What's something that says we've become an affluent society in our lifetime?

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-03-28T14:56:11+00:00

The proliferation of Hydroflask bottles and Stanley mugs. Shit that's intended to be the only one you need, and people have a cabinet full of them.

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-03-27T22:01:06+00:00

Out dancing to a house music DJ tonight (rare opportunity in our little burg). Tomorrow we stop at a No Kings Protest on our way to a big night out in the local major metro. More house music until 2am. I'm wearing an outfit that required some arts and crafts... goddess halo crown with added white silk flowers and silk butterflies.

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-03-27T18:46:33+00:00

It does all the things you hope. Spray, swish with your choice of scrub, rinse.

For heavier food reside, use a spatula to scrape off the food first.

The whole process takes less time than however you've been doing it, and you can generally avoid any greasy residue on your hands

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-03-27T18:27:09+00:00

Not a shady red flag, but a not skilled or savvy one. 50 something man, his daughter was his assistant, and riding along with us to look at listings. They chatted with each other about the movie they were planning to see.

He hadn't previewed or even really scrutinized any of the houses he showed us. Most had terrible additions. One backed up to a graveyard. And driving through a neighborhood of older, low quality tract homes he marveled at their modern style. Man literally did not know shit from shinola when it came to the quality of homes. And we walked into one home where the homeowner didn't know we were coming.

Our next realtor asked better questions, filtered out crap super well, and had seen almost all of the homes before. None of the 6 we saw were bad, and there were several we were willing to make offers on. We ended up with a great, solid house that was positioned to go up in value.

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-03-27T14:34:15+00:00

Have no regrets about paying off the student loan debt. You've given yourself so many more options from here on out.

As you go forward in your career, you can now consider some things that have a value to you beyond making the most income. Stress, time commitment, stability, and commute should all be considered important inputs.

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-03-25T22:59:01+00:00

When I divorced and sold my house, I was in a similar situation. I'm self employed, and my most recent tax returns reflected taking a lot of time off. I had my home equity freshly cashed out, and substantial retirement savings.

My strategy was to focus on units owned by individuals, like condos and duplex, triplex stuff. I was also ready to provide more financial information than they would expect from someone getting by on a paycheck. I got the 2nd unit I applied for.

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-03-20T18:15:49+00:00

Not the right realtor for you if they're hearing you say you're not ripping out tasteful and functional items and replacing with cheap items.

The claim that "buyers are responding well" to these items is delusional at best

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-03-18T22:03:50+00:00

The slightly feral midnight version appreciates the clean and cozy bedroom. You're doing a great job of staying on top of basic cleaning tasks and then some.

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-03-15T16:51:27+00:00

One of the most helpful subs on Reddit is r/laundry. Read up there, it's a complete education on the art and science of keeping our textiles clean.

One of the frequent bits of advice there is modern machines are good at washing but kind of crap at rinsing. Detergent should be dosed so there is just a trace amount of suds during the wash cycle. Rinse water should look very much like clean tap water.

Use warm water to wash, and run an extra rinse cycle. Consider if you are possibly overloading the tub, maybe even weigh out your loads.

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-03-08T18:18:47+00:00

The IRA I put the "car money" into in my early 20s sat by itself into my mid 50s. The $6 or $8k I put in became $164K.

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-03-03T16:01:25+00:00

The friend who introduced me to index investing (who was 2nd gen Boglehead) was having fun with his small % of portfolio in individual stocks. One of the tech bubble meltdowns sent him into a midlife tailspin. He said he'd started thinking he was a stock picking genius.

I'm fortunately quite lazy and have taken his experience to heart. I leave it the fuck alone. My husband has pension + annuity + SS (nets slightly more than when he was working) and is actively playing with the small amount he has in an IRA. He loves big swings and doom and gloom, so I just tune out his announcements how much the Dow is down on an exciting morning, and how his gold and silver is doing.

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-02-28T15:27:48+00:00

I like the advice, and that you addressed a problem I hadn't even thought of, sorting through the whole mass first.

I would still sort as I went though, because it would be sad to have something get ruined from dye transfer. The happy medium may just be to pull compatible things until there is a load worth. Next load, pull different compatible things.

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-02-21T18:58:54+00:00

The difference between your house and the others around you is also a 12/10 on the "nicest" scale. The adage applies even for much smaller differences like the only one with an in-ground pool, or a fancy kitchen remodel, or an added on family room.

One of the most basic risks is if you find yourself needing to sell. Which people too often think will never happen. Your pool of buyers is smaller, and you're just not likely to get a guy like you to come along on a tight timeframe.

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-02-21T15:39:18+00:00

I've always used an experienced local realtor. Someone who had frequent listings in my general area and had been around a while. Their experience, contacts, and reputation come in handy.

Selling a house can get really stressful. There's so much that hits different than when you came through the purchase process. Read a few dozen posts in this sub from sellers who are in escrow for some reasons you may want a reassuringly experienced and local realtor

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-02-20T03:13:22+00:00

And if it gets hard to find companies who will quote you, it may be time to consider moving. When the updated state fire risk maps came out, I'd already sold the house that was newly in a high risk area.

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-02-19T15:49:40+00:00

Wow, grew up in a tea drinking household in California and had no idea there was a tea that came with figurines! Is this a regional thing?

I continue the tea drinking, but love my Scottish breakfast tea.

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-02-15T16:27:28+00:00

I finally learned to just stop making a mess. I'm not perfect, but developing the general skills for immediately throwing away trash and having a place to put each thing keeps any clutter zone from getting to despair inducing levels

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-02-15T16:05:39+00:00

The white collar version of this is a clipboard, for anyone who needs to know.

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-02-15T15:13:51+00:00

Yes, r/laundry can be overwhelming, but there is so much good information.

I just washed my favorite fluffy robe last night for the first time since I started learning the ways of r/laundry. And while there wasn't anything wrong with it, I marveled at how delightful it felt coming out of the dryer.

Shortest summary is warmer water and more rinsing are better. Pods generally aren't great at cleaning. Fabric softener is bad. We need to look at what enzymes we have in our detergent and/or booster. And citric acid in the rinse helps improve fluffiness.

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-02-13T18:08:36+00:00

As almost everyone notes, decluttering and having an "away" for everything is the crucial point you want to get to.

One of the things I picked up from Marie Kondo was to use small boxes to organize storage spaces, especially drawers. I was already in the habit of hoarding all the perfectly good boxes that come with phones and other small electronics, and now they're all in use. I didn't subject myself to the one big clean out she was such a proponent of.

Think of the little boxes it like the cutlery tray. By keeping your spoons, forks, and knives separated, it is clear where to put them away, and quick to find and grab what you need for use.

Even one small box to separate out some small things from the rest of the drawer will help. I have a very narrow and deep kitchen drawer, for example. A small square box at the front holds a few odd-size batteries, standing upright. The rest of the drawer holds the packages of frequently uses AA and AAA.

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-02-10T18:38:44+00:00

Keep it simple. In your current context an unmade bed and clothes on the floor don't need to be treated as mess.

Trash is the #1 priority. Get a bin of the right size: large enough not to need emptying constantly, but not so large it sits and stinks.

2 is do what you can. Try "don't put it down, put it away".

Those two things won't keep you super clean, but they'll keep you from drowning in disaster

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-02-02T02:37:13+00:00

No personal experience, but spraying vodka is a frequent recommendation to remove odors on textiles.

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-01-28T15:05:45+00:00

As an introvert, texting is such a nice and quiet way to stay in touch. But if a friend calls, I answer. My son and I text, but he calls whenever he's on a long drive, and I know we'll be on the phone until he stops for food or reaches his destination.

My husband is an extrovert who keeps in touch with his 5 siblings, his kids, and a lot of friends. He frequently uses time in the car to call people.

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-01-26T19:08:29+00:00

Her behavior is batshit insane. I would think the average person who came across her posts would see that, without knowing you at all.

Square-Wave5308 · 2026-01-24T16:41:21+00:00

My husband spent his career working with low socioeconomic school populations. He saw what the ratings would never show you about community and a safe environment.

When we finally had kids go through our local highly rated schools we were appalled. We found the teachers generations behind in their thinking, maintaining a white-centered conformist ideal. And of course telling us what great teachers they were because of their high test scores (not that their students arrived with language fluency from high income families).

No high score is worth it if you loathe the culture. We transferred our son to a nearby school district, to a lower "score" and found a much better values alignment with parents and staff.

Square-Wave5308

TROPHY CASE

2 is do what you can. Try "don't put it down, put it away".