excel lent

Comments:

• In the mid 1980's, listening to a $6.00/hour security guard tell me what a sure thing investing in commodities on the Chicago Board of Trade was. So I borrowed against my credit card to fund my account and start trading. I consider myself lucky I only lost around $1500, but still a lot of money when you're working two jobs and paycheck to paycheck. My older self looks back and asks, "what was I thinking?".

  Post: What’s the worst financial advice you’ve ever acted on?

  Link to comment from August 13, 2022

• My first wife way back in the early 80's worked in a donut shop where donuts were 25 cents and 50 cent coffee. This was full service where customers came in and sat down and the waitress/waiter came over and took your order. 10 cent tips were common. She drove 20 miles one way to get to this job which was in a very rural area amid the early 80's recession. Needless to say, it was a struggle. Financial distress was the primary culprit in our divorce. She is doing better now, but I never forgot how hard she worked in that job and other low wage service positions, so 20-30% is a pretty common tip for me. I consider my/their humble work experiences as a blessing to never forget how hard those workers have it for not much financial reward. Makes retirement either out of the question or will be working much longer than the average retiree.

  Post: Tipping Point

  Link to comment from July 15, 2022

• Being idealistic about how to make your mark on the world may work for some people, but most I suspect, get a huge wake-up call when career opportunities and livable salaries don't align with expectations. I saw a statistic a while back that said a majority of college graduates were dissatisfied with their major. Many of them would have been better suited for tech school careers. 1-2 year programs that still had 6 figure income possibilities, many of whom I knew in the electrical field. Practical education that could be utilized virtually anywhere someone wanted to go. On the other hand, colleges are more than happy to sign you up with only a cursory exploration as to whether or not you are suited for the career you've expressed interest in. The current student loan crisis is directly related to people having huge balances from education not related to anything they are doing now. Proceed with caution the road to education.

  Post: Life on Pause

  Link to comment from July 11, 2022

• My last day of work also happened to be the last work day of the year. I was endeavoring to clean up as many loose ends as I could which took me after 7pm(12 hour day, not uncommon). No one else in the office, my group had left(as well as the rest of the office area) but they did a good job of saying goodbye and thanking me for giving them much help over the years. What was most rewarding though, was receiving all the forwarded emails from my manager the following week from my longtime customers expressing their profound thanks for bailing them out of supply chain trouble and offering 2nd and 3rd options when the 1st wasn't available. Those are the types of problems I relished to find solutions for. My older long-term management expressed their thanks for that, but my new manager was happy to see me go as she wanted to hand pick her crew and I was part of the old guard. Her prerogative of course, but a reminder that the co-workers and customers is what kept me coming to work everyday. A distant memory now. More time to spend on long neglected relationships that suffered when work took a larger share of my time than it deserved. Easier to see in hindsight. I am glad I am still around to have new adventures.

  Post: Changed by the Trip

  Link to comment from July 7, 2022

• I have had good experience in the past with AAA on several locked cars, run out of gas and a tow where a front axle broke on my 2wd F150. But I haven't used them in recent years. Maybe their service is slipping?

  Post: No Help

  Link to comment from July 4, 2022

• I purchased a $1,200 snowblower years ago and asked the seller for the 4% discount to not use a credit card. He was happy to oblige and saved me a few bucks. Of course, Covid pretty much stopped the cash as merchants were reluctant to touch it. Digital currency is in the works, so cash will be a bygone era sooner than we realize.

  Post: Change Is Coming

  Link to comment from July 4, 2022

• One of my previous employers' had a story that always stuck with me on pre '64 silver coins. He started mining gravel on his farm land when Interstate 90, which was close by, was being built. He took $25,000 of the proceeds and purchased pre '64 silver coins and stored the bags in his bedroom closet. His house was later burglarized but because he had covered the coins with blankets, the burglars missed them. He told himself he would sell when they reached 25 times face value. He kept his promise to himself and did sell. His $25,000 investment paying off at $625,000. He received a check but immediately went to a large bank as he wanted the cash to take home. Took the bank 2 hours to count out the cash. It was a 2 hour drive home. Glad he didn't get robbed along they way. It made me try my mini play at silver bars, but I didn't have his financial acumen. Live and learn.

  Post: Learning by Erring

  Link to comment from July 4, 2022

• I just spoke with two long-term Phoenix, Arizona residents about the water shortages. Water rights must be secured in new housing developments. What is your plan should basic drinking and bathing water be reduced or even eliminated? An actual possibility if the drought and non-stop growth continues down there.

  Post: Home Rich Cash Poor

  Link to comment from July 4, 2022

• It is exasperating to realize you have spent years holding onto scattered sizes of nuts, bolts, hinges, rags, wood scraps, window and tire cleaner, motor oil, anti-freeze, lawn ornaments, hoses, extension cords, eave troughs, rope, twine, wire, paint, bird feeders and seed, windshield scrapers, bug killer and on and on... well because you might just need that again. Spouse and I are working on eliminating all of the above and helping my mother do the same. It is a weight off your psyche and most of these things will never be missed. American living can have its own set of burdens along with the upsides.

  Post: Contain Yourself

  Link to comment from June 30, 2022

• Richard, Having read you for a while now, I can assure you that you are not average. You are a go-getter that saw opportunities and coupled with hard work and tenaciousness paid off for you. You learned lessons from your parents too. I appreciated my dad's hard work, but it was as a simple wage earner before the 401k/IRA era so he and his parents and siblings worked hard but just scraped by. Most all of them exhausting their assets and spending their last days on Medicaid. That was not the end I wanted, but I could not follow their paths if I wanted a better life. Through many twists and turns, my journey is different and not average either. How we prepare in the energetic stages of life will generally reap good results, barring the unforseen. Well worth the effort, but comes at a cost of separation from family moving where opportunities are best. Your efforts have paid off for you too.

  Post: Made to Measure

  Link to comment from June 28, 2022