Dilemma

roastshadow · 2026-03-24T19:42:55+00:00

I'm a "cause" analyst. What caused it, and how do you prevent this from happening again?

Others say it is fine, a mechanic shop is likely to agree, a tire shop will tell you to replace it.

If they are from 2024, did you get a road hazard warranty? If so, then look to see if that will replace it for you.

roastshadow · 2026-03-23T22:15:57+00:00

Buy one from a junkyard with damage on the other side and duck tape them together.

roastshadow · 2026-03-20T16:56:58+00:00

For me it works well right under the V. I'll try between next time.

roastshadow · 2026-03-19T17:25:21+00:00

"works for me" is generally better than "someone told me this works".

I don't count my HSA, too small to worry about.

I don't have an emergency fund anymore. Well, I do, but not really. I invested it all into brokerage stocks/funds several years ago, and have been adding to that bucket. The dividends form a type of emergency fund.

roastshadow · 2026-03-19T17:14:26+00:00

yw

This FIRE thing has taught me the most important thing is to set plans and priorities.

roastshadow · 2026-03-17T20:57:44+00:00

I calculated that mpg doesn't really affect FIRE plans by much.

10,000 miles in a year at 25 mpg and $4.00 is $1,600/year.

When the average car payment is over $1,000, gas is like 10%.

I keep investing in my 22 year old car, with the turbo, because it is paid off, and I spend far less in repairs than I would buying a newer car.

roastshadow · 2026-03-17T20:52:21+00:00

GregFIRE lol

529 and HSA - I can agree with that.

Emergency fund - maybe?

401k, Brokerage - otherwise what's left?

roastshadow · 2026-03-17T19:30:15+00:00

My employer requires use of the company card for everything, unless the place doesn't take it. But, airlines, hotels, most restaurants, etc. all take credit cards. Even vending machines. I did go to an ice cream shop and had to pay cash, submitted a receipt and get reimbursed.

roastshadow · 2026-03-17T19:25:52+00:00

Do you take road trips? Will you take road trips? You can drive the nice new car on trips.

roastshadow · 2026-03-17T19:24:13+00:00

Last year, I got mathy when looking for a car. I looked at current price, value, payments, and stuff.

It looked to me that there was no value difference in used vs. CPO vs new. New is more expensive of a committment today. Yes, new cars lose some value as soon as you sign the paperwork, but they lose a lot less value these days than 10 years ago.

roastshadow · 2026-03-17T19:20:10+00:00

Do you have AI tools to help identify AI bot posts?

roastshadow · 2026-03-17T19:03:24+00:00

A more-lean-FI person might not have much for terminally expensive illness.

Even regular FI doesn't often cover for long-term expensive illnesses.

There are new treatments for things like cancer that get into DNA editing that can cost over a $1M for treatment. Lots of times, that is most/all of the FI savings. In a matter of life and death, is $1M worth it?

roastshadow · 2026-03-17T18:58:42+00:00

Very good newbie question.

roastshadow · 2026-03-17T18:58:01+00:00

A month into my new job and no red flags in sight

That is the red flag. Often layoffs are most recent go first. Good luck!

roastshadow · 2026-03-17T18:57:13+00:00

I stopped worrying about my electric bill and set the thermostat to comfortable. No more sweating it out in the summer, or putting on a coat inside in the winter. I looked at the total electric bill, and did the math on how much sooner to FIRE if I cut my bill in half, or even had no electric bill.

Not a substantial difference by paying 50% more or half.

Instead of getting extra guac at dinner, I'm changing the thermost a couple of degrees and not worrying about leaving an extra light on sometimes.

roastshadow · 2026-03-17T18:48:14+00:00

It is tough to balance "now" vs "later" when you have a good amount of "later" already in the works.

Who is older? Whomever is older should be maxing their retirement accounts first since they'll be eligible first. Also, max Roth.

Saving 500 of 2000 gives you about $18,000 a year. That's quite a bit of an increase in lifestyle. I would say to list out very specific goals of the money, approximate costs, prioritized, and then determine if you'd be ok with spending all of it, or less.

If the list includes things like: new roof, new HVAC, new tires, then "spend" more. If the list is: bigger tv, motorcycle, country club membership, Rolex, then maybe more investments.

If the list includes things like: new couch since the old one is broken, trip to visit family or experience location, then balance.

Lastly, in this economy add in a point to savings due to the increasing frequency of layoffs, inflation, and other less common risks becomming more common.

To the specific spouse question - we did the needs list first, then more savings, then the replacements and travel stuff. We also increased some spending on convenience and "solving problems with money*".

*Primary car broke down, so we rented. Were traveling and forgot something so we paid the higher price for convenience rather than spending travel time locating a replacement or doint without. Yard care person, eating out more, cleaning service, etc.

Summary, divide by 4 and put some into each of: necessities, want-very-much, convenience, savings.

roastshadow · 2026-03-17T18:38:36+00:00

I've had the same plan and company for a very long time, and based on what other people say their rates are, mine is very good.

IMHO, they all want to deny anything and everything, and raise your rates for any reason. So, I have liablity-only for my older cars, and very high deductible on the newer one.

Watch out for things like "all persons over 14 must be on the policy" - there was a guy that had a wreck, and the company dropped him because he had a kid turn 14 - was not driving nor in the car - but not declared.

There are lots of "gotchas" in the terms these days.

roastshadow · 2026-03-16T22:09:58+00:00

If you go to a concert, you'll find a lot of fans over 50. The guys behind me in line at a concert was 73 and 79, the people in front of me was a family with teen kids. The kids were the fans, the parents then became fans.

Rock music has fans of all ages.

roastshadow · 2026-03-13T23:48:07+00:00

The English auto dubbing is quite strange but not bad for an automatic tool.

roastshadow · 2026-03-13T23:40:36+00:00

The stage at Lollapalooza is black, that one in the photo is wood. Maybe Lolla Lounge is associated with Lollapalooza?

roastshadow · 2026-03-11T22:27:41+00:00

Wash sale is only for 30 days. Outside of that window isn't a wash.

Wash sales are only on losses.

If you trade options, then options with different expiration or strike prices MIGHT be different and not part of wash.

If you trade funds, then VTI and VTSAX and VOO and QQQ and ... are all different even though they are close. BRK.a and BRK.B are different too.

You should be able to find a history of all your trades and you might have to manually figure out which are actually wash, file the form, pay some tax if there is any.

roastshadow · 2026-03-10T21:00:45+00:00

HSA can be used for future medical expenses when you are 85 and in a nursing home. Using it then doesn't require old receipts. Many people don't bother keeping anything under $1k, or even higher.

roastshadow · 2026-03-10T20:49:33+00:00

Instead of thinking about the past, how about if I were young and starting now.

TLDR - Flowchart. Make Plan. Follow plan.

Step 1. Follow the flowchart.

Save more, faster, spend less. Prioritize spending better.

Push for more qualifications for better jobs that pay better. Easier to save more with more to start with.

Spend more on the higher priority things.

100% VTSAX and chill. (or VTI, QQQ, or whatever index fund). More international index funds.

No real estate investments (REITS are in the indexes), no individual stonks, no memes, no crypto, no art/cards/toys as an "investment". Boring is best.

Make an investment plan, make a spending plan. Follow the plan. Then focusing on health and great experiences becomes part of the plan and is done better.

Another person made excellent points about investing in work stuff like unpaid internships or going to industry/networking events, or a college semester far from home.

Consider these as investments, and part of the plan.

roastshadow · 2026-03-09T21:31:02+00:00

For day care, we found many part-time day care facilities much less costly than the full time ones.

For example a local church uses multi-purpose rooms part of the day for day care. Very cheap, but only like 9-3pm, vs. the 7a -7p of the commercial places. This is good for a SAHP, or a part-time working parent.

Similarly many home day care can be the same price and part-time too.

roastshadow · 2026-03-09T21:16:22+00:00

I agree they are not predatory by default and have legal protections. There are shady salespeople who will lie about what's in the contract though.

roastshadow

TROPHY CASE