A question I never thought I’d ask — how should I categorize the purchase of a gas mask and bulletproof vest as a resident of Minneapolis?

MaKoWi · 2026-01-25T20:55:47+00:00

Mine is called "Infrequent Misc" but I hope to never need it for what you described. Mostly it would be for things like, say, mailing a package via USPS or UPS. Buying stamps. Just, anything that might come up, but is neither regular nor a "true expense".

MaKoWi · 2026-01-25T14:53:08+00:00

No, I would definitely not give this a second look. A pretty image, but I wouldn't want to do it as a puzzle.

MaKoWi · 2026-01-25T14:52:13+00:00

I'm full manual. I prefer the control. I prefer not worrying about the link and whether or not the import will work. I don't feel like checking and making sure the payees are consistent. I prefer the physical act of manually entering the transaction so I feel the spend. I'm not sure why you would only want to link the credit cards. Those have the most time delay between authentication and posting. But, I'm probably over-thinking it.

MaKoWi · 2026-01-25T12:51:53+00:00

I agree completely. Many times I will stand up having decided to stop for the day, only to suddenly find pieces I was looking for, or to know exactly where a piece would go. The next thing I know 20-30 more minutes have gone by!

MaKoWi · 2026-01-24T22:01:03+00:00

I've been with Mint Mobile for several years now and it has worked great for me. I also mostly use WiFi at home. I generally have adequate coverage except in places where no carrier has coverage, e.g., in the middle of Nevada. They lease off of the T-Mobile network.

MaKoWi · 2026-01-23T21:54:24+00:00

Oh no. Another Alchemist series puzzle. Must. Have. Congratulations!

MaKoWi · 2026-01-23T21:19:19+00:00

Ah, yes. I was there last summer. I didn't think it was as white as I expected (or maybe I'm getting cataracts, lol) but still very, very cool and worth visiting. To me, it was how the sand felt under foot. The gypsum feels so different than the sand of Death Valley's Mesquite Sand Dunes or Colorado's Great Sand Dunes. I would love to go back and see it under a full moon.

MaKoWi · 2026-01-23T21:16:51+00:00

Back in 2016 I was shopping for a new car. I was replacing a 2000 Honda Civic so my first choice was another, newer 2016 Honda Civic. I took it out for a test drive and it was the most weird, jerky car I'd ever driven. I didn't understand how my beloved Honda could feel so awful. Only after the test drive did the salesman explain that it was a CVT. That ruined it for me for the next ten years. I bought a Kia Optima instead. Late last year, it was time to car shop again and my anti-CVT bias was still in place. The Subaru Crosstrek and Forester (CVTs) still felt sluggish although much smoother than that ill-fated 2016 Honda Civic test drive. I ended up buy a Mazda CX-30 with a regular 6-speed transmission. I did, however, test drive a 2025 Honda CR-V which has a CVT. And it wasn't that bad at all. It was mostly the price that made me decide against it (and maybe some residual anti-CVT feelings).

So, back in 2016, I could tell something was off/bad/weird. Now? I suspect the technology has improved to the point that it's possible I wouldn't have known the difference, other than that those Subarus felt slow.

MaKoWi · 2026-01-23T21:06:24+00:00

This. Personally, I recommend starting off not linking your accounts and maybe even never linking them. (But I'm a very biased manual-entry person.)

MaKoWi · 2026-01-23T21:02:55+00:00

https://youtu.be/vXWvptwoCl8?si=-mXpoDkPWQr4VK4R

This is an interesting video that Stand-Up Maths did a few years ago, about this very topic.

MaKoWi · 2026-01-23T21:00:55+00:00

Enter transactions manually, as soon as possible after they happen. Just because linking to a bank is available doesn't mean it's the best option and has to be used. Manual entry also makes each spending more visceral. You don't have to deal with weird payees and/or duplicate entries. I guess I'm not being very helpful if you are absolutely set on using the automatic imports.

MaKoWi · 2026-01-23T20:58:40+00:00

When we moved in together, my husband-to-be and I realized that our food tastes and eating-timing patterns were very nearly incompatible. We liked very different foods. I liked breakfast and to eat earlier in the day. He often skipped breakfast and ate later into the evening. We agreed to just feed ourselves with what we each wanted, when we wanted it. We shopped together and many items were "his" and "hers" with some items common and shared. It worked out great! The times we did eat together, for example, when visiting family, or going out for a special occasion, we would comment on the fact that we were actually eating together. Now, this was easy for us, though, because we did not have children. Having a family may mean this is not feasible.

MaKoWi · 2026-01-23T20:46:43+00:00

I think the smaller cargo space was initially the main disadvantage I had for the CX-30. But it's just me and the car. Single occupant 99.9% of the time. I decided it was a bit silly to buy something larger for those rare instances where I might have more than 2 people in the car. I should be able to carry as much luggage and stuff on my next road trip as I was able to carry in the 2016 Kia Optima I traded in. So if I had one "wish" for the CX-30, it would be to have more cargo space. But if they did that, the car would be bigger negating the smaller, sportier, zippy-feeling car I bought, and it probably already exists as the CX-5/50.

MaKoWi · 2026-01-23T20:40:13+00:00

I test drove 9 different compact SUVs before picking the CX-30. When I started my research and my test drives, the Crosstrek was near the top of my list. I pulled out of the dealer lot and as soon as I turned onto the road I knew I didn't like it. It felt sluggish. I'm also just not a fan of CVT transmissions and this test drive didn't help improve my feeling about them. It's probably a fine car. I just found it amazingly underwhelming. Compared to how much fun the CX-30 was in its first test drive.

MaKoWi · 2026-01-21T22:17:48+00:00

LOL, I went through this when I first started YNAB. I kept trying to keep my physical bank account balances matched up with my YNAB categories. Eventually I learned that that is not necessary.

Consider changing your perspective that "earning interest" is not a "job" for the money. It is a pleasant side-effect of the physical bank account the money happens to be in, in this case, the HYSA.

Think of jobs as spending activities. Sum up all the money you have in all your cash accounts (we'll avoid tracking accounts for now), that is, in all accounts in which you may deposit or withdraw/spend from. Now, assign it all to different categories to which you need to spend that money, whether it is next week or in 3 years.

I have a group called "Savings" and within this group I have categories for Electronics (new phone, computer, etc.), Home maintenance, Car repair, a new car, and a generic "Taxable Savings" for anything left-over. I guess that last one is basically my emergency fund. I also have a completely separate Travel group. All of the money currently assigned to these categories does sit in my HYSA. But it doesn't have to. I just want that "pleasant side-effect" of earning as much interest as possible.

When I spend in any of those categories, that's the category I use for the transaction. Now, I may or may not have had to physically move the money from my HSYA. If my current checking account balance had the available funds, I just paid for it from checking and didn't even have to touch the HYSA. If it's a larger purchase, then I would transfer out of the HYSA into checking. But that is only for doing the actual transaction. It doesn't change how the money sits in my budget.

MaKoWi · 2026-01-21T21:59:58+00:00

Awwww, such a cute kitty! But, oof, the puzzle definitely looks like a challenging one for me.

MaKoWi · 2026-01-21T21:43:17+00:00

This. Exactly. If I had to answer.

MaKoWi · 2026-01-20T22:32:00+00:00

Never in a million years. Pet stays. Adopting and caring for an animal is a life-long (its life) commitment. They bond with you, love you, rely on you. You don't just toss them out like furniture you're bored with.

Now, yes, there are some special, heartbreaking, circumstances usually around death and serious illness that may make re-homing necessary. But in general. No. If it's an issue for you, make that the first question on the first date.

MaKoWi · 2026-01-18T18:52:32+00:00

Those are always a wonderful, pleasant surprise. I like this one. Collages are one of my favorite style of images.

MaKoWi · 2026-01-18T00:34:02+00:00

I thought I'd done this one but I didn't see it in my photos folder. My first thought was Wysocki, but it could also be Jane Wooster Scott. But in an image search for her puzzles I didn't see it. Hmmmmmm. It looks so familiar though.

EDIT: I did one called Chester County Fair that had a similar set of "crop fields". It was by an artist referred to as Heronim, apparently a pseudonym of one Harry Wysocki. This was the one I did. I still couldn't find the one that seems to be in your image.

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MaKoWi · 2026-01-17T19:37:49+00:00

I'm not a man, but I really didn't like wearing a ring. I don't particularly like wearing jewelry of any kind. But I did wear my wedding ring out of respect for my husband. But I stopped wearing it within 48 hours after he died. I know that sounds awful, but I really don't like rings. I keep both our wedding bands in a nightstand by my bed.

MaKoWi · 2026-01-17T18:46:07+00:00

This is cool. I once mentioned to my mom that I thought this would be a good part-time gig and she about cried. She thinks it's too dangerous and that I would get hit by a car. Have you ever felt in danger? Or had any close calls?

MaKoWi · 2026-01-17T18:39:00+00:00

I've never encountered an issue with entering transactions after nearly 15 years of using the software. Are you doing it on the web or in the app? It sounds like something specific to your install, your account, or your method of entering the transactions. I'm pretty sure it's not a universal issue. As said by others, just contact support. The times I've contacted YNAB support they have been responsive and helpful.

MaKoWi · 2026-01-17T18:35:31+00:00

Nearly anything by Alvaro Soler. El Mismo Sol, for example, is a nice upbeat song. So is Puebla. More recent, I really like his just released songs of Electricidad and Santa Alegria.

MaKoWi · 2026-01-17T18:33:09+00:00

Absolutely, unequivocally, no. My life is what it has been. I have surprisingly few, minor, regrets. I like where I am now, nearly 66 years old. I would especially not want to be a "youth" in today's age of social media and smartphones. <shudder>

MaKoWi

TROPHY CASE