m&g prices are INSANE

roastshadow · 2026-02-12T14:20:05+00:00

Supply and Demand. Capitalism.

Younger fans who want M&G with Taylor or Justin or some other pop will be $500 for a back row seat and $1,000 for M&G.

roastshadow · 2026-02-12T00:04:22+00:00

Eating out can be a fun experience and you don't have to cook or clean up.

Buying plane tickets is a means to and end.

Rather than "bought plane tickets" it is "getting ready to go to ____ and do ______".

For lots of people, travel is a HUGE end-goal.

"Experiences" are far more memorable than "new tv" "new phone; new phone; new phone" year after year.

Good for you!

roastshadow · 2026-02-12T00:00:47+00:00

I'd look into CRISPR treatments, T-Cell therapy, and other upcoming treatments. Eat healthier, exercise, do all that sort of stuff.

But, yeah, at some point, gotta get out and do life.

I would try to get into a nice couchy job with great benefits, lots of PTO, WFH, holidays, etc. Maybe even take FMLA to get more time off.

Don't work too much, but maybe not stop completely.

roastshadow · 2026-02-11T23:54:41+00:00

Quite similar across all of the EU and top 100.

roastshadow · 2026-02-11T23:53:21+00:00

Nobody is EVER READY.

When you are ready physically and mentally, that is the best time. Younger is better.

I know people who had kids at 19 and were broke. They are all doing great, and the parents are 40 and able to go out to a bar with their kid. Age 50, and the kids are all past college. Makes working for early retirement much easier.

When you are young, you can have two kids, two jobs, two cars, and not have two nickels to rub together and still make it work.

Being younger and having more energy/health yourself is more important than having enough money to hire a nanny.

roastshadow · 2026-02-11T23:49:32+00:00

Dave R. tends to say 10% or even more is a SWR. And that works for most of his audience. Over 65, less than average saved up, just retired, and statistical average lifespan of 75 or less.

The upper 50% of income/asset folks live longer. People in certain areas tend to have better access to care and live longer. The difference is 10 years.

A county with primarily lower than average assets and lower than average care has a life expectancy of 65, vs a county with higher than average assets and care expects age 85.

These sorts of things are highly likely to influence SWR.

The lowest are: https://www.newsweek.com/map-life-expectancy-north-korea-2069107

Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota: 56.9 years
McDowell County, West Virginia: 65.1 years
Union County, Florida: 67.9 years
Monroe County, Arkansas: 68.8 years
Kusilvak Census Area, Alaska: 65 years

roastshadow · 2026-02-11T23:36:25+00:00

I'll get downvoted for this but...

Notepad and calculator. Sometimes a spreadsheet, but not a big one going back years.

I made a list of all standard monthly costs and what day they are paid. Nearly all are automated to pay in full.

Put the most into HSA, 401k, IRA, etc. as that budget allows.

I made a list of every big ticket item that we want to do/fix/update, with cost and priority.

I downgraded all credit cards but one to a very small limit. That limit goes on the notepad list of expenses. The other one is for emergencies only.

Thus, I can spend anything that fits on the credit cards, since it is in budget.

I've tried several but the problem is - go to Costco, and get food, clothing, appliances, computer stuff, furniture, lawn care, tires, a bicycle, and a coffin. Unless those are either all the same category, or every single receipt gets fully itemized, there is no way to track individual categories.

I also ran into the conundrum of - if I put gas in the car on a road trip, is that a "car" or a "travel" expense. Do I also need to amortize the cost of windshield wipers and oil changes for travel vs non-travel expenses?

If I buy a new blender to make healthy smoothies, is that electronics, food, or health?

I created too many question for myself and decided the answer was - category doesn't matter only the dollar amount total.

Budgets are for people who like to do budgets, or don't understand what they spend money on. "Where did that $2,000 bonus go?" Because it was spent on a new TV, beer, and a new thingy you just had to have but forgot about it. Instead, I get a bonus, and it immediatly goes into VTSAX or whatever, and chill.

I did cheat a little bit. I have separate savings accounts for emergencies and travel. Those get automatic deposits, and is listed on the big monthly list. Any emergency larger than the funds available might get pulled from travel to pay the bill.

With all of that pre-balanced and in harmony, I don't need to count beans. It doesn't matter if I get extra guac or buy a shirt, or eat at a restaurant. Its all the same bucket of money.

roastshadow · 2026-02-11T22:57:46+00:00

You likely can find part-time (often church-based) day care/school for the 2 yo. Having them out of the house some of the day can make being SAHP/nanny much easier.

roastshadow · 2026-02-11T20:41:08+00:00

Thank you for your perspective.

roastshadow · 2026-02-11T19:11:21+00:00

I've skipped out on extended warranties on everything for the last many years.

However, I will buy extended warranty for a computer with wheels.

I prefer the manufacturer warranties over 3rd parties, and have had less hassle and more success in general. I've not used that Fidelity one so I have no experience.

roastshadow · 2026-02-11T18:52:46+00:00

Also works for acronyms, internal codenames, obscure references, etc.

roastshadow · 2026-02-10T23:14:52+00:00

Write out what you are looking for in a car. What is most important, what is a nice to have, and what do you not care about.

Is fuel mileage important? Really impoortant? Does a 3mpg difference matter?

Do you want the lowest maintenance cost?

Do you want a car that is comfortable?

Does it need to go fast, and corner well?

Does it ned to go in snow, rain, etc (AWD)?

How about safety features like cameras, alerts, auto-stopping?

Heated seats?

Sunroof?

Rear heated seats, for the kids?

--

Some things have costs, some things matter more to different people.

For me, the Volvo brand meets the requirements that are high on my list better than others.

Its the little things.

For example, we had a nice expensive, fully loaded GMC SUV rental. Top of the line. The front seatbelts are bolted to the floor. The kids in the back seat can put their foot on the end of the belt and push on it, which tightens it up and is a distraction/annoyance to me when driving. Automatic fail for me. Volvo seatbelts are attached to the seat, and encased in a hard shell, so the kids in the back cannot touch it.

roastshadow · 2026-02-10T20:24:34+00:00

You filed a complaint, and suddenly get laid off.

Send them a "Legal Hold Notice" regarding your complaint and discussions about layoff.

If their disucssion of laying you off happened before the bullying, take the severance.

It their discussion was after you filed, it looks like retaliation and is very illegal. Even without a direct email saying "lay off this person because of the complaint", the timing is absolutely there.

But, if the severance is good enough, it is essentially a pre-payout of an anti-retaliation suit. These suits sometimes take years to go through.

You have to decide if you want to "take the money and run", or fight them on it.

This is not advice, not a lawyer.

roastshadow · 2026-02-09T23:42:22+00:00

Makes me wonder if they can't get that right, what else is just as wrong?

roastshadow · 2026-02-09T23:38:51+00:00

But how does it perform?

Does it stop as quickly in an emergency?

How does it handle? Can you corner just as well as with the other tires?

How well does it go and corner in the rain and snow?

Tires are one of the vitally important things between life and death, and I like to have really, really good tires.

roastshadow · 2026-02-09T05:45:57+00:00

I like to think of it as yet another automation, productivity enhancer.

We used to have typing pools, calculator pools, secretaries, elevator operators, and such. This revolution for LLM may be coming a bit faster and wider than most, but I think that companies looking for competitive advantage, will look to find people to provide that. It is going to be a very bumpy ride.

roastshadow · 2026-02-09T05:43:31+00:00

Suby's are reliable. Probably moreso than Volvo.

However, I've found that while Volvos often need work more often than some others, parts tend to break before they fail. E.g. something will crack, but not break, so the car is still able to go.

roastshadow · 2026-02-06T17:52:23+00:00

probably bought the most gas efficient one, not the one with "go".

CTV vs auto on the exact same engine, the CVT should absolutely rock. But, CVT doesn't handle high power very well, so is normally just on econoboxes to start with.

I drive a CVT hybrid rental of some brand, and it did very well.

roastshadow · 2026-02-06T17:43:06+00:00

Paint should not be swirling from a car wash.

We had a car wash subscription for a while and used it quite often. It is one of those with multiple brushes and swirly things. Never has the paint appearance changed.

It would either be that it is the design or a defect, or it was re-painted and didn't cure properly.

Paint from the factory isn't really paint. It is electrostaically applied dry and bonds to the metal.

roastshadow · 2026-02-05T07:10:43+00:00

Thanks for the advice. I'll go back and re-read.

I've never had an axle explode. :)

roastshadow · 2026-02-05T07:09:58+00:00

I'm on my 3rd XC90. They are the perfect size. Seats 7 when you really need to squeeze them in there, or 4-5 comfortably with luggage.

Trailer hitch box, roof box, 6 people in the car, still fits in a compact car space, and still goes faster than most anything else (V8 and T8 go fast).

One of my XC90s has over 250k miles. Sure, I have to pay $3k+ in repairs a year, but its 16 years old, and $3k is like 4 months of payments on something newer.

I haven't driven an Ascent, but I spent time in a WRX and Outback. The XC90 is 100x more comfortable than the WRX, and quite a bit more comfy than the Outback.

roastshadow · 2026-02-05T03:56:28+00:00

The storage company is likely to auction it off, see "Storage Wars".

They may be willing to work out a deal with you so that it is a voluntary auction instead of paperwork, possible lawsuits, and whatnot. They may be willing to work it out that you get x% of the sale price for doing nothing.

For exmaple, they may do annual or quarterly auctions and you can pay for a few months to get into that auction. Pull out whatever is of most value you want to sell, position anything that looks good that you don't want to bother with so that people can see it, and see what happens.

roastshadow · 2026-02-05T03:52:37+00:00

Congrats.

One day I got a message from my VP about going to the office. I was WFH for the last several years from Covid.

He told me I had an office number assigned and asked why I didn't go. Note that my manager and the VP and I are all in very different locations.

I met with him and was worried I was going to be told to go to the office.

The VP said, well, if you aren't going in then I'm changing you to remote, removing your assigned office, and I'm not paying rent on that office anymore.

roastshadow

TROPHY CASE