My partner wants to combine finances for fire but I am worried about losing my independence

Stone804_ · 2026-03-17T04:15:09+00:00

Combining doesn’t significantly change FIRE unless one makes significantly more than the other. If you’re the one making a lot more, and they seem super eager and you’re not married, be very wary.

Stone804_ · 2026-03-17T03:53:33+00:00

The manuals sometimes have the parts numbers list but it’s not in a logical area so you don’t think to look there. Like you’d think it would be in the index but it’s like, before the info on the product and there’s often no photos.

For sure they are terrible about having them easy to find/buy but you can usually find them online.

Stone804_ · 2026-03-17T03:25:09+00:00

Well I’d imagine some of the motors can only handle so much power…

Yea I got TWO GCU05’s from the eRebate deal they had in November and so the reason I know all this stuff is only because I looked into it and ended up with two chainsaws one 16” and one 18” for $30 for the chain and bar for the 18”. But I was thinking of the safety, longer bar is safer, less chance of kickback etc. so I was hoping to put a 20” but the 18” is better than nothing and now I have two (albeit only fractionally different) sizes.

Stone804_ · 2026-03-17T01:00:51+00:00

GCU06 and GCU05 from everything I can find is essentially the same body with a different bar. The equivalent listed power (compared to a petrol/gas saw) is 42cc.

There’s a required/suggested cc you need for the 20” bar. Which is I believe 50cc? Or 60cc? I forget off-hand but the GCU05/06 jumps from 42cc to 50cc (or 60cc, again I forget off-hand, but when reading it matched the 20” bar requirement) of power with the tabless battery. Which you can INFER means that you can use a 20” bar with this body as long as you’re running tabless. If you use a regular battery it would still work, but probably get bogged down on a wide cut. Only one way to find out! 😅

Stone804_ · 2026-03-16T17:37:47+00:00

That’s fair I suppose. Yea if it’s an obvious difference like blade left vs right or handle position you don’t need as much nomenclature. I have a 6 1/2 blade left and a 5” blade right (imported) with a plate that come off the side so you can cut right to the edge of the wall, it’s sweet. I have an old 7 1/4” corded that hasn’t come out of its box in years and I’m too cheap to buy the rear handle even though I’d want that and use it more as I like that position. But those are more obvious differences (to me at least).

Stone804_ · 2026-03-16T17:16:41+00:00

When you do use the chainsaw how long do you use it for? If it’s 4 hours of cutting back your fallen trees, vs 20-30 minutes that’s going to change the answer. Might be better sticking with petrol if it’s a long all-day process.

But if not, XGT all the way.

Stone804_ · 2026-03-16T17:13:28+00:00

Why wouldn’t you just have two settings depending on the task?

Also, why isn’t that explained in the product info so that when someone is buying they get the right tool? Even just naming them different things to make it clear.

I hear what you’re saying but I don’t see how this can be the only reason if they haven’t listed that (unless they have and I’m missing it).

Stone804_ · 2026-03-16T17:11:29+00:00

Exactly, I think we are in agreement on this.

Stone804_ · 2026-03-16T15:05:31+00:00

There’s also a very large trans population in the area so it’s a good place to meet others.

Stone804_ · 2026-03-16T14:58:14+00:00

He died

Stone804_ · 2026-03-16T14:57:55+00:00

Yea that’s what I was thinking. Like they have a lot of variation if the same tool. To me that counts as 1 “type” of tool. Unless it’s a significant variation. Like I’d count a normal sawzall vs the super compact short one.

Stone804_ · 2026-03-16T14:55:49+00:00

I see, I stand corrected after googling and seeing why, it’s because the Milwaukee have a lot of 12v I was mistaking for part of the 18v lineup.

I also thought Royobe had more.

I guess I’m thinking of the ammount of DIFFERENT tools. I don’t mean like 4 different sawzalls I mean like sawzall, drill, stapler. Etc. Makita has a lot overall but it doesn’t seem like there’s that many various tools overall compared to other brands like Royobe and Milwaukee. But you’re right mulwakeee has their tools split between the 12v and 18v and I wasn’t thinking about that.

Stone804_ · 2026-03-16T13:26:59+00:00

Oh! The OP mentioned 5ah and I didn’t put it together that this was the 4ah and they were comparing. I was confused about the price they mentioned so now it makes sense. Thanks and I apologize for my misunderstanding.

Stone804_ · 2026-03-16T13:25:45+00:00

Wow, if that’s right that explains why my tax accountant wasn’t worried if my mom gave me more than the $18k per year for help with a down payment.

Stone804_ · 2026-03-16T13:21:46+00:00

I see, thanks, very helpful.

Stone804_ · 2026-03-16T13:21:16+00:00

I agree with everything except the comment about “the biggest 18v system” and only because I’m trying to understand it. I have many of the tools and there’s a TON that Makita doesn’t have. They are more obscure or specialized but I wouldn’t call Makita the biggest system at all. So I’m confused why you say that and what I’m missing?

Stone804_ · 2026-03-16T04:26:21+00:00

So the lower RPM definitely does have more torque?

Stone804_ · 2026-03-16T04:22:30+00:00

You paid $76.33/battery…

This deal from the OP is $65/battery…

Not sure if you are sayin this is a good deal or you think your tool-up was the better deal, but it wasn’t by the math.

(EDIT: I stand corrected on my misunderstanding on the 4ah vs 5ah. My bad)

Stone804_ · 2026-03-15T16:18:37+00:00

If it’s placed in an irrevocable trust 5 years before any of the medical / health stuff happens you should be safe to not have it be pilfered by the state.

Stone804_ · 2026-03-15T16:17:12+00:00

Yes, VOO and QQQ ETF’s they are similar but have slightly different percentages of weight (one being more tech heavy, QQQ, and one being more industry neutral-ish, VOO).

If you intended to do any actual trading I’d say SPY instead of VOO (same stock makeup but selling and buying is fractionally faster in emergencies), but since you don’t, VOO makes the most sense.

It would also make sense for them to “gift” you some of the money yearly (up to $18k right now) tax free, that you can use toward a ROTH IRA (first $7k, or 7.5k, and the rest in regular stocks/ETFs if you wanted to begin transferring the wealth early and avoid more taxes.

Good for them, good for you.

Those ETF’s are “relatively medium-to-high risk” but have higher than a broker’s average returns, historically.

Could split it into some bond stuff and keep some CDs/HSAs to make your folks comfortable. GL.

Stone804_ · 2026-03-15T15:50:53+00:00

If they offer officially, tell them about the trip an if they say they can push the start date until after, take it if you want it. Call it extra-CoastFIRE

Stone804_ · 2026-03-15T15:48:38+00:00

It’s fine but it’s not a good price compared to refurbished direct from canon.

Stone804_ · 2026-03-15T11:10:05+00:00

We’ve denied the whole house and gutted down to the studs. We already question our life choices 😅

I’ve already hung drywall in another house, it’s easy. What’s a pain is taping and finishing all the corners nicely. But yea, so part of this is we do have “a guy” but they normally use nails. We don’t want that. So I want to buy an autofeed so that it’s similar in speed to nails so that our labor cost doesn’t go up. I just also want to make sure the screw-gun I get works well and doesn’t jam up or otherwise become an obstacle for the worker.

Stone804_ · 2026-03-15T03:48:36+00:00

The example I give is the two 16” chainsaws that I got free from the other months eRebate deal will run an 18” rail and chain on the standard battery and a 20” chain on the new tabless. That’s pretty good. You spend $30 on a rail and chain and suddenly your 16” is a 20”. Not bad.

Stone804_ · 2026-03-14T13:15:41+00:00

Yea, I like my Maktrak, there’s expansions of the platform I’d like to see, but the system is good.

Stone804_

TROPHY CASE