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By stuffisthings on My Sick Secret: Elderberries
@awk Are you implying that the woman behind the counter at The Herb Shoppe is not a medical professional?
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By Heckyes on To Get a Flu Shot or Not (Some Reasons)
@km1312 It totally works! If you are a healthy adult (and under 50 or so) it's just as effective as the shot. It's not recommended if you're pregnant or have immune suppression. I don't think it's available everywhere that the shot is, but I feel like doctors offices should have it/be able to get it? So call your doctor and ask!
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By stuffisthings on Let's Negotiate!
@highjump Maybe I'm reading a different email transcript from everyone else, or maybe the "two writers deliberately constructing a framing device" aspect is coming through more clearly to me, but I did not pick up this vibe AT ALL. (And I am an ex-freelancer who likes being paid.)
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By Brian Van Nieuwenhoven@facebook on Reader Mail: What We Sock Away
@Mike Dang Ha, well, that much is true - you intend to encourage people to be happy. I think, as a matter of style and not intention, you have a way of being very direct and open about the way that you live and perceive money, and you are definitely someone who works over spending/saving decisions far more than the average person. You are comfortable with values and decisions (and a constant onslaught of compromises) that would cause some people to become overly anxious and give up trying to manage money. I'm totally on-board with about half of your advice, and the other half makes me think, "Yeah, that would work, but I'm gonna skip that anyway and now I need a drink after reading that." I think, in this case, you went right for the general philosophical advice about saving, but when it comes down to it, I think they're on-board with that. They just want to know, "What's enough? What's our comfort zone?" Hard to say precisely, and huge setbacks (medical expenses, unemployment) have ways of turning huge nest eggs into burnt cinders. But they actually seem to already be on the right track. Their trigger for uncertainty - the dumb landlord - was a false indicator. Their savings are depleted, but it's not because of what they were eating for lunch or because they didn't settle for a grimy apartment. They were totally within the right price range for an apartment, in terms of being able to afford the rent and also being able to save a reasonable amount (the oft-quoted 20-25% figures) every month on top of it. Even with one of them laid-off and on UI, they're making $100k (monthly income extrapolated) and can deal with $2,300 in rent for a while if their debts are not excessive. Most people are terrified of having to make compromises like "leftover soup" and "grimy apartments". (Some are ok with that, but to each his/her own) I know you're not trying to trigger that in your advice or make people feel inadequate for not being able to handle a daily onslaught of meticulous expense planning. It's always a good idea to go back over financial advice articles and look at how it is all framed. Some things that often sound totally sensible and prudent as individual thoughts can come off wildly unappealing and unhelpful when presented in writing, in aggregate, to a person who is in over their heads. Frankly, we're all in a little over our heads in these labor & housing markets. That $2,300 apartment is probably $900 anywhere outside NYC or SF, and similarly $160k/yr would be a king's ransom. Wouldn't need a website to answer any of these questions in the first place. Anyway, hope this comes across as constructive and I have to stop writing cause I've gone on too long. I do love the site. Cheers, man.
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By Jake Reinhardt on Ask a Money-Challenged Person: To Bar Or Not To Bar?
YES. Thank you. I tire of the puritans who are like "if you are broke, you must THINK ABOUT IT at all times, and then feel bad about yourself, and then think about it again, and you can only drink at home, so that you feel lonely when your friends are at a bar, and so on and so on." Seriously, whoever these people are, they are no fun.
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By stuffisthings on Generic Products I'll Never Waste Money on Again
@km1312 how do you know what alien blood smells like?