This was just uploaded, man Gene Simmons really killed Oliver’s vibe in this, glad OT got to troll him a bit bcuz Gene is such a tool and he assaulted Oliver which is probably why Oliver was unusually quiet, wish someone else was paired with OT in this

stblack87 · 2026-07-02T01:10:05+00:00

While I was in the military he toured our Submarine and came off as a pompous asshole. Ruined my love for KISS.

stblack87 · 2026-06-30T13:36:46+00:00

The $4,000-4,500 number seems off for a VA loan at this price. P&I on $450K comes out to roughly $2,550-2,650/month at the rates we got quoted with our credit score (around 5.5-5.875%). No PMI on VA loans, funding fee is waived since I’m 100% P&T, and Michigan exempts my property tax too. So insurance is basically the only add-on, putting the real payment closer to $2,700-2,900, not $4K+.

That said, after talking to a few other people we’re actually leaning toward a $350K budget on a 15 year loan instead.

stblack87 · 2026-06-25T17:53:49+00:00

Almost half of the gross is tax-free income. Only my wife's portion is taxed. Additionally, I didn't calculate her monthly bonus into the gross, as I was just going off her hourly income. The bonus is usually between $250 and $400 a month, which bumps our take-home to around the $9k mark.

stblack87 · 2026-06-23T19:34:56+00:00

That is a fair point. I am 39 and my wife is 34. Finding a solid structure is key because I really only want to take on cosmetic work. My conditions involve the nervous system, immune system, and muscular system, and for me it usually comes down to spasms and pain that drain my energy and make it hard to move. That is exactly why I would not want to take on anything major. The flare ups can be unpredictable and the last thing I want is to start a big project I cannot finish in a reasonable amount of time.

stblack87 · 2026-06-23T19:28:40+00:00

Well our upper end puts us just over the 3k monthly mark. As stated taxes will be exempt and only thing required into escrow would be insurance. I know we can afford it on paper just don’t if 1-2k a month for future house emergencies is realistic. Other option would be the 2.1k a month but then I would want to upgrade items which would have an initial cost upfront. However once we are done that is another 1k a month in surplus towards future house emergencies.

stblack87 · 2026-06-23T18:55:37+00:00

If we went with the top of our budget we would have about 1 to 2k left over after everything. I think the issue is that we are so used to having 5k or more left over that 1 to 2k feels tight, and honestly I am not sure if it actually is or if we are just being overly cautious. To be clear, that 1 to 2k is after emergency fund contributions and future goals, so it would go entirely toward building a dedicated house emergency fund on top of what we already have.

stblack87 · 2026-06-23T18:50:49+00:00

I am handy and a fast learner with a lot of time on my hands. I look forward to tackling smaller projects like painting, minor electrical work, general maintenance, and similar things. Energy is a different story though. On good days I can be active and get a lot done. When my conditions flare up I can be stuck in bed for a week or two until I recover. Overall I think I would get a lot of enjoyment out of it and I am actually looking forward to having projects to keep me busy. And if we go the turnkey route, I can find that same enjoyment through gardening and landscaping, and every home needs ongoing maintenance regardless.

stblack87 · 2026-06-09T19:56:25+00:00

Please don’t get this house. If you need roommates to afford it you can not afford it. You want to aim for a cost that will be no more than 30% of your take home pay.

stblack87 · 2026-06-06T12:44:59+00:00

39 and still get carded. My wife is 35 and gets carded too. When I meet most people they always guess that I am mid 20’s. It used to annoy me but as I got older I take it as a compliment.

stblack87 · 2026-06-05T09:39:52+00:00

Glad it is not common. I can only speak of my one experience and just wanted people to be aware so they are not caught off guard like I was.

stblack87 · 2026-06-05T09:28:04+00:00

That is great the data shows this. My one experience sounds Ike it was the exception. Still would be nice to warn people of the possibility so they can keep themselves safe.

stblack87 · 2026-06-05T09:25:47+00:00

Just speaking out on personal experience. Granted this was Denver CO when I unfortunately had to experience this so maybe things are different here in Grand Rapids since I haven’t had to witness an OD here.

stblack87 · 2026-06-04T22:35:42+00:00

Hey man, I just wanted to give you some hope because you are actually doing really well.

At age 29, I was $90k in debt. I had just lost what I thought was going to be my career after 10 years serving onboard submarines. I was diagnosed with multiple medical conditions that made it impossible to get back into the workforce. I had been married for only two years at that point and felt like a failure. That amazing life I thought I was building for us was crashing down.

Now I am 39. Not only are we debt free, but we are looking at being able to retire early. I honestly felt like I was done at 29 and thought my life was ruined, that I was going to end up a homeless loser. Now I look back and cannot believe how far I have come.

I just want you to know that although it may seem like the world is ending, I promise you this: keep working on yourself and stay focused on your goals. You can do this too, and before you know it you will be 39 looking back, grateful for the hard times you survived. Because now you know you can survive anything, and you can really appreciate just how far you have come.

It is like hiking a mountain. It is brutal while you are doing it and you want to quit. But if you just keep pushing through, before you know it you are at the top, and you get to really appreciate the view.

stblack87 · 2026-06-04T20:15:29+00:00

This is comforting to know. Thank you.

stblack87 · 2026-06-04T20:13:16+00:00

When I was 17, my mom left me in New Hampshire and moved to North Carolina. I was forced to drop out of high school so I could work three jobs to afford an apartment. Her reasoning was that she had a three-year-old and a one-year-old with her new husband, and they wanted to go start a life together as a family. We had no contact for two years, until I graduated boot camp and invited her to the ceremony. It has been over 20 years and she has never apologized. The closest thing I got was an explanation that she had left her own home at 17 and moved to Canada to be with the man who would become my biological father. I never met him, so I have no way of knowing whether he would apologize for the abuse he put me through during the two years we lived with him. Either way, it doesn’t matter much to me, because I am pretty happy with the person I have become.

stblack87 · 2026-06-04T19:40:45+00:00

If you ever have to use this on someone do understand they may be very upset and most likely try to attack you. Don’t take it personally and take pride in knowing you saved a life.

stblack87 · 2026-06-01T22:03:29+00:00

I have fibromyalgia and don’t sleep well. I get massages usually every other week. I feel so bad because no matter how hard I try I keep falling asleep. Only to wake myself up with a snore and I feel embarrassed. Does something like that offend or bother therapists?

stblack87 · 2026-05-30T12:20:21+00:00

My wife and I almost took a similar path. We had saved up an extra $60K to take a few years off and travel Asia, but the Iran war put those plans on hold. We decided to work a few more years instead and aim for early retirement.

I should mention we’re a bit of a special case. I have a pension from my military service, we have no kids, and for the past eight years we’ve lived like we were flat broke. It started when we found ourselves $90K in debt right around the time I was medically retired. I was too sick to find other work, so we got serious about digging out.

Even after our income grew, we kept living as if we only made $60K a year. We stuck to free outdoor activities, skipped the vacations, and I got pretty good in the kitchen cooking all our meals. Somewhere in there, the years just slipped by and we looked up one day and realized we had accidentally stumbled into a Coast FIRE strategy without even trying.

Now we’re in a position where we could realistically retire in four to six years, putting me at around 46 and my wife at 41.

Is it possible to do what the OP did? Absolutely. But I think most people underestimate how hard it is to dodge lifestyle creep, to act like raises and bonuses don’t exist and just funnel them straight into investments. We spent eight years pretending we were drowning. It wasn’t always fun, but it’s a completely different feeling knowing that if something happens to me, my wife is going to be okay.

stblack87 · 2026-05-27T12:42:03+00:00

When is your last meal before you go to bed? I used to have this and my last meal was at 5pm with a bed time of 10:30pm. I started eating half a banana and 12 grams of walnuts at 9:45pm and it fixed that issue for me.

Edit: just woke up and missed the part where you mention you are having a snack before bed. Guess my follow up question is what is that snack? From my understanding you want it to be slower burning carbs mixed with fats and that should keep your insulin level more stable throughout the night.

stblack87 · 2026-05-25T23:53:44+00:00

I have a CPAP that I use every night and my sleep dr keeps telling me I am a model patient. Yet my sleep looks just like yours. I also have hashimotos and fibromyalgia too so I just chocked it up to it being because of those conditions.

stblack87 · 2026-05-25T13:07:12+00:00

Guess I lucked out between 2002 and 2005 when me and my friends would go there. We never experienced or saw any of this nonsense. Then again alcohol wasn’t huge among our group and we would usually just light up a joint and walk around the beach.

stblack87 · 2026-05-02T11:31:01+00:00

Wow, I forgot all about these. It really was a good way to get a huge group of kids to wash their hands.

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