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You are here: Home / Cars and motorcycles / Wild Turkeys, Motorcycles, Dining Room Sets & Greed

Wild Turkeys, Motorcycles, Dining Room Sets & Greed

by jlcollinsnh 20 Comments

Wild_Turkey_(Cabin)

Wild Turkey

painting by Don Balke

This morning the wild turkeys came out of the woods and on to the back lawn for a visit. The last time was in the Fall when they were in the front yard with a small herd of deer, so it’s been a while.

While I am very much looking forward to our move, there are some things about the place I’ll miss. The wild turkeys are high on that list.

But moving we are and the ongoing prep made for a busy weekend around here.

triumph-scrambler-3

Triumph Scrambler just like mine, although mine is a bit more beaten up.

Sunday I put the battery back in the Triumph and got it fired up for the first time since putting it to bed last November. It started beautifully which pleased me as I had been concerned. By the end of the season it was exhibiting some rough running issues while warming up. Likely carburetion. Then, when I drained the float bowls for storage, the one on the left kept spewing gasoline. So I had to close it up and leave it stored with the fuel in place. Never an ideal situation, even using fuel stabilizer.

My pal Tom has offered to help me sort out and repair whatever issues these turn out to be. That will address point #6a of my plan for 2013: Learn some motorcycle mechanics. I’m particularly glad this is coming together as point #6 – The off-road motorcycle training course – had to be cancelled (or at least postponed) due to time considerations. It had been scheduled for this past weekend, but with everything surrounding the house sale and move the plug had to be pulled. Maybe in the Fall.

Tom is well suited to the task even though he has in his words “never laid a wrench on a Triumph.” A collector and racer of antique bikes, he has laid a wrench on plenty of others. The Triumph might not be old, but it still mostly uses the simpler technology of those bygone days.

Harley '48

Not Tom’s ’48, but close.

I met Tom while out walking the dog one beautiful summer’s day when he came puttering down my street on his drop-dead gorgeous 1948 Harley panhead. Understand, please, in this context “drop-dead gorgeous” means completely original and un-restored condition. If you know old motorcycles you now have the right mental image. If not, picture a machine with about 75% rust and 25% faded paint. See? Drop-dead gorgeous.

Since Tom is gearing up for the racing season we won’t be able to touch my Triumph until May; timing that, with my move and all, works perfectly for me. In the meantime, he has graciously agreed to let me keep it over at his place. So we spent a couple of hours moving his equipment around to make room.

Basically, Tom’s place has four garages. The 2-car attached to the house is for the cars. Across the drive and to the back are two joined single car garages that are his motorcycle workshop and storage. Down by the road is another where we, perhaps optimistically, put up his tractor and snow blower for the season.

In one of his motorcycle garages, Tom has built a sturdy wooden platform running along one side about 5′ high and 3′ wide. Bikes are stored under it and up top. One of those up top was his 1960s vintage Honda CB 160 racer, and job one was getting it down.

Since the motorcycle lift only goes up about 3.5′ or so, this meant lifting the bike the extra 18″ from the platform down on to it. While balancing ourselves on the lift itself. One wrong slip and you’d have a YouTube worthy scene of us and 300 lbs of racing motorcycle crashing to the concrete floor. Easy job for two, not possible for one.

harley-davidson-sprint-21.206132935_std

1960s vintage Aermacchi racer. Again, not Tom’s but close.

Next was reversing the process to place his Aermacchi Sprint racer back up on the shelf. Back in the 1960s, Harley Davidson began importing these single cylinder bikes in response to the highly successful smaller Japanese motorcycles that were suddenly everywhere. It didn’t take long before they were being modified and raced. They still are today.

Once this “heavy lifting” was done, it was just a matter of rolling the other bikes around and sliding my Triumph into place. That, and yakking about motorcycles of course. Other than riding, it’s hard to imagine a better way to spend a couple of Sunday hours.

Now with the motorbike safely tucked away until post-move, I find myself realizing that, in addition to the turkeys, I’ll miss having a garage. The apartment parking is off-street but outside. That’s fine for my 2007 Subaru Forester. It is the right vintage to not have to worry about such things. And the lack of indoor parking will go a long way towards deterring me from the expensive mistake of buying a new car and running afoul of my pal Mr. MM’s buy used mandate.

But the idea of the bike sitting alone and exposed bothers me. It might be, in my mind, the single biggest flaw in this whole apartment plan. There are some nice covers available that do a fine job of keeping out the elements. I’ll pick up one of those and hope it also has enough magic in the fabric to discourage would-be mischief makers. I’d hate to have to shoot one.

Saturday was also a day of moving heavy objects about.

Mrs. jlcollinsnh asked one of her colleagues to come by with his pick ’em up truck to help haul our dining room set and some other furniture odds and ends over to the consignment shop.

Kurt is a fourth grade teacher at the same elementary school where she is a librarian and if the idea of a male fourth grade teacher puts a certain mental image in your head, keep in mind he is also the head football coach at the local high school. Unlike the football coaches I remember back in the day, Kurt works out with his players. He is about my size, which is to say football player big. He’s lean and very strong. Again, like me. Well, like me some 25 years and 60 pounds ago.

A great guy to help haul heavy stuff around and, as it happens, a great guy all around. So in addition to getting the job done, it looks like maybe I’ve found a new friend. The invitation is out: Once we get settled in he and his wife are due over for my wife’s famous Indian Lamb Curry. I’ll be in charge of opening the wine.

DSC00011

Our Dining Room Set.

For sale now at a consignment store near you. Well, near us anyway.

Why we took the dining set over to the consignment shop is a bit of an unfortunate tale.

Originally the plan was to sell it on Craig’s list as I described at the end of my recent consignment shop post. I had figured that it was worth about same $500 we paid a colleague of mine for it several years ago. But then we had our heads turned and greed infected our hearts.

Our friend Cynthia came over and fell in love with the set. Not that she wanted to buy it, of course. More that it was “just beautiful and easily worth at least $1500. Maybe more like $1800. You don’t want to just give this away!”

Could it be? $1500? $1800? Might we triple our money on this thing? But wait. There is no brand name on it. Still, one of the movers looking it over in giving us an estimate did comment on how well made it is. That’s worth something, right? Certainly $500 is too low! But $1800? $1500? Nah, can’t be. I know, I’ll put it on Craig’s for $1200. That seems where it fits given the other ads currently up.

Craig’s list: Dining set, $1200. No takers.

OK. Stuff has to be low on Craig’s. But the consignment store, with their nice displays and customer flow, should easily get $1200. Let’s see, after they take their 35% I’ll net $780. So if I can sell it on Craig’s for $780 I can save the hassle of carting it over there.

Craig’s list: Dining set, $780. No takers.

Mmmm, I can’t get $780 on Craig’s and time is running out. But surely the shop can get $1000, right? For an $1800 (Oh, how the mind works!) set? That’s $650 in my pocket. $150 more than I originally thought and paid. I can live happily with that.  Over to the shop it goes.

Now, the important thing to remember here is that the consignment shop doesn’t tell you how they’ll price your stuff until they see it. They won’t even tell you if they’ll take it. You bring it. You unload it. They inspect it. And finally, if they take it, you cart it inside and set it up where they tell you. Like I said in that earlier post, a great business model. No cost inventory delivered free right to their door.

Of course, they take it. It is a beautiful set. Then comes the price. It’s not $1800. It’s not $1500. Or $1200 or $1000 or $780.

On the plus side, they know how to price things to sell. Any emotional attachments buyers rightly don’t care about are stripped away. Prices are realistically market driven. In this case: $600. Let’s see. Less 35% = $390.

Yikes. Damn. Oh, well.

Even my own Manifesto has the line:

It’s OK for the other guy to get a deal, too.

Related

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Filed Under: Cars and motorcycles, Homeownership, Life

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Comments

  1. Toddius says

    March 26, 2013 at 6:15 pm

    A few Jokes for you:

    Some biblical scholars insist that Moses rode an old British motorcycle, as evidenced by a Bible passage declaring that “the roar of Moses’ Triumph is heard in the hills”.

    Joshua drove a Triumph sports car with a hole in its muffler: “Joshua’s Triumph was heard throughout the land”. And, following Jesus’ lead, the Apostles car pooled in a Honda… “The Apostles were in one Accord”.

    Reply
    • RobDiesel says

      March 26, 2013 at 6:16 pm

      Hjeh hjeh hjeh. I’ve seen those jokes before and they always make me chuckle. That’s what I call “adapting religion to modern times”. I don’t see the new Pope jumping to it though.

      Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      March 27, 2013 at 9:29 am

      My heart goes out to Joshua. I, too, once owned a Triumph sports car:

      https://jlcollinsnh.com/2011/06/22/the-worst-used-car-ever/

      Reply
  2. RobDiesel says

    March 26, 2013 at 6:15 pm

    Ahh, motorcycles. I’ve done my fair share of cleaning out carb floats gummed up by cheap ethanolized fuel. I am pretty determined that my next batch of bikes will be fuel injected.

    I do miss bikes. Prior to my last move (early 2012) I sold off my motorcycles. That was hard to do. It’s so much fun AND got me 50 mpg for my commute. My retirement will *definitely* have me back in the saddle and riding cross country more. The most fun I had was on crotch rockets between Denver and Los Angeles. Mmm..

    Working on them is less fun, unless it’s regular maintenance. I enjoy that. New plugs, a valve adjust (some HOnda’s have hydraulic valves, no adjustment, even better!) or tires, chain, cleaning, snug up bolts, charge a battery, clean some light bulbs and then take the Kawi KLR 650 out in the Rocky Mountains on some trails.

    Good times.

    Say, are wild turkeys tastier than the inbred-in-captivity ones we get from the store? 😀

    Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      March 27, 2013 at 9:32 am

      Well I figure it’s about time I give working on them a shot. If nothing else I know I’ll enjoy the camaraderie. But my guess is, riding them will always be more fun.

      As for the taste of wild turkeys, that’s what the old folks say! 😉

      Reply
  3. 101 Centavos says

    March 26, 2013 at 8:16 pm

    I can totally see jlcollinsnh getting all into the Zen and motorcycle maintenance thing. It fits.

    Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      March 26, 2013 at 11:35 pm

      except for missing the patience and mechanical skills, I’m there!

      Reply
  4. Mr. Risky Startup says

    March 26, 2013 at 10:19 pm

    Dining table story shows again how dependent economy is on people paying crazy prices for items we truly do not need that badly. This past weekend we were shopping for swimming trunks for a 3 year old, and local US mall had some priced at $120! For a pair of swimming trunks that will be used for only one season! It probably costs less than $1 to make them in Bangladesh, but designer logo and fancy store add giant markup.

    As for the motorcycle, look for local secure storage facility. For $40 per month you can get a dry storage shed with 24 hour access and security. Ask your new neighbours for advice – in my case we discovered utility room in our condo that fits our bikes (non-motorized type).

    Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      March 27, 2013 at 9:43 am

      Yep! Lifestyles have changed.

      People don’t much care about formal dining room sets, silverware and fine china these days. The era of elegant living seems to have past. The remnants are priced accordingly.

      Our new loft apartment with its exposed brink walls and the way we’ll have it furnished is our own example of casual living. My mother would have said, “You’re going to live in a factory mill? Oh, my. It was such a nice house….”

      It occurs to me that, if you wanted to recreate that elegant lifestyle, you could do it for pennies on the dollar!

      The mill building right next to ours is a storage facility. But you can’t use it for routine in/out parking. I’m still looking, but to make it useful it would have to be walking distance from where we live.

      Reply
  5. Shilpan says

    March 27, 2013 at 12:32 am

    I can imagine your excitement and joy of not owning things… and thus marching towards true freedom.. aah, life’s worth exponentially more without physical and mental clutter. Let consignment shop deal with hassle to get rid of possessions. I am so glad that you are moving along so well to the path of lasting happiness pal!

    Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      March 27, 2013 at 9:44 am

      Thank you my friend.

      One of the things that occurs to me is how much easier the next move will be!

      Reply
  6. The Keichi One says

    March 27, 2013 at 2:41 am

    Good luck on the move and the bike maintenance. In about two years I might be in the same position to make a move or stay decision. I’ve never been a fan of moving (lots of lifting, lots of discovering how lazy I was not to throw things away, etc.) I’m going to bask in the area between then and now called “the meantime.”

    As for maintenance I’ve found it’s really good to start simple. I’ve been doing all my own road bike maintenance and even after seven months I’m still getting the hang of it. Who knew it could be so difficult to replace a brake cable? Of course, a bicycle is a much simpler beast than a motorcycle but I suppose the same principles. You’ll have to correct me if I’m wrong.

    Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      March 27, 2013 at 9:50 am

      back in the day when I was riding bicycles and touring on them, I got to be a pretty good bike mechanic. One winter I even completely stripped, repainted and rebuilt my bike in my apartment. The paint job turned out wretched, but mechanically it worked perfectly.

      and I still have memories of repeatedly patching the same tube on a Welsh mountain side in the rain.

      Somehow the motorbike seems much more intimidating. And it certainly requires far more in the way of tools. Plus, at 500lbs, it is not as easy to toss around on the stand. 🙂

      Reply
  7. kr says

    March 27, 2013 at 11:00 am

    $500 on CL was a fair price for the dining set. My mother has bought and sold antiques and collectables on the side over the years, and I’ve done a little myself. People generally always over value their things. Especially since Antiques Roadshow. 🙂

    Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      March 27, 2013 at 11:04 am

      Yep!

      They do, and that makes buying on CL tough.

      Where were you when I needed to hear that!?? 🙂

      Reply
  8. RobDiesel says

    March 27, 2013 at 12:46 pm

    You could pick up a bike like an old Honda CB 250. They are dirt cheap and if it doesn’t work, even better. That way you don’t care if it never works, you just resell it.

    If you DO get it working, you get the immense satisfaction of riding around on it a bit, then selling it for a profit.

    It’s only one carb to clean, so you’ll easily get the hang of it. There are no fairings, so no expensive plastics to replace.

    Something like this: http://nh.craigslist.org/mcy/3632177259.html
    but find one that doesn’t run and get it cheaper. 😀

    The first one builds your skills and confidence a tremendous amount. Every time I’ve done a timing belt on the car, or brakes, or plugs, steering rack, whatever… I come out of it spending FAR less than a shop (Volvo wanted $250 for replacing the steering rack, and $1200 for the rack – I got the rack for $170 and paid $90 for an alignment when I was done!), gained knowledge and probably ended up with an extra tool or two.
    All that, and saved a bundle of money.

    I’ll wait for the post where you’ll show us pics of your bike, disassembled, cleaned and reassembled and working. hjeh hjeh hjeh (Norwegian laugh)

    Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      March 27, 2013 at 3:33 pm

      Hey Rob….

      I’ve actually thought about doing just that and I even like the small old Hondas.

      But first I’ll just tinker with the Triumph a little and see how that goes. 😉

      Reply
  9. CashRebel says

    March 29, 2013 at 8:16 am

    It’s always nice to have a friend with a pickup truck! Consignment shops kind of scare me, but if there’s no movement on craigslist, they probably do know what they’re doing. I hope the rest of moving goes well for you!

    Reply
  10. Jeremy says

    April 5, 2013 at 3:12 pm

    We’ve had some great Craigslist experiences that essentially gave us free high end furniture use for a few years.

    We bought a name brand leather sofa on CL for $500, used it for a few years, then sold it for $500. Same with our bed set, dining set, and an Ikea shelving unit.

    Some things depreciate like crazy and then hold their value. The lucky buyer of your dining set may be able to sell it when they are done for the same they paid for it

    Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      April 5, 2013 at 9:22 pm

      Great point, Jeremy, and our dining set could have been a perfect example had I been smarter.

      We paid a friend $500 for it around 2003 or ’04. Just got word the consignment shop sold it for $600, netting us $390. Not bad but I’m sure if greed hadn’t turned my head and had I listed it on CL, I’d have easily gotten the full $500.

      Reply

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      • A visit to the Frugalwoods
    • ► August (1)
      • What the naysayers are missing
    • ► July (1)
      • Reviews of The Simple Path to Wealth; gone for summer
    • ► June (2)
      • The Simple Path to Wealth is now Published!
      • A peek into The Simple Path to Wealth
    • ► May (1)
      • It's better in the wind. Still.
    • ► April (3)
      • Cool things to check out while I'm gone
      • Stocks — Part XXIX: How to save money for college. Or not.
      • Help Wanted: The Book
    • ► March (1)
      • F-You Money: John Goodman v. jlcollinsnh
    • ► February (2)
      • Q&A - V: The Women of Amphissa
      • jlcollinsnh gets a new suit
    • ► January (3)
      • Chautauqua 2015 Reviews, 2016 registration open
      • Case Study #15: The Scavenger Life -- Freedom first, then Financial Independence
      • 3rd Annual (2015) Louis Rukeyser Memorial Market Prediction Contest results, and my forecast for 2016
  • ► 2015 (18)
    • ► December (2)
      • Q&A - IV: Strawberry Patch
      • Seasons Greetings! and other cool stuff
    • ► October (2)
      • Personal Capital; and how to unload your unwanted stocks and funds
      • Stockchoker: A look back at what your investment might have been
    • ► September (2)
      • Case Study #14: To Dream the Impossible Dream (and then realize it)
      • Hotel Living
    • ► August (1)
      • Mr. Market's Wild Ride
    • ► June (4)
      • Gone for Summer, an important note on comments and random cool stuff that caught my eye
      • Around the world with an Aussie Biker
      • Case Study #13: The Power of Flexibility
      • Stocks — Part VIII: The 401(k), 403(b), TSP, IRA & Roth Buckets
    • ► March (2)
      • Stocks -- Part XXVIII: Debt - The Unacceptable Burden
      • Chautauqua October 2015: Times Two!
    • ► February (2)
      • YNAB: Best Place to Work Ever?
      • Case Study #12: Escaping a soul-crushing job before you're 70
    • ► January (3)
      • Case Study #11: John, a small business owner in transition
      • Trish and Stan take an Intrepid Sailing Voyage
      • 2014 Annual Louis Rukeyser Memorial Market Prediction Contest results, and my forecast for 2015
  • ► 2014 (29)
    • ► December (2)
      • Diamonds and Happy Holidays!
      • Micro-Lending with Kiva
    • ► November (3)
      • Chautauqua February 7-14, 2015: Escape from Winter
      • Stocks -- Part XXVII: Why I Don’t Like Dollar Cost Averaging
      • Jack Bogle and the Presidential Medal of Freedom
    • ► October (3)
      • Tuft & Needle: A better path to sleep
      • Nightmare on Wall Street: Will the Blood Bath Continue?
      • Help Wanted
    • ► September (1)
      • Chautauqua 2014: Lightning strikes again!
    • ► August (2)
      • Stocks -- Part XXVI: Pulling the 4%
      • Stocks -- Part XXV: HSAs, more than just a way to pay your medical bills.
    • ► July (3)
      • Stocks -- Part XXIV: RMDs, the ugly surprise at the end of the tax-deferred rainbow
      • Summer travels, writing, reading and other amusements
      • Moto X, my new Republic Wireless Phone
    • ► June (1)
      • Stocks -- Part XXIII: Selecting your asset allocation
    • ► May (1)
      • Stocks -- Part XXII: Stepping away from REITs
    • ► April (3)
      • Q&A III: Vamos
      • Q&A II: Salamat
      • Q&A I: Gaijin Shogun
    • ► March (2)
      • Top 10 posts
      • Cafe No Se
    • ► February (4)
      • Chautauqua 2014 preview, closing up for travel and other random cool things that caught my eye of late.
      • Case Study #10: Should Josiah buy his parents a house?
      • Case Study #9: Lars -- maximizing some good fortune and considering "dollar cost averaging"
      • Case Study #8: Ron's mother - she's doin' all right!
    • ► January (4)
      • roundup: Some random cool things
      • Stocks — Part XXI: Investing with Vanguard for Europeans
      • Case Study #7: What it looks like when everything financial goes wrong
      • 1st Annual Louis Rukeyser Memorial Market Prediction Contest 2013 results, and my forecast for 2014
  • ► 2013 (41)
    • ► December (4)
      • Closing up for the Holidays, see you in 2014
      • Betterment: a simpler path to wealth
      • Case Study 6: Helping an ill and elderly parent
      • Stocks -- Part XX: Early Retirement Withdrawal Strategies and Roth Conversion Ladders from a Mad Fientist
    • ► November (3)
      • Death, Taxes, Estate Plans, Probate and Prob8
      • Case Study #5: Zero to 2.6 million in 25 years
      • Case Study #4: Using the 4% rule and asset allocations.
    • ► October (3)
      • Republic Wireless and my $19 per month phone plan
      • Case Study #3: Let's get Tom to Latin America!
      • The Stock Series gets its own page
    • ► September (2)
      • Case Study #2: Joe -- off to a fast start!
      • Chautauqua 2013: A Week of Dreams
    • ► August (1)
      • Closing up shop plus an opening at Chautauqua, my new podcast, phone, book and other random cool stuff
    • ► July (1)
      • They Will Kill You For Your Shoes!
    • ► June (4)
      • Stocks -- Part VIII-b: Should you avoid your company's 401k?
      • Shilpan's Seven Habits to Live More with Less
      • Stocks -- Part XIX: How to think about money
      • My path for my kid -- the first 10 years
    • ► May (5)
      • Why your house is a terrible investment
      • Stocks — Part XVIII: Investing in a raging bull
      • Dining with the Ghosts of Sarah Bernhardt and Alfons Mucha
      • How we finally got the house sold
      • Stocks — Part XVII: What if you can't buy VTSAX? Or even Vanguard?
    • ► April (4)
      • Greetings from Prague & a computer question
      • Swimming with Tigers, a 2nd chance on the Chautauqua, a financial article gets it wrong and I'm off to Prague
      • Storage, Moving and Movers
      • Homeless, and a bit on the strategy of dollar cost averaging
    • ► March (4)
      • Wild Turkeys, Motorcycles, Dining Room Sets & Greed
      • Roots v. Wings: considering home ownership
      • How about that stock market?!
      • The Blog has New Clothes
    • ► February (5)
      • Meet Mr. Money Mustache, JD Roth, Cheryl Reed & me for a Chautauqua in Ecuador
      • High School Poetry, Carnival, cool ads and random pictures that caught my eye
      • Consignment Shops: Best business model ever?
      • Cafes
      • Stocks -- Part XVI: Index Funds are really just for lazy people, right?
    • ► January (5)
      • Social Security: How secure and when to take it
      • Fighting giraffes, surreal landscapes, dancing with unicorns and restoring a Vanagon
      • My plan for 2013
      • VITA, income taxes and the IRS
      • How to be a stock market guru and get on MSNBC
  • ► 2012 (53)
    • ► December (6)
      • See you next year....until then: The Origin of Life, Life on Other Worlds, Mechanical Graveyards, Great Art, Alternative Lifestyles and Finding Freedom
      • Stocks -- Part XV: Target Retirement Funds, the simplest path to wealth of all
      • Stocks -- Part XIV: Deflation, the ugly escort of Depressions.
      • Stocks Part XIV: Deflation, the ugly escort of Depressions.
      • Stocks -- Part XIII: The 4% rule, withdrawal rates and how much can I spend anyway?
      • How I learned to stop worrying about the Fiscal Cliff and you can too.
    • ► November (2)
      • Rent v. owning: A couple of case studies in Ecuador
      • So, what does a month in Ecuador cost anyway?
    • ► October (4)
      • See you in December....
      • Meet me in Ecuador?
      • The Podcast: You can hear me now.
      • Stocks -- Part XII: Bonds
    • ► September (6)
      • Stocks -- Part XI: International Funds
      • The Smoother Path to Wealth
      • Case Study #I: Putting the Simple Path to Wealth into Action
      • Tales of Bolivia: Calle de las Brujas
      • Stocks -- Part X: What if Vanguard gets Nuked?
      • Travels in South America: It was the best of times....
    • ► August (1)
      • Home again
    • ► June (4)
      • Yellow Fever, closing up shop for the summer and heading to Peru y Bolivia
      • I could not have said it better myself...
      • Stocks -- Part IX: Why I don't like investment advisors
      • Happy Birthday, jlcollinsnh; and thanks for the gift Mr. MM!
    • ► May (6)
      • Stocks -- Part VIII: The 401K, 403b, TSP, IRA & Roth Buckets
      • Mr. Money Mustache
      • The College Conundrum
      • Stocks -- Part VII: Can everyone really retire a millionaire?
      • Stocks -- Part VI: Portfolio ideas to build and keep your wealth
      • Stocks -- Part V: Keeping it simple, considerations and tools
    • ► April (6)
      • Stocks -- Part IV: The Big Ugly Event, Deflation and a bit on Inflation
      • Stocks -- Part III: Most people lose money in the market.
      • Stocks -- Part II: The Market Always Goes Up
      • Stocks -- Part 1: There's a major market crash coming!!!! and Dr. Lo can't save you.
      • You can eat my Vindaloo, mega lottery, Blondie, Noa, Israel Kamakawiwo 'Ole, art, film and a ride on the Space Shuttle
      • Where in the world are you?
    • ► March (7)
      • How I lost money in real estate before it was fashionable, Part V: Sold! and the taxman cometh.
      • How I lost money in real estate before it was fashionable, Part IV: I become a Landlord.
      • How I lost money in real estate before it was fashionable, Part III: The Battle is Joined.
      • How I lost money in real estate before it was fashionable, Part II: The Limits of the Law.
      • How I lost money in real estate before it was fashionable, Part I: Impossibly Naive.
      • You, too, can be conned
      • Armageddon and the value of practical skills
    • ► February (6)
      • Rent v. Owning Your Home, opportunity cost and running some numbers
      • The Casanova Kid, a Shit Knife, a Good Book, Having No Regrets, Dark Matter and a bit of Magic
      • What Poker, Basketball and Mike Whitaker taught me about Luck
      • How to Give like a Billionaire
      • Go ahead, make my day
      • Muk Finds Success in Tahiti
    • ► January (5)
      • Travels with "Esperando un Camino"
      • Beanie Babies, Naked Barbie, American Pickers and Old Coots
      • Selling the House and Adventures in Staging
      • The bashing of Index Funds, Jack Bogle and a Jedi dog trick
      • Magic Beans
  • ► 2011 (22)
    • ► December (1)
      • Dividend Growth Investing
    • ► November (2)
      • The Mummy's head, Particle Physics and "Knocking on Heaven's Door"
      • "It's Better in the Wind" or why I ride a motorcycle
    • ► October (1)
      • Lazy Days and School Days
    • ► July (2)
      • The road to Zanzibar sometimes goes thru Ecuador...
      • Johnny wins the lotto and heads to Paris
    • ► June (16)
      • Chainsaws, Elm Trees and paying for College
      • Stuff I’ve failed at: the early years
      • Snatching Victory from the Jaws of Defeat
      • The. Worst. Used. Car. Ever.
      • Top Ten reasons your future is so bright it hurts my eyes to look at it
      • The Most Dangerous Words Your Customer Can Say
      • How not to drown in The Sea of Assholes
      • What we own and why we own it
      • The Ten Sales Commandments
      • My ever so formal and oh so dry CV
      • How I failed my daughter and a simple path to wealth
      • The Myth of Motivation
      • Why you need F-you money
      • My short attention span
      • Why I can’t pick winning stocks, and you can’t either
      • The Monk and the Minister

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