Early Retirement Extreme Forums

@7W5--I'm glad you said something. To me, the whole point of that last advert was 'Who needs a wife?" but I was afraid I'd sound bitter if I said it. I guess that ad is a sign that some things never change.

In Pennsylvania, if a car has low annual mileage (under 5000/year), an emissions test isn't required to pass inspection. That might factor into which car to purchase if, like jacob, the mileage might be under that threshold. Also, some states only require inspection upon purchase, so maintenance and...

It's technically past my frost-free date but it's been a cold spring here. My spring plantings (spinach, lettuce, radishes, peas) are slow getting started. For that reason, I also started my summer seedlings late. It feels weird to have only tiny seedlings in mid-April, but I want a full spring crop...

@Scott -- Thanks for taking to time to share your experience, especially since some of the information posted by others was not even wrong.

Why not just rent a car when you need one if it isn't that often? Econoline vans are pretty easy to fix and predate a lot of computerized stuff. They were a popular commercial van so parts are easy to come by in junkyards. They also make a decent camper van. DS drives (and repairs) our E150 that's 2...

RIP Daniel Kahneman

https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituari ... eman-dead/

There's a difference between "change" and "growth". There's no reason to change if you're satisfied with your current internal and external life. So in that sense, changing something I think does require dissatisfaction. What is the difference between the two terms? Degree? Dire...

From another thread (posting here so as not to derail) ... Convincing anyone to change requires a vision of where to go, a plan for getting there, and dissatisfaction with their current situation. If we take the last one for granted, I suggest focusing either on refining the vision of what could eve...

I really hope we don't turn a question about meds into a question about the disease itself. If a forumite has asked about the meds, chances are they've over-researched and overanalyzed the topic for themselves (our specialty on the forum ;) ). Two points ... (1) There are documented risks with ADHD ...

Not sure where you live, but people who have OTC access use sudafed and caffeine as a substitute. Look at it this way though ... if the $150 per month is making you more productive and helps you manage the rest of your money (and life) more effectively, then it's not really costing you $150, if you ...

You used to be able to get a no-doc mortgage with 50% down. I think they were specifically called NINA/NIVA depending on whether you were using personal assets or anticipated rental income to cover the payments. Not sure if these are still available?

I would agree with you if I thought it was about money. My point is that it's not about the money for them, so first world/third world comparisons don't apply. They are lonely and disenfranchised, and support structures that might have helped were absent or collapsed altogether during the lockdowns....

Here is the original Business Insider article ... https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/gen-z-dave-ramsey-advice-doesnt-work-today-2024-2 I spoke to my sons' former guidance counselor over the weekend. She echoed the same sentiments. They feel dejected and depressed. They don't feel like ...

Not sure if this article was posted upthread ... ‘I’d rather be caffeinated than depressed with $6’: Young Americans are rejecting Dave Ramsey’s financial advice — here’s why they say they’re ‘not willing to do anything to get out of debt' “Self-care is extremely important and if that means buying a...

@jp Seems like something one could research easily? Is Google your friend on this one? Maybe, maybe not. median = 5 months So not an inverted bell curve. Majority of stays are shorter than 6 months according to the NIH. A few unlucky patients are driving the average way up. I'd only buy the insuran...

Yeah, I want to know the median length of time spent in LTC. I bet it's an inverted bell curve.


@Chenda {{hugs}} I'll keep your family in my prayers.

article on FIRE regret in the NYPost today ... https://nypost.com/2024/02/19/personal-finance/im-an-extreme-budgeter-who-saved-200k-in-5-years-this-was-the-downside-i-didnt-expect/ My kids and their friends don't seem that interested in escaping work or avoiding 'the man.' Honestly, most of them see...

@J: I still struggle with that question. I would routinely swing wildly between feeling despondent that my actions don't even equate to a drop of water in the ocean and feeling despondent for my kids futures and wanting to do everything I can to inspire change. Then it occurred to me that both invol...

I was amazed at how much battery life I'm getting out of a MacBook Air with the newer silicone chips from Apple. ~15 hours of web browsing and ~12 hours of video. At this rate, it will take 8-10 years to reach the maximum discharge cycles on the battery. SSD, low voltage CPU, no fans to speak of. I...

@Scott2- What I'm getting at, and what @Ego put more succinctly, is that what you described above is treatment. Not just treatment, but establishing baselines and developing relationships with providers. What you and Ego are advocating sounds totally reasonable for healthy people trying to avoid li...