Disqus - Latest Comments for lfar

Re: Questions About Electric Cars, SEP-IRAs, Charities, Wedding Registries, and More!

lfar — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 10:31:52 -0000

Q8 I think "go ahead and buy off registry" has got to be the exception, not the rule. Normal people put gifts of all prices on their registry; please don't go off registry (unless you're giving cash). I've gone to four weddings this summer and people receive so many unwanted gifts. Sometimes duplicates (e.g., they asked for a blender on their registry and somebody bought one elsewhere, but then the registry still showed one so somebody else bought it too) or sometimes utter garbage (e.g. bride and groom commemorative beanie babies).

I think your options are:
1. Buy from the registry
2. Buy from the registry in collaboration with other guests, if everything on the registry is too expensive
3. Gift cards (maybe to the place where they registered)
4. Straight up cash
5. Something with a receipt and a solid return (not exchange) policy

Otherwise your gift might be dropped off at a charity donation bin on the way home

Re: CrossFit Will Give the Winners of This Dumb Challenge a Couple of Guns for Some Reason

lfar — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 17:54:57 -0000

I've been doing crossfit for 3.5 years and feel utterly embarrassed by Crossfit HQ for this sponsorship (this is not anything close to the first time CFHQ has made me feel shame for my association with the brand).

I also had a good chuckle at this article. I guess #notallcrossfitters or something? A bunch of gym owners are contacting Reebok to try to get them to reconsider their major sponsorship

Re: No, You Actually Can’t Just Hashtag Your Wedding Thank You Notes

lfar — Wed, 18 May 2016 17:20:12 -0000

Jenny-- I agree! My response was meant further up this thread (to Amy March). New to disqus, sorry for the error!

Re: No, You Actually Can’t Just Hashtag Your Wedding Thank You Notes

lfar — Wed, 18 May 2016 16:34:39 -0000

Yes!
My STDs were emailed.
My invitations are going out over email next week.
Why would I contact everybody after the wedding to get their mailing addresses and send a thank you note in the mail?

Think of all the meaningful, sincere, huge life moments you have shared with friends using online methods. Texting a friend about a breakup. Sharing good news in an email. Facebook chatting somebody in their waiting room of a medical appointment. Like, this is how we communicate. It's not only a medium for meaningless chatter. As a society, we value online communication!

Re: No, You Actually Can’t Just Hashtag Your Wedding Thank You Notes

lfar — Wed, 18 May 2016 16:30:12 -0000

Stamps are $1 in Canada!

Re: No, You Actually Can’t Just Hashtag Your Wedding Thank You Notes

lfar — Wed, 18 May 2016 16:26:02 -0000

Except inviting the person to my wedding wasn't free... wasn't free at all. And yet I still don't demand a gift from every attendee

Re: No, You Actually Can’t Just Hashtag Your Wedding Thank You Notes

lfar — Wed, 18 May 2016 16:15:54 -0000

Question then: our save the date and invitations are both going out over email (saves money, saves paper, is a totally normal way to invite people to things in 2016). I won't even have people's addresses. Can I just send personal emails to each person?

Re: My Partner Says He’s “Feminist,” but He’s Not Helping with the Wedding

lfar — Thu, 12 May 2016 15:39:16 -0000

Yes! Excerpts from a recent fight about chores: "you don't get to call yourself a feminist but expect your girlfriend to do your laundry" and after he explained that he just doesn't like doing laundry, I said, "that's all the patriarchy is, is each man convincing himself that their girlfriend just happens to like doing laundry"

Re: The Final Word On Who Pays For Birthday Dinners

lfar — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 13:11:16 -0000

I think the difference is in the obligation to come. If you just invite me out for a group dinner one night, I'll go or stay depending on my financial situation. If somebody invites me to their birthday, it's rude not to go.

Re: What Are You Getting Your Office Secret Santa This Year?

lfar — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 16:39:42 -0000

My new office has an optional exchange. I'm opting not to join, but worried about looking like a grinch if it turns out 100% of people do it

Re: The Functionality of Gift Guides, From Cheap-o To Cadillac

lfar — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 16:37:26 -0000

Everybody always talks about their closet full of scented candles and fancy soaps, received through gift exchanges, and never used.

I loooove scented candles (well, the good ones) and fancy soaps and never receive any! I think because I'm like a "sporty girl" that people give me different kinds of generic gifts? Anyway, if people want to trade, I've got movie passes and starbucks gift cards galore! (Though my unusually high number of good-quality wool socks given as gifts are mine, all mine)

Re: Some News: The Billfold is Partnering With Medium

lfar — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 14:15:20 -0000

yep! it's an L not a capital i

Re: Some News: The Billfold is Partnering With Medium

lfar — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 14:01:31 -0000

I got lfar!

Re: A Hovering Question of the Day

lfar — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 13:53:05 -0000

I think if a kid wanted to like, buy a confederate flag or donate to MRAs or something, I'd step in. Otherwise for something that I merely deem frivolous, I think I would have to let them

Re: A Hovering Question of the Day

lfar — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 13:51:57 -0000

Right... for some, "savings" means more like saving to spend it later in a few months, rather than saving for something much bigger and further away. A mix of both kinds of saving is good!

Re: Why Women Should Earn More Than Men: We Get Charged More

lfar — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 16:26:55 -0000

Agreed, I used my (male) partner's deodorant once and catching little whiffs of myself ruined my day.

Re: A Gift-Giving Question Of The Day

lfar — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 12:49:43 -0000

I have never thought of this math but it is hard hitting!

As of last year, of all my siblings, only one has a partner. I buy for him and her, and they buy one for me. Same for all siblings. Those guys are getting double gifts! I suppose that's why gifting giving changes as families change (I commented about this already, but we're not doing any gifts at all this year.)

Re: The Pros And Cons Of Skipping Christmas

lfar — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 11:36:06 -0000

I'm also skipping Christmas this year by going on vacation with my partner (who doesn't celebrate) and seeing my family only a 20-hour layover in their city on my way to Europe. It's sooooo niiiiice turns out I'm a grinch who hates Christmas? Well... maybe I shouldn't speak until after when I can reflect on how I felt on the 25th

Re: Leaving America Altogether When Costs Get Too High

lfar — Mon, 07 Dec 2015 17:27:19 -0000

There are plenty of people, from social workers and teachers to scientists and engineers, who have devoted their lives to making people's lives better. Not for the tantalizing prospect of vast profits but because it's their calling. I think that saying the only way to get people to invent is to promise them riches is a misunderstanding of what motivates many people. Take a look at how many scientists are working on cancer prevention and treatments... anecdotally, lots devoted their work to the topic after losing a loved one. Thinking that only vast riches will motivate research is, I think, cynical and simply wrong.

Also, fertility rates are quite a weird way to measure family friendliness...

Re: Physical Books Increase Children’s Reading Performance—But at What Cost?

lfar — Mon, 07 Dec 2015 14:59:13 -0000

Same bookshelf! Except we use 8 squares for books, 8 squares for records, and have a separate bookshelf for more books. All in all maybe 400 books?

Re: Physical Books Increase Children’s Reading Performance—But at What Cost?

lfar — Mon, 07 Dec 2015 14:56:12 -0000

Ive heard that the Seattle Public Library doesn't have due dates or late fees on children's books. So you can "borrow" for 5 years if you like. Amazing!

Re: Weighing the Costs Of A Wedding In Singapore

lfar — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 13:38:25 -0000

I'm missing Christmas with my family for the first time this year, and they were surprisingly okay with it! (YMMV of course, all families are different)

Also flying on the day of the 25th is often quite cheap! Check kayak, flighthub, flightnetwork, orbitz, etc etc etv

Re: Tallying Up My New Savings Plan: November Edition

lfar — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 12:49:23 -0000

How big is your holiday bonus tip?! If you're still at super cuts (or similar, sorry, I forget which brand) then that sounds like quite a generous tip!!

Re: Gifts, Debts, Inheritances: White Millennials Get, Everyone Else Gives

lfar — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 11:44:49 -0000

My parents didn't pay for university (nothing: tuition, books, living expenses, travel home, etc.) and for a long time I really insisted that they never gave me a cent! I did this myself and so can you!

But over time I've realized that they actually financially helped a lot, from investing my high school savings and taking advantage of education savings plans, to teaching me how to shop and eat cheaply, to always being there with their minivan every time I moved.

Re: Free Tuition Is A Bad Idea, Insists President Of Expensive Private College

lfar — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 15:53:42 -0000

While $26k doesn't seem life-ruiningly bad, it's also the *average* of everybody who graduated (including the many who graduate without debt)! Median, please! Or average of everybody who graduated with at least 5k in debt!