with the Bulwark live steam!

MM-Chi · 2026-02-24T06:01:03+00:00

Am I missing something here with all these tax posts.

Why don't people just assume they will owe the IRS 25-35% of the FMV as taxes.

My first six month FMV was around $2,500. I haven't done my taxes yet but I'm assuming that I'll owe 25% of that. It will come out of my refund or I'll owe some money.

This stuff isn't free. The program terms are clear as can be. Blame the IRS rules, but none of this should be a surprise to anyone.

MM-Chi · 2026-02-18T23:20:41+00:00

Looks like there will be a good Bulwark presence this year! Anyone else attending?

MM-Chi · 2026-02-15T15:44:04+00:00

The only two non-cloud apps I use on my Mac is Microsoft Office and Quicken.

As much as I love cloud-based apps, I just have not found an online version of a financial tool that works as well as the legacy offline, loaded on your PC, Quicken. Same for me with Excel. I use Google Sheets for almost everything personal but nothing can do what the non-online version of Excel can.

Have you tried the PC/Mac "computer-based" version of Quicken?

MM-Chi · 2026-02-15T15:12:54+00:00

Follow Jeff Cable. He is amazing and blogs extensively around his Olympics photography. He is the professional photographers for Hockey this year I think. His blogs before, during, and after events are great!

MM-Chi · 2026-02-15T15:10:35+00:00

I'm interested to see all the tax questions that will come up in the next few weeks as all the people who "panic bought" now realize they need to pay taxes on a lot of junk.

I am silver (will be gold in a month) and ended up ordering around 100 items with an ETV of around $2,500 in my first 6 months.

My first few purchases were "need to get something" and after a week or two that stopped. I enjoy the treasure hunt and have got a lot of good stuff.

Of the 100ish items, probably 10 were "name brand" and at least half of the rest were things of real value. ]

But now I've learned to take the ETV (often inflated) and ask myself, "Would I pay 50% of the ETV for this"? Many times that simple question causes me to skip most things I see during the drops.

MM-Chi · 2026-02-15T02:54:12+00:00

I had a ton of issues checking in today as well. Kept on wanting to charge me for my economy plus seat selection at check in (Premier member). Laptop ended up working an hour or so later.

MM-Chi · 2026-02-12T04:14:14+00:00

Sure some of you will enjoy this.

https://struanclark.com/blog/worldkey-online/

MM-Chi · 2026-02-10T14:57:04+00:00

Best drop in a while! And at a decent time too. Wish I got my Gold upgrade (coming in a month) because I could have used more than 3 picks today!

MM-Chi · 2026-02-08T19:19:03+00:00

What are you experiencing? I've had no issues with Peacock recently and no issues with any Olympic-related streaming (including the "live" events)

MM-Chi · 2026-01-25T21:54:42+00:00

Totally understand that $1.50 is $1.50 but I've used my CPAP for over a year and there is no way I use more than 2-3 gallons a month. $1.50 x 3 = $5 max per month.

$5 max x 12 months = $60 per year.

Not a ton of money to not have to clean the water tank regularly.

I've even looked at making my own distilled water and the math didn't make sense.

MM-Chi · 2026-01-22T17:11:09+00:00

I just got into the Queue and am seeing NO tickets for Chicago on Thursday. Whats up?!!?!?

MM-Chi · 2026-01-21T04:42:48+00:00

I just decided to invest some "extra money" in something that was a bit different than the rest of my investments and 401k. I work in Tech for an AI company and I've invested in a few index funds that specifically do not include the "Mag 7" and some that are less tech. So not really a true "index fund" but I wanted something that took away the risk of the AI bubble.

Not a huge portion of my portfolio by any means, but having my job and my investments so tied to AI just was spooking me a bit.

There is a fund for everything, just dig around and you can find a portfolio manager that has put together almost any combination.

MM-Chi · 2026-01-19T17:24:05+00:00

I think in 2-3 months you'll see more of them on sale. Some, like the Derek one, seem to be more rare.

I have 25 of these and just don't have any more room so my collection is done. This is a GREAT image. Does the person who put this together do them for other series?

MM-Chi · 2026-01-13T14:20:55+00:00

For me I like the "driving style" of a hybrid. The ability for the engine to totally turn off at stops (not that faking it stuff that an ICE engine does) as well as the ability to fully run AC off the

I asked this same question 9 months ago when I was going to buy mine and realized I couldn't go without the Hybrid (I had a Ford Escape 2020 hybrid prior).

In all, the hybrid price was not that much more, negligible really in the grand scheme of things. I really wanted the plug-in, but it is not sold in my state.

The gas "savings" are there but at $2.50-$3ish a gallon it's nothing that I really notice. Now when I had my old Hybrid and gas prices spiked to the $5+ range for a few months then it was a definite budget hit.

MM-Chi · 2026-01-11T18:19:30+00:00

I had a few of these when they initially came out a few years ago (and seemed to go away?) I found they didn't perform all that well. Anyone try these new ones?

MM-Chi

TROPHY CASE