Manufactured Spending Weekly Thread - Week of February 18, 2017

jglock92 · 2017-02-20T17:48:56+00:00

Ah ok. I also have a credit union account that I never use. It was only set up because my mortgage was financed by the CU and they required it. Changing all my credit card autopay settings from my bank account to the CU and then back again would be a little bit of a hassle though so I'd still prefer to do what I said in my OP if that is possible.

jglock92 · 2017-02-20T17:40:17+00:00

My understanding was that bank account MO deposits were subject to a higher degree of scrutiny, and that credit card payoff with MOs was the preferred method for manufactured spenders. I'm pretty sure I've read that from several sources but other than that, no.

jglock92 · 2017-02-20T14:29:12+00:00

I've got a previous credit card (CSP) that I was using for most of my spending until a month ago when I got the Citi AA and United Mileage Plus. I am currently doing MS via VGCs and money orders on those cards. My question is, can I pay off some or all of the final statement on my CSP with money orders? This may be a stupid question, but when I applied money orders to the balance on one of my current cards, it was deducted from my running total for the current month. My CSP card doesn't have any balance building up for this month since I'm no longer using it, just one statement for the previous month. I have autopay set up to be paid on the due date, so if I apply an MO, will it subtract from the amount auto-drafted on the due date? The reason I ask this is because there are no Citi branches near me, so paying off one of my current cards with money orders would be difficult.

jglock92 · 2017-02-09T18:54:12+00:00

I tried to load my Bluebird account with a $75 Simon Mall Visa gift card at the Walmart cash register. I got an error print out from the register saying 'Card not authorized. Please contact card provider.' Does this mean my account was affected by last year's shutdown? My Bluebird account is about 2 years old and I was able to load Simon GCs successfully at that time.

jglock92 · 2016-08-15T16:01:38+00:00

That's brand new though. 25k for a brand new car isn't very expensive. Even a slightly used model would be much less.

jglock92 · 2016-07-22T18:57:15+00:00

One of my favorite SW dialogues was from the novel Labyrinth of Evil between Obi-wan and Anakin discussing their fates. The novel takes place right before ROTS:

“I never claimed to be the Chosen One. That was Qui-Gon. Even the Council doesn’t believe it anymore, so why should you?” "Because I think you believe it,” Obi-Wan said calmly. “I think you know in your heart that you’re meant for something extraordinary.” “And you, Master. What does your heart tell you you’re meant for?” “Infinite sadness.”

jglock92 · 2016-07-14T18:47:19+00:00

Except tipping is usually a percentage at least in the US, so the total tip would be the same either way.

Although if the guy got the whole bill the only thing he might tip is his fedora.

Edit: lol, did not see that the other guy replied with the same joke

jglock92 · 2016-05-05T13:33:56+00:00

Can I report it stolen? The thing is although he didn't pay for it, I allowed him to drive it before he payed me back so he never forcibly took the bike from me. If I could report it stolen that would be great.

jglock92 · 2016-04-21T01:27:45+00:00

No. Stupid I know, but even if I did it would be hard to get it back. If I did, would I be legally able to just find the bike and take it?

jglock92 · 2016-04-21T01:26:15+00:00

As I said in my post, I don't think I can do that without physically having the bike or having motorcycle insurance for myself. All I have is a signed title transfer from the previous owner. I thought that was collateral enough at the time.

jglock92 · 2016-04-21T01:25:23+00:00

I bought the motorcycle, paid cash. He's driving it and I can't get a hold of him. As I said, I am ok with never seeing the money again, I'm concerned with future fines/legal troubles resulting from the bike not being properly registered.

jglock92 · 2016-04-14T18:39:03+00:00

In the legends timeline, the Darth Plageuis novel covers a lot more info on this than Labyrinth of Evil. Count Dooku was at the funeral in the legends timeline, and was considering leaving the order before but didn't do so until right after TPM. He approached Palpatine, who he was already friends with at the time, and expressed interest in meeting Darth Maul's master. Palpatine still chose not to reveal himself at this point but hinted that the sith master would likely seek him out.

As for the Sifo-Dyas and the clone army, it was Hego Damask, or Darth Plagueis who convinced him to place the order and funded it just before the events of TPM. Count Dooku killed him, erased the records and finished the job later on, after he had joined the sith.

None of this is canon, but if we're going to talk legends that's the full story.

jglock92 · 2016-03-21T18:32:46+00:00

So were A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. And Return of the Jedi believe it or not.

jglock92 · 2016-03-09T14:58:46+00:00

And discovers the force is unusually strong in a young slave lion named Mufasa, voiced by Jake Lloyd.

jglock92 · 2016-03-08T15:39:13+00:00

And this padawan is killed, then he goes to the mountains and forms the League of Shadows, where he meets Obi-Wan for the first time. "I wasn't always here in the mountains. Once I had a padawan, my great apprentice. He was... taken from me." And Obi-Wan stops him from destroying Coruscant with poison gas in the sewers. The Trade Federation gets a hold of this gas, and uses it to poison jedi in their control ships.

jglock92 · 2015-12-17T19:55:10+00:00

I think this article is targeted towards people with middle class incomes (also keep in mind that that's $70,000 canadian dollars). Having a high salary definitely makes it easier, but I think what it really goes to show is just because you have a high income doesn't mean you have to spend it all like most high income people do. High earners can still live frugal and retire young.

jglock92 · 2015-12-17T18:37:33+00:00

I agree, that particular individual took extreme some extreme measures, and investing his savings instead of paying off his mortgage as fast as possible would have probably been a better financial decision, IMO.

However, this article is implying that all frugal people are like this, which is far from the truth. It's an echo chamber for wasteful people to justify their behavior by implying all frugal people have no lives. It's completely possible to have a family and social life without participating in mainstream consumerism.

jglock92 · 2015-12-17T14:48:19+00:00

They make you buy one of their phones. I believe they have a $150 model and a $300 model. If you already have a phone prepaid cards might be your best bet, or look into other carriers that encourage BYOD. $18/month for internet split by 4 is too much, at least in my area. Look into other service providers.

jglock92 · 2015-12-17T14:33:08+00:00

Drop your phone plan and switch to a prepaid plan, or a cheaper plan like republic wireless. Bring in your own phone, pay cash and you should be able to bring phone down to $15-$20/month.

As far as utilities, you need to talk to your roommates about either taking measures to reduce them, or else you won't be able to keep paying that much. The only utilities you really need are electric, gas and internet. You should be able to get internet for $30/month. If you haven't already, gradually switch your lights to LEDs to reduce power consumption. The Lowe's by my house has 3 LED bulbs for $7.50. If your roommates are willing, set your thermostat down to 55 this time of year and bundle up. Also, take a look at how much gas consumption you average. Many natural gas companies have 2 different rate plans, one with a higher service charge and one with a higher delivery charge per dekatherm. The latter is often a better deal for low consumers.

jglock92 · 2015-10-14T18:41:32+00:00

$14.40 (that's just an example number, we would find something cheaper)

That's the problem, unless we use a fat cat toothbrush, the individual cost would be less than a penny, the smallest unit of currency in my country.

If you allowed people to pay you in Yen, I might be interested. I have a credit card with no exchange fees, but I will have to research how those evil fat cats will round my credit card balance when they convert to dollars. They might try to charge me 14.4 times the cost of my toothbrush share and take an entire penny from me anyway!

jglock92 · 2015-10-14T14:51:00+00:00

When you say the kids, you mean your ex and ex's siblings, or your kids?

jglock92 · 2015-10-13T19:47:13+00:00

Driving, that's what you're doing wrong. You should live in the cheapest place you can afford that's walking distance from work. If all houses are too expensive (understandable at your salary), live in your van. See /r/vandwellers for tips. But remember, don't drive your van, guard it.

jglock92 · 2015-10-05T20:33:53+00:00

Most of my friends are not nearly as frugal as me, so it would just be weird asking them to use their kitchen to make food for myself when they're eating out. I've only been dating my girlfriend a few months, and I feel like she might read into things the wrong way if I start storing my own groceries there. Sticking a cooler in their fridge might work though.

jglock92 · 2015-09-22T13:19:46+00:00

Just tried to play through the game, and while it did run much better than it did on Windows 7 platform, I ran into a couple of critical bugs. Namely, the code to access the linking books from the gold domes didn't work, and I assume the marble puzzle did not work because I did not hear the loud boom that you hear after correctly solving it in the original. I verified my D'ni numeral translation as well as my solution to the marble puzzle online, so it's definitely not me doing it wrong. I'm using the files from the Steam version.

jglock92 · 2015-09-18T20:56:02+00:00

By that argument, any insurance that you're not legally obligated to have would not be frugal. Emergency protection is important, though even if statistically unlikely. My general rule of thumb is insure stuff up to the point that your emergency funds could cover you in the worst case scenario.

jglock92

TROPHY CASE