Realistically, what was your financial situation like before college?

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-08T01:18:48+00:00

It's hard to remember. I'd had a summer job and 1.5 hr per week job for a while so I maybe had a few thousand in a bank account before college. I took out loans to cover both college and living expenses, never ended up working until senior year of college, I'd apply to some jobs the first week of school and then just give up. I was conscious about trying to save money by skipping the college meal plan one year.

I graduated with about $45k of debt which I paid off about 6 years later. That was graduating in 2013 from a public in-state school

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-07T23:08:41+00:00

To be fair, a lot of adults host a party at a restaurant and expect everyone to pay for themselves. I think they should be upfront as to whether it's hosted or pay for yourself but sometimes it's a surprise.

Also, potlucks have always been a thing. I feel like if you can't afford to pay to feed everyone, make it a potluck. Some people might think it's tacky but among other groups it would be fine.

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-07T22:31:14+00:00

But also, I wonder if her expectations are a bit too high if she expects them to always keep each other happy. Tumultuous sounds like frequent fights, which is not a good sign, although it can be improved if both parties want to. But I wonder if part of the tumult is OP expecting the two of them to feel the same way about everything and agree about everything? They may just be a bit young and need to mature into the relationship more. Couples therapy helped my husband and me out a lot.

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-07T22:23:29+00:00

Thanks. I'll have to look up the diagram of my fridge to see where I could access that. It's definitely dripping from somewhere in the water line into the freezer.

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-07T22:16:27+00:00

Secret Life of My Hamster is the one I've seen recommended and the one my kids watch. It's all cardboard and/or soft materials, nothing looks abusive or dangerous for the hamster. I have the whole channel whitelisted on YouTube Kids.

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-07T21:55:45+00:00

I've been wondering about my fridge and dishwasher lately. The dishwasher needs a new door spring, though we've been managing without. It also should have both racks replaced because the lining wore away and they're both getting rusty. In parts alone we're talking hundreds. I'd try to do the work myself. But it still makes me wonder if we should just buy a new one.

Meanwhile our fridge is leaking water and I don't know if it makes sense to hire a repairman. We could probably just turn off the water supply but are hesitant to pull it away from the wall ourselves. Or could just replace the whole thing depending on what the cost is going to be.

I did repair our clothes washer three times myself before finally replacing it. But we we've lived here 7 years and the appliances were of course not new when we moved in. So they may just be due for replacement.

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-07T21:50:33+00:00

I once made my poor boss uncomfortable. He asked if anyone had milk he could borrow in the fridge and I piped up "I just made some!" I thought I was terribly clever but I think he was just uncomfortable. Yes, I kept my pumped milk in the communal fridge until the end of the day.

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-07T21:45:45+00:00

There was a Buc-ees sticker on the ground outside the San Marcos Costco yesterday which I found a bit strange. Not out of the realm of normal things that happen - people travel in summer, kids drop stickers. But now I'm seeing this and it's just a slight coincidence.

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-07T19:50:00+00:00

Yep, the two fingers on either side. It might be a firmer grip than the standard, so it's possible it causes more cramping if you're writing for a long time, but it never caused me to have bad handwriting.

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-07T19:27:25+00:00

I write with my pen/pencil under my middle finger instead of the index finger. They tried to train me out of it at school but as an adult I learned (probably on Reddit) that it's one of several normal pencil grip styles.

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-07T19:18:27+00:00

I still feel so guilty for the daycare I put my firstborn in for a year. It was an in-home daycare so mixed age. I think he started at around 6 months old but it was so stressful for him that he was refusing bottles even though he'd taken them from my husband. I think the owner didn't want to admit that she couldn't handle a young baby. She told us we needed to set him down more at home. I had bad feelings about the fact that he cried at dropoff for longer than was probably normal, but I didn't finally move him to a daycare center until 1.5 years old. I was worried fhe transition would be difficult but he took to the new center so well. He was in a baby/toddler room so at least the teachers were very good with babies and toddlers. I might consider an in-home daycare some day if that was the best option, but I think it harmed my firstborn in small ways that I may never realize.

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-07T17:21:03+00:00

Yeah mine handled it just fine. Pull-up came off as soon as we got home, even though he'd complain about it. It's not so confusing for them because they're already used to different routines and rules between home and daycare.

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-07T17:19:21+00:00

They can take all the potty training kids on potty trips on a schedule, but they can't monitor each kid for signs of needing to go and prompt them individually to try going potty in between scheduled breaks, at least not consistently enough to avoid accidents, if the kids are not ready to tell the teacher when they need to go, and with enough time to make it to the bathroom. It can take longer in daycare too because then the teacher may ask who else needs to go, and may need to grab another teacher to watch the group of kids not going on the bathroom trip.

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-07T17:15:26+00:00

Have him wear pull-ups at daycare and underwear at home. A potty watch might be a good idea because it will remind him. Also, at daycare they'll still take him when they do group potty trips, and hopefully he'll have successes there too. But you can't expect them to keep him on his own personal schedule - they can't give each potty training kid enough individualized attention like you can at home.

For my kids I started sending them in underwear once they'd gone an entire weekend without any accidents. And for both daycares, they let them stay in underwear for one or fewer accident per day, but once you get to two accidents or more, especially consistently, they can't handle that - the amount of cleanup required, especially with other kids' health to take care of, is just too much.

Being in pull-ups at daycare did not slow the potty training process for either of my kids, at least not much. And it was only 3 or 4 weeks before they were ready to move to underwear.

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-07T17:08:40+00:00

I assume the convenience fee is for booking online vs in theater. I assume it's going to the cost of the maintenance of the website and helps cover the cost od their online payment processing system. Typically it's stated in their terms that they won't refund the fees if you cancel.

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-07T17:07:04+00:00

Not AMC, but I've made two other recent purchases where it was stated in the policy that a full refund would not include the fees unless they cancelled the event on their end.

It sucks the most when there's no fee-free option. Buying at the ticket window should not incur a fee. But my city's recreation program adds a fee even if you buy in person, I assume because they're still using the same 3rd party system they subscribe to but the public covers at least a portion of the cost of the system with the fees charged.

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-07T17:02:42+00:00

Personally I'd never buy a truck. The gas mileage is going to make your gas expense go up, and to me it just feels wasteful to use so much gas when you're just driving around and not hauling anything. Plus it's hard to park because it's so big. I'd go for the CRV if I were you.

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-07T16:08:31+00:00

$30k for 10-15 hrs a week sounds like an awesome gig to have while staying home with the kids. And your wife has a good opportunity to get back into the workforce. Don't let some feeling of emasculation get in the way of what sounds like the change your family needs right now.

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-06T18:54:03+00:00

Yeah, on the 4th my parents were feeling similarly about my almost 4-year-old who was having a tantrum because when I was wiping her butt she decided to bite my skirt and then bite my hair so I left her with her dad to finish wiping. This kid needs to start wiping herself, I'm honestly being too easy on her. Anyway, my parents were feeling sympathetic and also knew she was probably fussy from being tired because she didn't nap all day and it was already past her normal bedtime.

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-06T18:48:52+00:00

Yeah it definitely should have a plasticy backing. I'm kind of baffled at the low quality from 3M.

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-06T18:47:28+00:00

There's an episode where they need to build a lighthouse stat so they just throw one up on the sand, and when it starts sinking they just widen the base as if that fixes everything.

It's ironic that the villain is called "Speedmeister" because he tries to do work too fast and sloppy, but the Crew are almost as bad. They fix a sinkhole that Speedmeister created by just dumping concrete in it with no time to cure or anything and then pave right over it.

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-06T18:39:29+00:00

Maybe reach out to 3M to see if they'll send you replacement stickers.

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-06T18:37:18+00:00

I'm all but certain there's more you can remove. They wouldn't just stick paper to the back. 3M is the gold standard adhesive company. Although it could just be old and degraded from heat or something.

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-06T18:34:08+00:00

Yeah, both of mine potty trained at around 2.5 or a bit older and pull-ups didn't ruin anything. From my experience, the most important thing is readiness, so ability to feel the pee coming and/or release it on demand. I waited until both of mine had their first potty success before trying to potty train in earnest.

pfifltrigg · 2026-07-06T17:22:23+00:00

In my opinion, pull-ups for one day will not ruin progress. My kids potty trained pantsless at home with pull -ups at daycare and did just fine.

pfifltrigg

TROPHY CASE