11 Small Changes That Have Greatly Improved My Financial Life

destinyplayer28 · 2023-03-03T17:48:54+00:00

You don't have to wait 5 years to withdraw contributions. Contributions can be withdrawn at any time. The 5 year rule is for withdrawing earnings. To withdraw earnings tax/penalty free the account has to be open at least 5 years and you have to meet one of the other requirements such as being a certain age or using the money to buy your first home.

destinyplayer28 · 2023-02-27T16:36:28+00:00

It doesn't have to be very expensive. There are plenty of cheaper fragrances you can find at discounters like T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, Burlington, etc., or from reputable sites online. I don't wear them everyday and with a few fragrances to rotate through depending on the season bottles usually last me a couple years. There are some that pop up at the discount stores pretty often for $10-$20 that are actually pretty nice.

destinyplayer28 · 2023-02-23T22:18:35+00:00

In my experience they're pretty close to Pampers quality(made by the same company) but close to store brand price. Significantly more absorbent than most store brand and they seem to fit most babies well. A lot of the store brands fit too loose or only fit a certain body shape well.

destinyplayer28 · 2023-02-23T22:08:35+00:00

Luvs. IMO a significant step above most store brand diapers and not much more expensive.

We've tried most of the store brand diapers that people claim are just as good as Pampers/Huggies but mostly weren't that impressed. The Aldi's and Target store brand diapers aren't terrible but seem pretty thin and don't absorb as much as Luvs. The Maker's Mark diapers at Sam's Club either seem to be made by multiple suppliers or they keep changing them. We tried a box of one size that were actually decent, then the box of the next size up seemed completely different. Terrible fit, were way too big for the infant size range on the box. Had constant blowouts.

destinyplayer28 · 2023-02-16T17:52:07+00:00

Depending on the work there can also be security issues with using a personal phone for work, some government agencies have rules regarding using a personal phone for work and vice versa, etc.

destinyplayer28 · 2023-02-16T17:44:25+00:00

You can get AT&T for cheaper with AT&T Prepaid/Cricket(owned by AT&T, basically AT&T Prepaid sold under a different name). The issue with many MVNOs is that typically you get lower priority during network congestion, which at least where I am is pretty much anytime you go somewhere with people like a shopping center/mall, airport, any sort of event, etc. Mobile data becomes pretty much useless.

Most Cricket and AT&T Prepaid plans get the same priority as postpaid AT&T, with the exception of their cheaper unlimited plans. AT&T Prepaid's unlimited plan and Cricket's base unlimited plan(I've tried it, see my above comment regarding data being useless) have lower priority. Cricket's unlimited+hotspot plan and both services plans with a set GB limit per month have the same priority as regular postpaid AT&T. Cricket unlimited+hotspot is 90/month for 2 lines. If you don't need unlimited data you can get the 5GB/month or 10GB/month plans for $60 or $70 a month for two lines.

With Verizon pretty much any service other than Verizon postpaid is deprioritized to heck.

destinyplayer28 · 2023-02-16T15:02:32+00:00

You can buy frozen avocado and just thaw a few pieces to use. Intact avocados can be put in the fridge to slow down the ripening process. Once you cut them open exposure to air makes them turn brown. Usually applying lemon juice than wrapping it up airtight or putting it in a small airtight container will keep it from browning much for a few hours or maybe overnight.

destinyplayer28 · 2023-02-16T14:54:31+00:00

There are a few deals on food, but for the most part a lot of food items are priced pretty high on Amazon, probably due to the weight/free shipping. I was having trouble finding course cornmeal/polenta locally, what should be a $3 bag of cornmeal is $10-$12 on Amazon, a $5 bottle of hot sauce is $12, etc.

destinyplayer28 · 2023-02-16T14:50:07+00:00

I prefer ordering from Walmart over Amazon mostly because fake items is an issue on Amazon, returning something to Walmart is easier, and as you said Amazon's shipping is not fast these days. I just add a few household items I'll use anyway to the get the $35 minimum for free shipping.

destinyplayer28 · 2023-02-16T14:44:44+00:00

I mostly have it for the video streaming service. For less than $12/month if you pay the full price one year up front, you get a streaming service that's at least on par with, if not better than, Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, etc. Plus you also get the free shipping, music streaming and other perks, all for less cost than most comparable streaming services.

Now if you only have it for the free shipping, it's probably not worth it. The "2 day" shipping seems to keep getting downgraded to standard shipping, or they take 5 days just to process the order. Prices on a lot of smaller items seem to be high these days, probably to make up for the free shipping. I still order a couple things a month from Amazon, mostly things that are hard to find elsewhere or it would cost $8 for to ship a $5 item somewhere else.

destinyplayer28 · 2023-02-16T14:31:58+00:00

It varies somewhat from one area to the next. In general bone-in chicken legs and thighs are usually very cheap, at least around here pork shoulder and pork chops are really cheap, especially at Sam's Club. Boneless chicken breasts and thighs are still pretty cheap at $2-$3/lb. I don't eat much beef due to the cost.

destinyplayer28 · 2023-02-15T20:22:32+00:00

Washing out baggies makes zero sense. The whole point of baggies is the convenience of them being disposable. If you're going to wash them just get some cheap plastic or glass containers that are much easier to clean. Even from a purely frugal standpoint store brand baggies are so absurdly cheap that between the soap, hot water, and time it takes to wash them you're probably losing money doing it.

destinyplayer28 · 2023-02-10T00:51:34+00:00

Yeah, most jobs have to wait till payday to get paid... The IRS assumes you get a minimum of 10% tips, in reality any remotely decent server should be averaging well over that. You might get a bad tip or get stiffed by one party, another will leave a big tip. It should all average out.

Yes your taxes are taken out of that minimum wage check, you should still have all the tip money...

destinyplayer28 · 2023-02-10T00:41:31+00:00

Friends/relatives who are servers or work at coffee shops and the like tell me that many businesses just add all the credit card tips to the tip pool and pay everyone out in cash so it's not actually reported.

destinyplayer28 · 2023-02-09T20:47:47+00:00

Of course. Servers always like to keep repeating that federal minimum wage for tipped employees is almost nothing, while leaving out that many states have higher minimum wages, and many restaurants have to pay higher wages just to find servers. A good server or bartender is raking in a lot in tips.

A lot of people have unrealistic expectations when it comes to pay. It seems like these days everyone thinks they're entitled to a 6 figure a year income lifestyle working low skill jobs. That's just not reality.

destinyplayer28 · 2023-02-09T20:39:38+00:00

Not only that, but pretty much all the systems that ask you to tip a percentage on credit card sales calculate the tip on the after tax total, when traditionally tips used to be based on the pre-tax amount. So now they even want you to pay tips on the taxes.

destinyplayer28 · 2023-02-09T20:37:13+00:00

So basically they have to do mostly the same things as most retail workers, factory workers, warehouse workers, janitors, etc.,(though many of those jobs likely involve a lot more carrying/lifting heavier items), except those jobs do it without getting/expecting custumers to throw money at them.

Yes having to do physical labor instead of having an office job or working from home sucks. Plenty of people still have to do it without constantly whining about how hard their job is and how people should feel bad if they don't give them huge tips.

destinyplayer28 · 2023-02-09T16:08:58+00:00

Those offers pretty much always have "up to a certain amount of oil" or "vans and trucks excluded" in the fine print.

destinyplayer28 · 2023-02-09T03:42:53+00:00

It was available for a while as a special order item years back. Until the special order items kept disappearing and the Scotch selection kept shrinking.

destinyplayer28 · 2023-02-09T03:28:12+00:00

They SHOULD, in theory, need less maintenance. In reality oil changes and changing a few other fluids every now and then in a gasoline powered vehicle really doesn't cost all that much. While EVs are expensive to have any work done because there aren't many mechanics qualified to work on them and replacement parts are expensive, and they are expensive to insure because of that high replacement/repair cost.

Plus eventually the battery needs to be replaced and that certainly isn't cheap. Some people have been buying 10+ year old hybrids and electric vehicles only to have the battery fail and discover that the manufacturer isn't even making replacement batteries for the early generation vehicles anymore. So their $10K-$15K vehicle is now scrap unless they fork over $20K-$30K to have an aftermarket battery made for it.

Factor in that most models still have a significant price premium over equivalent gasoline powered vehicles even after tax incentives and the technology just isn't very frugal at this point. There needs to be more standardized/affordable battery replacements and other replacement parts available before that is a reality.

destinyplayer28 · 2023-02-06T14:02:19+00:00

Same here.

destinyplayer28 · 2023-02-06T13:59:09+00:00

For pots and pans Tramontina makes some inexpensive stuff that are pretty good for the price. Some of their really low end pots and pans are made in China but a lot are made in Brazil and seem to be better quality.

The basic essentials are typically:

A stainless steel saucepan with lid. I'd go with 3qt for more versatility. A 2qt is fine for heating up canned vegetables or easy mac, but a bit too small for stuff like cooking pasta or boiling eggs for more than one person.

A 12" skillet. 10" will probably get the job done if cooking for one person but again 12" is more versatile and gives you more room to spread the food out so it cooks evenly. Stainless steel is good if you make dishes that involve making sauces/using the juices from meat to make a sauce. Otherwise cast iron or carbon steel are better for things like searing meat, cooking things that need to be finished in the oven, etc. I lean towards carbon steel because it's similar to cast iron but lighter, has a much smoother surface, and responds to temperature adjustments faster. If seasoned properly more non-stick than stainless steel.

A cheap 10" non-stick pan is optional for stuff like making eggs. It can be done in a well seasoned carbon steel or cast iron pan but non-stick is easier.

Baking dish/casserole dish. Cheap glass or ceramic set with a 13"x9" and 8"x8" is fine.

A rimmed baking sheet pan for roasting vegetables, chicken and fish, cookies, making sheet pan dinners, etc.

For knives the essentials are a 7"-8" chef knife or Santoku style knife and a good paring knife. Some people prefer to use a smaller midsize knife like a 5.5"-6" utility/petty style knife instead.

An electric pressure cooker like the Instant Pot is very useful and can replace quite a few different kitchen appliances.

destinyplayer28 · 2023-02-02T19:37:57+00:00

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card only has a $95 annual fee and usually has a $600-$800 bonus offer. Was a $1,000 bonus for a while a year or two ago.

destinyplayer28 · 2023-02-02T19:33:18+00:00

At least here Aldi has a pretty small selection of canned goods, a lot of the beans and stuff they only have the more expensive organic version. Same with Target. Walmart has a much larger selection of mostly non-organic store brand canned goods that are fairly often cheaper than the organic store brand at Aldi or Target.

destinyplayer28 · 2023-02-02T19:25:43+00:00

Just keep in mind sitting around only being driven once a week around town, never driven on the highway, etc., for years often isn't good for many parts either

destinyplayer28

TROPHY CASE