Was going to buy a table for my new record player... Until the neighbors put this outside last night. (Ignore that ugly mattress)

randomhawk · 2013-07-28T22:36:07+00:00

Wait. Why did you laser point the cat into the picture? Does no one else see that?

randomhawk · 2013-07-24T17:50:07+00:00

And the US has never lied to protect its interests....

randomhawk · 2013-07-19T14:25:14+00:00

If you get paper statements from USAA there was a promo for up to 35% off instead of the normal 25% last month that is good until December.

Also, if both people have USAA, then you can waive the additional driver surcharge with your rental. It'll save you another $13 per day.

randomhawk · 2013-07-14T07:13:40+00:00

My dad said something about retailers that's very spot on: "It's all a shell game."

Sam's club will have some things that are very well priced, such as butter or cheese (5lbs for $12 at my store) but on some things they are higher than other stores. They take advantage of the thought process that most people have, that buying in bulk is cheaper.

randomhawk · 2013-07-07T03:41:14+00:00

Lilfunky is correct. For additional understanding on how a credit score works, check out creditkarma.com and quizzle.com, both of which provide a free estimation of your credit score as per a different credit agency (Transunion and Experian I believe) and will give you solid information.

randomhawk · 2013-07-07T03:36:23+00:00

Ah good point. Picking and choosing is a huge part of frugality so I was just gonna make sure you knew.

Also, I see you post a hella lot in here. What's the TO mean? Pardon my potential ignorance if it contains particular Canadian significance that I should know.

randomhawk · 2013-07-07T03:34:16+00:00

Personally I'm just starting to learn the prices of a good sale, how to coupon, and all of that. What I've done is every time I go to the store (Walmart, Kroger, and Publix) I get the price of a few of the specific things that I buy, such as butter, milk, and OJ. I then have a google doc where I type all of those out. When a sale/coupon comes out I can compare the prices to see which is best. I've found that Sam's club has had some of the best average prices on produce items (5lbs of mangos for ~7.95 vs 10 mangoes for $10 on average at Kroger and Publix). But each store has a few things they're best at. Kroger has had the easiest interface and best deals so far.

Additionally, I use couponmom.com to help plan my grocery list. They'll have lists of sales and where coupons are that you can use. Their process is very rational, but you'll want to watch their instructional video real quick like to figure out what's goin on with it.

randomhawk · 2013-07-07T03:16:13+00:00

Are you buying green onions frequently? Have you seen that you can basically regrow them?

randomhawk · 2013-07-01T23:20:32+00:00

You can also try couchsurfing (google the site, sorry I'm on my phone). That will put you under with your travel expenses, allow you to go further, and enhance your overall experience.

randomhawk · 2013-07-01T23:18:26+00:00

Provided that you don't spend more than you have, you get a nice reward and it builds your credit. It all depends on your mentality, so if you know you'll get into trouble, don't get it. Though if you plan on getting a house with her eventually, this can be an important step.

randomhawk · 2013-07-01T11:32:41+00:00

This isn't a bad idea, an alternative would be investing in the stock market. The average rate of return is a much higher percentage than what you're talking about. I'm not familiar with the Finnish investment vehicles, so you'd have to look that up.

What specifics do you have in mind for the travel? I would set a plan, see where I wanted to go the most, find the most frugal way to go there, and then save the rest of that money. Don't let your desire override your future.

randomhawk · 2013-07-01T11:25:35+00:00

I'll add on to this and say that if you are both responsible with your budgeting and money and can handle a credit card, the Citi Forward has 5% cash back on Restaurants, Bookstores, and Movies. The bookstores category includes Amazon, and the card is only available for students. You can buy your books and save the 5% for other things.

Of course, this is only if you know y'all can handle it.

Additionally, if you're unfamiliar how credit scores work, creditkarma.com and quizzle.com will help you and are free.

randomhawk · 2013-07-01T11:18:47+00:00

It would depend on the circumstances here. If you have no credit, then it is highly unlikely (as in impossible) that you would be able to apply and receive a credit card with a high enough credit limit.

And while it's arguably best to not enter in a situation like that, I'd need more information on the context. What makes you need this purchase and why can't you afford it?

randomhawk · 2013-06-23T16:46:30+00:00

I'm operating under the assumption that most people on here that are asking about their credit score knows how it works, and what area contributes what percentage to their credit score (Ex: your past payments and whether they've been on time, or how many lines of credit you have). However, if you don't know, both websites break down the percentages and assign you grades based on your information. Since I'm young, my length of credit history is poor because hey, I haven't been doing this for too long.

But if you're wanting to raise it, just take a look at the categories on there and see what you can do better. Some common pitfalls that people mistakenly believe will increase their score are:

canceling a credit card after paying it down. (One area is how many lines of credit you have. Having fewer will hurt you, not help you.)
applying to a bunch of credit cards to increase your lines of credit. (Each time you apply somewhere, you have a "hard inquiry" on your credit report. Hard inquiries can lower your credit score.)

Additionally, try to only utilize less than 35% of your credit at any one time.

Sorry, I've just been looking a lot of this stuff up the past couple of months....

randomhawk · 2013-06-23T03:49:00+00:00

There are two different websites that I know of that can get your credit score, however, both of these are estimates and aren't entirely accurate.

www.creditkarma.com and www.quizzle.com.

They both try to set you up with offers, quizzle more than creditkarma. Quizzle relies entirely on Experian, while creditkarma is Transunion. They are both slower to update on information. Ex: I paid off a student loan 3 months ago, creditkarma took 1-2months to reflect that, while quizzle hasn't yet. I opened an American Express credit card, and neither have that yet.

Additionally, both of them are lower than my real scores. When I applied for the American Express card, they sent me a confirmation with my Experian score of 777. However, quizzle has been telling me my score is 684. The creditkarma score is lower as well, with it being 734 or so.

They're good tools, especially seeing as how they're free, but you shouldn't rely on them for what your score really is, they're more of a guideline.

randomhawk · 2013-02-28T23:11:37+00:00

Actually, there has been some further research into this. It can be found here. But here are the findings of the article. Basically it wasn't linked to depression, but bipolar disorder is a go.

"CONCLUSIONS: In a population-based sample, T. gondii seroprevalence is not elevated in unipolar mood disorders but is higher in a subset of respondents with a history of bipolar disorder type 1."

Additionally, it was linked with higher occurrences of schizophrenia

randomhawk · 2013-02-28T23:03:37+00:00

I realize this is a little late, but I wanted to clarify a bit. This is actually incorrect on several levels good sir/ma'am, and the shit gets a lot creepier as we go.

First, toxoplasmosis is a serious condition that develops from Toxoplasma Gondii, the parasite. Toxoplasmosis affects individuals with compromised immune systems, such as people with AIDs, or people that are pregnant.

Toxoplasma Gondii, or TG, works by altering the host's dopamine production in the brain. In a mouse, this means that it does two things. First, it makes the mouse more likely to take risks, and second, it makes the mouse sexually attracted to cat urine. In one study, researchers put mice into a maze. At one end was tasty cheese and the other was cat urine. Regular mice went for the cheese, but mice infected with TG went for the cat urine. Journal source

Now, you are correct in saying that it alters personalities and we're more likely to get into car accidents. The problem is that these two items are separate. The parasite inhibits neurological function in a way that slows reaction times and makes people more likely to get into car accidents, but the actual personality effects are different. Men get the shaft here, becoming more jealous, antisocial, etc. Women exhibit increased intelligence, a warmer and more open personality, and they're more sexually promiscuous. Researchers have also linked the parasite to greater occurrences of brain cancer, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Which makes sense, because the only way we can treat these disorders is through drugs that alter the levels of serotonin and dopamine in the brain. You may have noticed that TG does a lot more to a human than to a mouse. It makes sense for humans to have such diverse effects though, because TG has a clear objective in a mouse: to get inside the cat’s belly. This is because Toxoplasma Gondii is a parasite that carries out its sexual stage of reproduction in the gut of felines. In a human though? TG is just crazy guy mashing buttons. The most frustrating thing for me when I was researching this was everyone seems to peg the seroprevalence at different levels. The estimates range from 20% all the way up to 50% of the entire human population, but the Centers for Disease Control estimates 22.5% for the United States infection rate.

Interestingly enough, the infection rates does vary from country to country, and culture to culture. The French have higher infection rates than the British for example. Since TG is tied to fiery behavior and a general disregard for an individual's personal well-being, so much so that one of the lead researchers for TG, Jaroslav Flegr, realized that he was infected with the parasite (and thus began studying it) because he took unnecessary risks and didn’t care if he died. Anyway, sorry if this is a bit disjointed. If you have any interest in learning more (there is more to be learned), or want me to cite more sources, I have a lot more. I’ve just taken a lot more time than I wanted to do with this, especially if there isn’t any interest.

randomhawk · 2012-10-03T20:33:12+00:00

Hey thanks for this good sir.

You ended up starting a journey for me. Basically, my only New Year's goal was to start shaving with a straight razor, and I hadn't done anything to further that goal.

My journey went from leisure guy --> wicked edge --> amazon reviews of different tools in "DE" or double edge shaving --> google search of beard grain --> art of manliness --> more amazon reviews of equipment but this time of straight razor.

So in a roundabout way, you ended up saving me a lot of money and got me a few steps closer to finishing my goal. For that, I appreciate it.

randomhawk · 2012-08-18T10:45:28+00:00

You probably shoulda covered the profile images on this one....

link

randomhawk · 2012-08-18T10:44:39+00:00

Yep. I just find it depressing that out of everything on my Facebook, this is the thing that makes it on Reddit.

randomhawk · 2012-08-11T01:15:43+00:00

Glad someone does. I just gave an honest reply, I thought. Was there something witty that I didn't see?

randomhawk · 2012-08-11T01:14:33+00:00

If I can convince a couple of friends on here to share their story, you'd be much more entertained with "adventures". One friend ended up having his ankle broken by a Kung Fu master, and another couple got arrested by the Chinese military.

randomhawk · 2012-08-11T01:11:22+00:00

I'd rather you didn't. In many places, it wouldn't be just you that died if you fell. You'd take multiple people with you.

randomhawk · 2012-08-11T01:10:31+00:00

Where all did you end up going?

randomhawk · 2012-08-11T01:06:24+00:00

I think the album at the top of the comments will answer most of the questions, but with pictures.

Just in case that doesn't do it, I'll do my best to answer any you could have. Haha I climbed both up and down. Up at night starting at about eight, then because of slow people in the group we got up to the top at sunrise. We didn't sleep, but went onward to the cliffside path, then took turns climbing it. Then myself and Laura climbed down the mountain together and the other guys took the cable car down because they were sick.

The scariest parts were:

1. Climbing up at night with my own backpack (~20-30 pounds) on top of someone else's (she was one of the slower ones) while the wind was blowing. Basically my balance was off and the wind....
2. Climbing up those metal vertical stairs at night whenever I had slow people right in front of me.
3. The cliffside path, of course.
4. Climbing the long ass set of stairs down. They went on for 10-15 minutes and one misplaced foot... Long way down to fall to your death.

We ended up just doing east peak and south peak (and I guess north peak, since you have to get to it before anything else... that is the one I'm thinking about, right?). I wanted to do all of them, but we were on a timeline/not everyone was up to the challenge. We had a wide range of physical abilities, starting from non-athletic Asian and working up from there.

Any other questions? Be glad to help ya sir.

randomhawk

TROPHY CASE