Adulting is Hard: A Hype Survival Guide

[Holiday]

I've been with my job for two years now and started my 401k whenever I got the chance. Between what both me and the employer put in, it's about $60 a week. Don't think I'll be there too much longer if I can help it so at that point I'll roll it into an IRA I think.

I used a traditional savings account for years and years but switched to a high interest savings account (Ally) which has a better interest rate. Wish I had done that a lot sooner.

I've been putting a lot of money into a couple of different Vanguard ETFs which has brought a great return these past few months. That's another thing I wish I'd done sooner.

If/when I buy a house, I'll likely hold off on saving as much (outside of an emergency fund) and will put any extra income into paying off the house.

 

[ComicChick]

so CC is in the market for Homeowner's Insurance. I've been told if I bundle with my car I can sometimes get a better deal. So I'm looking at that first. They're offering $112 a month for up to 300k liability.

edit: also, how long am I obligated to stay with the company I choose? If i find a better deal, can I switch just like that?

anyone want to chime in? please? lol

 

[squeekness]

so CC is in the market for Homeowner's Insurance. I've been told if I bundle with my car I can sometimes get a better deal. So I'm looking at that first. They're offering $112 a month for up to 300k liability.

anyone want to chime in? please? lol

We bundled and it saved us money. Never hurts to look into it.

 

[ComicChick]

today CC is closing on her house yall!

i'm nervous, excited, stressed, waiting for the floor to fall out from under me. all the things!

i don't really even get time to let it sink in and process because i fly out at 545am tomorrow to work in Georgia for two weeks. So i'm curious if anyone else here travels a lot for work and how do you handle it.

also, i'm making some checklists of things i want to do with the house when i get home, so i'm wondering if i'm forgetting anything. suggestions welcome

• Change the locks
• deep clean the house before i move in
• get utilities (total noob when it comes to anything like this)
• take inventory of what's in the house (my uncle is leaving it mostly furnished as he doesn't need any of it) and what i want to keep
• massive overhaul of getting rid of "stuff" i have. unnecessary stuff

 

[GunBlade]

Congrats!

 

[Colossal Spoons]

Congrats CC!

 

[The Kingpin]

Congrats! Can’t wait to buy my first place

 

[ComicChick]

thanks everyone. i'll be moving April since i'm traveling for a month for work, but i can't wait.
i'm going to be broke for the next 30 years, but i'm going to try very hard to knock some time off the end

 

[Immortalfire]

i fly out at 545am tomorrow to work in Georgia for two weeks.

Didn’t even stop by here to say hello

 

[squeekness]

thanks everyone. i'll be moving April since i'm traveling for a month for work, but i can't wait.
i'm going to be broke for the next 30 years, but i'm going to try very hard to knock some time off the end

That's great news, CC.

 

[ComicChick]

Didn’t even stop by here to say hello

i was in albany and didn't have a car except the work vehicle :/

 

[Immortalfire]

i was in albany and didn't have a car except the work vehicle :/

That’s about 3 1/2 hours from me

 

[Erzengel]

Saved a couple of hundred dollars per month by doing the following:

Cutting the cord and signed up for youtubetv instead of traditional cable. So far so good.

Shopping around for home insurance. Reduced my monthly mortgage.

Took an online safe driving course. Took some money off my monthly car insurance.

 

[ComicChick]

how come no one told me how fun pressure washing is? i decided to try and pressure wash my front porch today. after 15 minutes i wasn't too impressed with it, only to realize i hadn't turned the pressure "on" lol. much better results after.
a plus/minus to me decided to do that is learning that my outdoor spigot has a leak. now i need to google it to research and find out if it's a cheap quick fix i can do, or if i need someone to come out.

there's a reddit for pressure washing and i may spend the rest of my day looking at that lol.

i had my gutters properly cleaned last week and they pulled a lot of gunk out of them. i don't know how long it's been since they've been done, but now that it's my house, i wanted to have them done proper so i can start taking over doing that.

i broke my lawnmower so i'm either going to try and get it fixed or try to find a decent sale now that autumn isn't too far away. this one was a hand-me-down and has definitely got miles on it. i've cut down some ugly bushes i didn't want and have started to prune the others on my own with hand shears or whatever the giant scissors are called. hedge trimmers? anyways, my dad said they're coming along good and since he doesn't compliment ever, i'll take it.
i picked up some mulch and plan to redo all the areas where there is super old mulch but i'm not in a hurry lol. i've never mulched before, or anything green-like so this is all new to me.

any green-thumbers out there? any tips? helpful websites? must-have tools etc

 

[ComicChick]

update:
lawnmower is still broken. leaky spigot fixed. cost less than $20 total

bad news, we had tropical storm rain last thursday. i took a nap after work, woke up to find my kitchen counter wet and a leak in the roof. i opened my attic to try and get a look and there was a little rain there too. i'm hoping these are just small leaks and won't be a huge thing. or an expensive thing.

i have a job interview tomorrow, but if i were to get the job, i don't think i am going to take it. i'm so torn over it.

 

[ComicChick]

hey yall.

update: lawnmower still broken lol

but i'm looking for tips/hints for dealing with tile grout. i've been on my hands and knees cleaning the downstairs bathroom floor today. i haven't been fond of the tile my Uncle had installed down there at all and i always feel like it looks dirty no matter how much i clean it. i've been a little "depressed" lately with all that i've been dealing with and honestly i haven't felt like cleaning like i should. inversely, that also affects my mentality and mood so you know, vicious cycle and all.
anyways, what products/tools do yall use to clean grout? basically i was using an old toothbrush, some plant based cleaner, heavy duty rags and some elbow grease. i'll probably swiffer the floor tomorrow just so i feel a little better about it too.

i really want to paint the bathroom by year's end. i've already bought the paint and had planned to do it already BUT my friend was over one day and we were talking about it and we realized that when my Uncle's friend painted it, he did a piss-poor job and he did not use a primer. so i really want to scrap or sand off all that crappy paint job before i redo it. i've got a sander but i've never used one so i need to research some videos or something. i really wish my Uncle's friend, who is supposed to be a legit handyman btw hadn't done most of the projects he did. they're mostly half-assed at best and i've spent more money undoing them than i want to think about.

 

[InCali]

There are all kinds of things you can use; clorox water, peroxide, baking soda, etc.

Are they large tiles? If so, I would consider removing the old grout and regrouting it. I've done this and use a slightly darker grout than the tile, but goes well with it. White grout is the worst and I never use it. When you get it the way you want, use a high quality sealer. I used this stuff called bullet proof. It's not cheap, but works great.

 

[InCali]

If you had gunk in your gutters, you might consider screens. Gunk is usually a result of leaves and so forth rotting away.

 

[ComicChick]

how's everyone doing in their adult life to far? especially during the pandemic.

it was a blessing for me in a way in that i was able to properly move in and wasn't traveling half of the month for work. of late if i travel for work, it's only within the zone and the furthest is only an 80 minute drive.
i took the promotion at the biggest store. supervisory position with a guaranteed full time schedule and i'm acclimating well to it. the drive is twice as far in the morning and sometimes 3x as far in the afternoon but it is what it is. i have a little bit more income coming in that isn't assigned to anything so i can use it, save it, or work on cutting down some bills. i'm working on the latter and hoping to buy a new car next year. i've got one year left in paying for this one and am working on paying it off early. i'm actually about 6-8 months ahead of schedule.

still hate landscaping and cutting my grass lol

 

[ComicChick]

i kinda hate cooking. but i think i could learn to love it? at the very least like it. i was just never properly taught and i doubt anything and would be terrified to cook for other people lol

but i did find these graphics so i can at least get the utensils i need or know what the ones i have are for

 

[Erzengel]

When I started living with my then gf, their family always asked me what would I want for my Birthday/Christmas and they began getting me various knives. Took a few years but I was able to fill my block.

 

[InCali]

how's everyone doing in their adult life to far? especially during the pandemic.

it was a blessing for me in a way in that i was able to properly move in and wasn't traveling half of the month for work. of late if i travel for work, it's only within the zone and the furthest is only an 80 minute drive.
i took the promotion at the biggest store. supervisory position with a guaranteed full time schedule and i'm acclimating well to it. the drive is twice as far in the morning and sometimes 3x as far in the afternoon but it is what it is. i have a little bit more income coming in that isn't assigned to anything so i can use it, save it, or work on cutting down some bills. i'm working on the latter and hoping to buy a new car next year. i've got one year left in paying for this one and am working on paying it off early. i'm actually about 6-8 months ahead of schedule.

still hate landscaping and cutting my grass lol

I have to say that I love your posts. That's a hell of a commute. In spite of the fact that I used to race cars (or maybe because of it), I'm one of those people who hates a long commute. The longest commute I ever had in my entire life was about 20 minutes each way, but more usually about 10 minutes. If I'm going somewhere fun, that's an entirely different can of milk.

I'm a big proponent of paying off bills as the interest kills you. A refi can help you save money and I've used it to pay off bills. Then I make a slightly larger payment to pay down the principle. I just did a refi through Loan Depot and got a 7 year fixed (I won't be in the house near that length of time) for 2.5%. After that, I put as much as possible in a 401K. My employer does a match up to 3% so that helped some. Does your employer offer a pension? They don't have many of those anymore, but government work often does. I know a couple really good loan guys if you're interested.

i kinda hate cooking. but i think i could learn to love it? at the very least like it. i was just never properly taught and i doubt anything and would be terrified to cook for other people lol

but i did find these graphics so i can at least get the utensils i need or know what the ones i have are for

Okay.....the I "would be terrified to cook for other people" is provably cute (QED style).

As someone who loves to cook stuff for other people, I would suggest having someone who maybe does like to cook over and help out or maybe invite yourself over to their house and tell them you want to learn to like cooking. They'll get a kick out of it. Or, get a cookbook, pick out a few things you like, and try them out. You can start simple and go from there. Once you find a few things you like, you'll feel a lot better about cooking for others.

Good luck......maybe we'll see you in the cooking thread. If we do, don't be intimidated by @DKDetective s recipes. LOL. He's on outlier and can take DAYS to cook a meal. .

If you'd like some ideas, let me know. I'd just need to know what kind of food you like.

EDIT: Also, if you read any of @KRYPTON INC. s food posts, don't worry; you didn't accidentally consume any hallucinogenic compounds.

 

[DKDetective]

i kinda hate cooking. but i think i could learn to love it? at the very least like it. i was just never properly taught and i doubt anything and would be terrified to cook for other people lol

but i did find these graphics so i can at least get the utensils i need or know what the ones i have are for

I approve these graphics.

...Except for the part about getting a boning knife before a carving knife. The utility knife can do basically all of the boning work a home cook requires. A good carving knife/slicer is much more important and useful.

I would also add a good heavy duty pair of poultry shears early on. They are a wonder and are great for breaking everything done from a chicken to getting lobster meat and other shellfish out of their shells.

Basically, everything above after the cleaver is superfluous for a home cook.

 

[MissMarvelous]

In spite of the fact that I used to race cars

I love that you seem to have done a little bit of everything in life.

 

[MissMarvelous]

how's everyone doing in their adult life to far? especially during the pandemic.

Had to change a drainpipe, I thought it would be very complicated very it's extremely easy! Kinda messy, when I realized that it needed to be replaced, it was a little bit "late" - I had to throw out a few packages of flour, sugar and etcs.

The place could def do with a new coat of painting... maybe during my holidays. I should be able to go somewhere nice and actually relax and enjoy myself but it seems that I will have to stay at home and paint the place, fix little things, etcs.