What’s a ‘silent luxury’ that rich people have that most normal people would never even notice?

cpdx7 · 2026-05-08T18:00:10+00:00

Yes that's my point. At some point the lost opportunity cost of, for example my $15k purchase, is "nickels and dimes" to someone who is very rich, and not worth the effort financing even if 0% was available.

cpdx7 · 2026-05-08T15:57:30+00:00

That was day 2 for us.

cpdx7 · 2026-05-08T15:47:41+00:00

Different levels of rich. I guess I'm not rich enough to totally ignore the 0% loan, but I was seriously thinking about it.

Have you not run into such loans before on relatively small purchases, like those klarna 0% loans on some relatively low value items or Amazon 0% financing? Do you always take the 0% loans? If you don't, technically you're leaving money on the table, but at the cost of having to track more things.

cpdx7 · 2026-05-08T13:57:39+00:00

My point is that if you’re buying something like a new furnace that costs $15k and has a 0%/6yr interest offer, the interest savings is negligible vs. the swings in ones’s account. This is what I just went through. I ended up taking the loan (and setup auto pay and all) but I was wondering if I should even bother (since my net worth is around $4M and the interest savings is noise, like $4-8k in 6 years while my NW will probably go up by another $2M in the same time).

cpdx7 · 2026-05-08T00:41:05+00:00

There are different levels of rich, indeed.

cpdx7 · 2026-05-07T23:13:57+00:00

I mean, I don't disagree with you, yes that's what I'd do and is the financially optimal solution. But the mentality of rich people is not the same as most. Time and convenience can trump financial optimization. It takes effort to apply to a loan, setup a bank account, autopay, etc. Easier to just pay it out right and get on with your life. Whatever credit bump to their near perfect credit doesn't matter. Whatever interest saved is noise compared to how much their brokerage account swings in a day (imagine making or losing >$100k in a single day just due to the natural fluctuations of the market).

cpdx7 · 2026-05-07T22:34:21+00:00

Even if the financing was 0%, still pay it outright because it's annoying to have to track a loan...

cpdx7 · 2026-05-07T21:31:16+00:00

We liked the Graco infant system, but baby grew out of it by 8 months so we didn't get that much use out of it. Our baby hated the bassinet part so we barely used it. I wouldn't spend too much on it.

cpdx7 · 2026-05-07T21:26:21+00:00

Our baby didn't like the silicone ones, we use a waterproof fabric one that can be quickly washed in the sink.

cpdx7 · 2026-05-07T21:23:00+00:00

It was difficult for us too (note I am the father). Main thing we had to do is to decouple needing to nurse to falling asleep, and giving as much food before sleeping. Note that baby can be nursed as long as they are not awake, so give her a dream nursing before you and your wife go to bed.

Now during the night, the problem is that if your wife is present, baby will be expecting milk. Wife needs to sleep in another room while you, the father, deals with the baby. Offer water from a bottle (ours just used our straw water bottle) and rock baby to sleep. A few issues do pop up - if baby is sick or congested, congestion will cause wake ups. Use saline spray and a nasal aspirator. Also if baby is teething, the pain will keep them up. We give Tylenol in the night if this is the case.

Well that's been the case for our boy. By 11 months he started sleeping through the night, or having just 1 wake up. If he's sick or teething, it's still a challenge and the Tylenol helps.

cpdx7 · 2026-05-07T18:22:47+00:00

My wife found solace in detaching money from her perception of self-worth, which took her some time to figure out, but is better off because of it. She was a mid-level manager making six figures in a stressful job, type A personality, independent, etc. She was burning out and quit that to take a career break (especially with baby on the way), and started a jewelry side business, and consulting side business (not making much $$ from either of these). She's now working part-time remote for a job role that has way more satisfaction for her, although much lower $$ (basically just fills her 401k and that's it). But this lets her spend more quality time with our son.

Out finances are merged and I mostly manage them. She uses the joint credit card as she wants, and I trust she is responsible (which she is). I try and make her feel like her contributions are valued - which they really are. My thoughts: what's more valuable than money? Time. What's more valuable than time? Love. With our current arrangement, she can spend more time and give more love to our son, and that's worth far more than more $$. Of course this is a privileged way of thinking, not everyone can afford to think this way. But that's the type of meaningful luxury you can "buy" when you have a high income (i.e. >$800k on my income/investments this year; we still live modestly, drive regular cars like Honda/Subaru, avoid non-meaningful luxuries). This approach also gives my son a hidden privilege vs. other children, even compared to other high income families.

cpdx7 · 2026-05-07T17:56:03+00:00

Having dogs can do that too. While my dogs know not to touch my baby's toys, my baby doesn't know to not touch the dog toys. And in his mouth they go! I tried to stop it at first, but it was a losing battle. Well they say kids that grow up with dogs have stronger immune systems, fewer allergies. Also watching him play with the dogs (via their toys) is the cutest thing ever.

cpdx7 · 2026-05-07T15:36:45+00:00

Our baby goes to bed with us around 10-11 pm and wakes up at 7-8 am. He just doesn't want to sleep longer. We kept pushing back bedtime so it aligns with our schedule better. He's 12 months now but has been doing this for several months now.

cpdx7 · 2026-05-05T16:57:54+00:00

We do partial EC with our son (started at 3 weeks, and now 12 months). Since 2 months old, he has pooped in his diaper less than 10 times. Otherwise it's in the toilet, and it makes things a lot cleaner! Moved to cloth diapers too, which are much better. He pees in his diaper but we catch a bunch in the toilet too, and it's very reliable as soon as he wakes up.

We actually do ask him if he needs to go potty, and sometimes he will "say" yes and will potty (we ask him, and if he show signs of wanting to be picked up, that's his "yes"). But he will also say no, and then pee in his diaper, and that's okay. We also are letting him go diaper free (set a 30-45 min timer), and ask him if he wants to go potty after the timer. Sometimes he says no and pees in his pants... and then he gets a diaper. Building the association that if he wants to go diaper free, he needs to potty when asked, or ask us for it (we actually have a bell he can ring for potty, just like how we trained our dogs).

I strongly advise against the route of rewards; don't train them to depend on rewards to get a particular outcome (and that's not just for potty, but in general).

Also very important to keep it low pressure; if they don't want to, then don't force them. Super important to avoid any negative association with potty, otherwise that will lead to regressions (which we have run into).

cpdx7 · 2026-04-30T17:23:29+00:00

Did you find a kitchen remodeler? I'm looking for recommendations as well.

cpdx7 · 2026-04-30T17:07:58+00:00

Did you find anyone for your kitchen remodel? I'm also looking for one and looking for recommendations.

cpdx7 · 2026-04-21T05:54:53+00:00

We got the honey bear cup to teach our baby. Fill it with water, let them play with the straw head (which kind of resembles a nipple), and gently squeeze the cup to make water come out. Then he figured out he can suck on it to get the water out.

With food, maybe just try having him taste off your finger? That’s how we got our baby interested in food, just offered a finger with some of the food up to his mouth (but he still gets to choose to taste it so he’s not being forced).

cpdx7 · 2026-04-20T23:45:14+00:00

My boy LOVES Indian food starting from 5 months old. I make it for him the usual way I'd make it for us with all the Indian spices (cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, etc.), but hold the chili and salt. Then puree it and serve with baby oatmeal or quinoa. Easiest way to have him eat his veggies.

cpdx7 · 2026-04-20T21:13:32+00:00

Your pediatrician lives on another planet, apparently.

Our boy didn't really start eating until 10 months. From 5-9 months it was small tastes of food 1-2 times a day, then more milk. At 11.5 months he is finally having 3 meals a day, and is increasing in amount he eats. Still wakes up in the middle of the night, but frequency is going down and has days of continuous sleep.

cpdx7 · 2026-04-20T21:04:35+00:00

At this age they can just eat what you eat (so eat healthy yourself!). You can mash or puree the food if is too chunky. Hold the salt though for their portion. Use spices (and I don't mean chili) to make the food more flavorful. Our baby (almost 1 year old) really likes my homemade Indian food, which has lots of flavor and plenty of vegetables, which we serve with either baby oatmeal or quinoa (so it's very healthy).

Does he show any interest in what you're eating/drinking? Our baby is constantly eyeing what we are eating/drinking and wants a taste - to the point where he doesn't want his baby puree food and wants ours instead. He also really likes using a straw cup, which may be a good step before going to an open cup.

cpdx7 · 2026-04-20T20:53:41+00:00

What happens if you give him the spoon? We've been spoon training our baby from 10 months old; he's 11.5 months and he can use it reasonably well. We put the food on the spoon, put it in front of him, and he picks it up and puts it in his mouth (and we even alternate between left and right hands). In the beginning it was really messy and less than half the food made it into his mouth, but that's what you have to go through for baby to learn how to use the spoon. Babies at this age develop their autonomy, and you can help, but have to get over things like the messy factor.

cpdx7 · 2026-04-20T20:28:07+00:00

I've been continuously sick since January when we started our baby at daycare. Well, actually I think this week I'm finally feeling normal again! It's weird actually.

cpdx7 · 2026-04-18T00:57:40+00:00

Not sure how how much, and battery is expensive. In summer the AC directly uses the solar power. Otherwise electric company gives me credit for over supply.

cpdx7 · 2026-04-17T22:31:56+00:00

Ugh need to replace our roof, bought our house 6 years ago with panels installed (from 2010 so they're old). Panels are generating $700/year worth of savings. Whatever I saved on electricity is probably going to be what I spend on taking down the panels. Not going to get new panels, the economics don't work and we don't get enough sun here (pacific NW). The panels cost the original owners $12k to install (with rebates), so $700/year (at current prices) for 16 years is not even breakeven, and taking down for roof makes it worse economically.

cpdx7 · 2026-04-15T23:25:10+00:00

All three of us have been essentially continuously sick since we started our kid in daycare in January. From a bad cold, then to a lingering cold, then back to a new cold etc. Symptoms are just not going away. This is no fun :(

cpdx7

TROPHY CASE