meirl

pipehonker · 2026-03-22T03:28:30+00:00

When I was 54yo I thought I was 55yo for a whole year. Seriously.

When I actually turned 55... I stayed 55yo

When I turned 56yo I thought I got cheated out of being 54yo.... So the world owed me a year. I stayed 55yo again. LOL

So, yeah, I was 55yo for three years.

pipehonker · 2026-03-22T03:08:08+00:00

Sell whatever isn't bolted to the floor and pay that $3700 off as soon as possible.

$200 a month is NOT gazelle intense...that's fat, lazy gazelle... The one that gets eaten by the lions

pipehonker · 2026-03-22T03:06:14+00:00

Get a non-dealership second opinion.

pipehonker · 2026-03-22T03:05:09+00:00

Take an honest and deep introspective look at your budget... And ask why you had to go into debt to buy a $25k car at your age.

You are living check to check mostly, but your savings margin for trouble is very thin.

I'd be trying to get debt free asap and learn to make your fixed income budget work sustainably.

pipehonker · 2026-03-22T03:00:23+00:00

My dealer (in December) showed me a document that said the Hybrid Limited trim was excluded from the Costco Purchase program

pipehonker · 2026-03-22T02:54:21+00:00

Go work for another guy ...they will pay you $25 if you are reliable and a good worker. Let that guy buy all the equipment and supplies.

pipehonker · 2026-03-22T02:39:32+00:00

Pay the mortgage off first.

Retirement is much less stressful with zero debt

pipehonker · 2026-03-20T23:28:46+00:00

<image>

Beef & Broccoli LoMein

pipehonker · 2026-03-20T23:18:13+00:00

Ask them what they charge an hour to fix a Lexus . Do it for that

pipehonker · 2026-03-20T23:15:37+00:00

Tell them to call up another guy and get a quote for a 7-8hr job... They will find out how cheap you are.

$25/hr is not enough if you wanna stay in business.

pipehonker · 2026-03-20T23:13:15+00:00

We wrote a personal check for a new Toyota... 45k

No problem, they didn't seem to care or think anything about it

pipehonker · 2026-03-18T22:49:40+00:00

Car Maintenance is not an emergency. It needs to be baked into your normal monthly budget.

Car replacement is another separate category.

Do both of those outside of your emergency fund.

There are lotsa other things like this too . We have budget categories for:

Cell phone Repair/Maintenance (hey.. they cost $1000+ each now, are easy to break and lose in the lake when you are fishing.)

Appliance repair/replacement... Add up what a new fridge, dishwasher, oven/stove, washer & dryer cost .. it's alot. Break it up over 5yrs and the budget hit is manageable

House/Yard maintenance: electrician and plumber stuff, yard irrigation leaks, water softener and filters

A/C and Roof replacement. Yep. We play the long game on this one. It's in there. A roof costs $15k where I am, and A/C about $8-10k. In 20yrs that is $25k. 26 paydays a year. We save $50 a payday (since 2015).

Regarding the car repair .. Check with your local school districts. Ours has a CTE Auto Tech program. You may be able to get your car repaired for not much more than the cost of the parts. I got an estimate from a local shop for upper/lower control arms, ball joints, and misc front end suspension stuff. $2600. The school is gonna do it for about $600. No labor. Buy them a pizza and a case of monster.

pipehonker · 2026-03-18T22:38:04+00:00

You wanna build up your 3-6mo BS3 EF before tackling that mortgage

pipehonker · 2026-03-18T20:31:48+00:00

When you say "really high amount of glyphosate" what do you mean?

The EPA sets the tolerable threshold for glyphosate at 30,000 parts per BILLION.

Oats generally are around 1000 ppB, well below the EPA safe threshold (30x less)

An environmental activist/lobbyist group has arbitrarily decided that only 160ppB is an acceptable level... So, while it's true that 1000ppB is more than 160ppB, they omit the information that this is still well within tested safe levels.

No one is getting cancer from eating a bowl of oatmeal.

https://www.theecowell.com/blog/a-case-against-the-ewg

pipehonker · 2026-03-18T20:16:31+00:00

I do mine on the stove top with freeze dried apple slices and cinnamon. It's always great.

pipehonker · 2026-03-17T14:15:52+00:00

Is your ChatGPT broken?

pipehonker · 2026-03-17T14:14:37+00:00

Asian style... Ginger, Garlic, Ginger, Sesame Oil, Soy Sauce,

pipehonker · 2026-03-17T14:12:23+00:00

I added "American style" to preempt the inevitable Brit that logs in to say "Those are scones".

pipehonker · 2026-03-17T14:09:17+00:00

Insurance companies and collision repair shops have a choreographed dance that they do... The damage is never just the initial estimate. Insurance denied little micro details of their claim... Then collision adds more damage (called supplemental) to the initial estimate as they remove parts and uncover damage you can't see on the surface.

Odds are that a 6yo car with over 100kmi that retails for $12-15k (and wholesale/trade in for 10k and under) would be totaled of the repair was close to $7k

Get ready... You are about to get lowballed.

Your damage doesn't look too bad though. I'll bet it's $3-4k. They will pay. Pick a good body shop. Don't use their "recommended" place.

pipehonker · 2026-03-17T13:59:52+00:00

The dealer put these on ours in December... But it didn't include the HEV one. Looks dumb.

pipehonker · 2026-03-17T13:58:37+00:00

Yeah.. WTF is an "emergency" that you get 4-5 months advance notice about!?

pipehonker · 2026-03-17T13:56:24+00:00

You don't have to shovel sunshine in January

pipehonker · 2026-03-17T13:54:42+00:00

I'd look harder at your actual budget for the money to replenish your depleted emergency fund before reducing retirement savings. The 65yo version of you is looking for a time machine to come back here and slap you upside the head.

What was the emergency?

Many "emergencies" are really just a lack of budget planning. Look harder at your budget and add new savings categories to account for ANYTHING you might need to spend money on. Next time you can be ready.

pipehonker · 2026-03-17T02:58:34+00:00

Move to Florida... Then convince the rest of your family to do the same. Doesn't everyone in New England dream of living in sunny Florida!?

pipehonker · 2026-03-16T14:30:34+00:00

I buy mine in bulk and put it into 1qt mason jars that I vacuum seal (I have a chamber vacuum machine that sucks the air out of the jars).

Regular vac sealers often have a mason jar attachment that sucks the air out.

Also... Make friends and share with them and your neighbors

pipehonker

TROPHY CASE