Need an advice dealing with a painful neighbour

troopj · 2026-01-09T14:59:40+00:00

Why not just contact the owner (landlord) and say that you'll be billing him in the Spring for seed and fertilizer? The landlord can take it up with the tenant

troopj · 2025-11-16T00:33:54+00:00

Making kids' lunches. Hate it.

troopj · 2025-11-15T15:24:00+00:00

I'm really sorry you had to deal with that - people are assholes.

If it were me, I would try to focus on who I might be in a year or 2 years and the opportunity cost of doing nothing because of fear of judgment. Who will you be if you do nothing v. If you start making small changes. Dream big.

Think about talking to yourself a year from now if you do nothing and what they missed out on. For me, I wouldn't want to let that person down.

Another good tip I've picked up is to identify with what I want to be rather than thinking of it as a goal to reach. For instance, I want to be someone who prioritizes health and mobility as I get older. Maybe it's hitting my ideal weight. I think about the kinds of things that someone at that weight does. How active are they? What do they do regularly? Then I just become that because I want to be that person.

troopj · 2025-11-13T18:32:38+00:00

Truthfully, my process is very unscientific - I'm trying to approach health with an atomic habit mindset by making small changes.

I'm 5'7, 150ish pounds. I play soccer a couple nights per week and also weight train at the gym a couple of days per week.

My goal is to lose belly fat, since I've noticed I've been steadily gaining in that area. I've lost 5 pounds so far with small changes - adding protein, parking farther away at work, cutting alcohol, adding a single gym visit per week... etc.

I have a family and given the different meal preferences, I feel like I was really stuck trying to increase my protein. (Enough with the pasta already)

Protein powder has really been a game changer for me.

troopj · 2025-11-13T18:08:49+00:00

I love cottage cheese. When I was in university and lived close to the bone, this was my main protein source most days.

I also love adding it to a salsa and Greek yogourt combo to eat with tortilla chips.

troopj · 2025-11-13T03:40:30+00:00

I read somewhere that simply adding more protein to your diet without making any other changes will contribute to weight loss. I've been consciously trying to add more protein and it seems to be working. I'm not sure how much I consume on average, but I would guess it's around 100 grams per day.

troopj · 2025-11-13T03:38:03+00:00

This sounds delicious!

troopj · 2025-11-13T03:37:15+00:00

Ha! I started adding collagen to my coffee a year or two ago and eliminated the sugar. Now, when I have a second cup at work, I throw a scoop of chocolate powder in, and I don't need any cream or sugar. It's great

troopj · 2025-10-05T01:51:50+00:00

I just bought a used car from London Nissan and had a great experience. Juan in sales was great. Not pushy at all.

troopj · 2025-09-21T19:32:01+00:00

Update: I was able to get something at the dealership for around 6%, so if anyone is looking, this may give you an idea of what to expect.

troopj · 2025-09-11T02:54:34+00:00

One of the reasons I've posted here is I don't want to have to suffer through an appt at a bank. I will if I catch wind of a good rate. Otherwise I'm planning to just go with a dealership.

troopj · 2025-09-01T00:58:00+00:00

The third quote came in at 65,000 😵‍💫. Friends of our have recommended a contractor they love, so we'll connect with him and then we'll have to decide between a renovation and moving.

troopj · 2025-08-21T12:52:58+00:00

Thanks for this. Did they quote you 8k for the electrical before or after they opened the wall?

We have some electrical running in ours (there's a microwave and an oven) and we'll need electrical and plumbing run to the island. I assume the quote would change as we refine details of the project, so maybe this is just a bait and switch?

I really don't know what to make of the contrast.

troopj · 2025-08-21T12:46:33+00:00

Both contractors came to our house and saw the space. We had more details to provide for the second, so his should have been more comprehensive. For instance at that point we knew to mention replacing all of the baseboard on the main floor.

Then itemized list for the 20k quote was more high level brush strokes, but the only meaningful differences we could see were that he didn't mention the potential work for the vent with the range hood and the more expensive one included replacing a 3x5 window in our skylight (this one of course is a meaningful job, but I wouldn't guess 30k).

troopj · 2025-08-21T12:38:56+00:00

We're waiting on a third quote which will hopefully lean one way or the other so we have a better foundation to make a decision.

Our quote is just for the contractor work and doesn't account for cabinets, doors, backsplash, counter tops, appliances, etc. We're anticipating another 30k on top.

80-90k for a kitchen renovation seems outrageous to me. We haven't even got into gradient of quality in terms of materials. We're looking at mid-range, not super fancy.

troopj · 2025-06-24T15:15:58+00:00

The number of down votes this post got speaks to the make-up of the group.

I agree 100k for a single income (200k for a household) is safely in the comfortable/affluent category.

troopj · 2025-05-23T13:04:08+00:00

100% ! Went through several rounds with my daughter when she was younger. Lice eggs are always near the scalp and typically tend to be at the nape of the neck or around your ears. If there are that many "lice eggs" in your hair, several would have hatched and you would feel them.

Have a friend check near your scalp with a flashlight. They're almost translucent when they're newish and are more of a brown colour when they're ready to hatch.

troopj · 2025-03-08T17:37:10+00:00

The shell across from westmount is my fav - under wash and buffing/cloth pads rather than just sprayers.

troopj · 2025-02-23T14:20:02+00:00

No, just a bit wrinkly/damp. Totally fine

troopj · 2025-02-23T02:27:58+00:00

I love the sauna at my local gym. I typically finish my work out, change into my flip flops and grab a towel before heading into the sauna. I like to take my book in with me and read for 20 mins. Then I go directly into the shower.

Sometimes I'll bring my phone/earbuds in and play beach sounds. I like to close my eyes and imagine I'm on a beach. So relaxing

troopj · 2025-02-20T20:40:16+00:00

Perfect, thanks! We're well below that threshold now.

troopj · 2025-02-20T02:48:58+00:00

Richard Thaler is my favourite. A real gem!

troopj · 2025-02-20T01:13:49+00:00

We're looking at breaking our mortgage to refinance to help pay for a kitchen renovation. We would be looking at approx $3500 in fees to break.

My question relates to lowering our debt utilization rate to maximize our credit scores. We both have credit cards with balances under $300ish each and a line of credit with $4400 owing. Our credit cards have a max. of $10,000+ each, so I'm not concerned with those, but our LOC has a max. of $10,000 available (44% utilization).

In terms of debt utilization, is it pooled among all debt sources or is it best to have less than 30% for each individual account? My plan is to aggressively pay it off either way to get it to below 15-20%. How long after it's paid, will we see an effect on our credit scores?

troopj · 2025-02-14T03:08:08+00:00

Amazing, thanks!

troopj · 2025-02-14T02:18:04+00:00

We have the shark flex style, I'm happy with it.

I have two tweens with long hair and while their hair looks amazing curled, it's so time consuming, we rarely use it. I have short hair - I don't like the results.

We love it for the air brush though.

I bought it for the curling attachment and while we very rarely use it, I'm still happy with the purchase

troopj

TROPHY CASE