I'm asking this here only because I thought folks here would be investment and business savvy.
Has anyone moved from a 90k paying day job to buying a business.. say a Restaurant or a Cleaning company etc which has low investment. Let's assume I have the capital to buy it..
Would be interesting to see if that's something if someone has done successfully.. !

Seeking some advice as I'm not sure what the best course of action is from my current position.
Background: maths degree from top UK target, joined a European BB in London straight after graduating. I do macro structuring (kind of between Sales & Trading) and approaching 4 years in this role. I think it's not for me long-term for various reasons (too Sales-y, stopped learning, mediocre pay)
I've applied for roles like new grad QT/HF trading on and off over the years and got pretty far in some instances (e.g. Optiver final round twice - think no culture fit), but didn't manage to convert. I feel it's getting harder given QT firms prefer to hire fresh grads and perhaps if I don't make a move now it'd definitely be too late next year (5 years in!)
I want to move into something more active/quantitative (not quite QR since my coding background isn't that strong), and it seems to me the main options from here (alongside pros/cons) are:
1. Pivot into sell-side trading

• Pros: Might be the most realistic option, smoothest transition in terms of skillset/comfort zone. Might be able to maintain experience/title (i.e. not starting as new grad). Relatively good stability/security
• Cons: Work will be most similar to current role, arguably least interesting & seemingly worse pay compared to other options long-term

2. Pivot into buy-side trading

• Pros: Some skillsets transition well, steep learning curve, comp upside. Have found better success in these pipelines (lots of headhunters calling and getting to some later rounds) recently although not sure if this will last as I become more senior
• Cons: Not sure if I can acclimate to intensity/WLB. High pressure, job security

3. Quantitative Masters e.g. Stats
I'm not too sure about this one as while it certainly opens up lots of quant opportunities in general, I don't know if it really improves my chances at landing a QT role

• Pros: Pivot attempt, good preparation for quant roles in general, might get another look from previously rejected firms (? unsure of this, I think it's very important)
• Cons: Risk wasting time & money, upheaving current life, not worth the investment

I will of course continue applying to roles where possible but basically wondering if I should make a real attempt/investment at switching roles/pivoting. It might be the case that QT is not that realistic at this point given not many firms are willing to hire non-fresh grads in London
Curious to hear others' perspectives and any thoughts would be much appreciated. Thank you!

I KNOW everyone is allowed to complain about whatever they want, but I (F27) am sick of hearing my BF (29M) complain about money when he makes more than me, has over $100k in savings, and lives with his Mother.
He always tells me he is stressed about not having enough for retirement, about not being able to buy a house, etc. Yeah, probably neither one of us will be able to buy a house until someone dies and leaves us a lot of money - that's just the state of the world AND we live in one of the most expensive metro areas in the US. We both make decent money, and our salaries are similar (he makes slightly more than I) but he has been able to save a significant amount since he lived with his Mom since college. I moved when I was 18, and lived with an aunt for a year after a hard breakup that saw me out of a place to live while I simultaneously got laid off, but moved out once I was on my feet again.
Now, I am not judging him for living with his mom. I get that it makes financial sense. That's how he has been able to save well over what most people have at our age. What drives me BONKERS is that he complains about regular expenses (car repairs, medical bills) and acts like he is going to be destitute. In contrast, I have maybe $15k in savings pay rent, bills, all my own expenses, and don't complain when something pops up. Does it suck that I had to pay $1600 for an impromptu MRI a few months ago? Yes, but that's life. By contrast, he is having a break down because he has a small medical bill to pay and since he has waited 40 days its not a $15 late fee. It sucks but its only $65. It makes me feel like he is being SUCH A BABY. Like I have RENT, my dude, at the house we hang out at all weekend so we aren't fucking in the basement beneath your mom. Now he also has a $700 car repair he needs to pay for and a destination wedding he needs to go to which will be expensive and yes, sucks but either don't go or don't complain.
This also makes me worry that if he is this stressed over little things that he is never going to want to move out of his mother's house, despite complaining about living with her constantly. My lease is up for renewal this fall, and I live with my sister who plans on renewing, so I told him I was fine waiting another year since it would be crowded with the 3 of us in here. I'm now worried that the year will go by and my sister will move out and he just won't want to leave because even though he will be 30 and living in a musty basement, it "just makes sense."
Just frustrating. He is so kind and sweet and I really love him. We have been together for almost 2 years now - I feel like if we get to 3 and he won't move in, it might be over. I want a partner, not a weekend house guest.

I'm hoping the attorneys here might help, but I'm expecting to be out of luck. I've shared my story in a comment late last week, but I think sharing as new might be easier for documentation.
In 2022, my Navient private loans were at (over? - I can't remember specifically) 10%. It was getting tough to afford and any sort of relief was looking less and less likely, lots of comments (not necessarily here, but other financial/student loan groups) were suggesting to refinance. I tried to hold off as late as I could hoping this would develop into something, but 10% was my limit. Anyway... I ended up refinancing with another loan servicer in 2022. Based on this happening alone, I expected Navient to do absolutely nothing for me.
However... after seeing this application come about in this sub-reddit, I was getting pretty upset. Navient really screwed me as well as the school I attended. I attended The International Academy of Design & Technology, which changed names to Stafford-Brown College years after I graduated. The school pushed me towards private loans, telling me I had exhausted my limit for federal loans. I believe this was a lie because when reviewing my information in the last couple of years since filling out my BD application and seeing a large portion of money I could borrow - this was before my federal loans were forgiven. The other thing that pissed me off was that we specifically asked not to take a Parent PLUS loan out because my single mother couldn't afford it. Guess what, they snuck the paperwork in for the Parent Plus loan in a large packet and did the whole "sign here, here, here, and here" thing and said it was to secure the loans. Didn't even mention the Parent loan was mixed in there. So I paid that myself... And unfortunately, I didn't think to file a separate BD application for this until AFTER the deadline to be full class, so this is a post class application. Also because I paid it off years ago, it wasn't a thought. And the first application I filed (this was post class (not under DeVos) was immediately denied because it was paid off, so I filed a 2nd one and noted that I was hoping to be considered full class for refund considering I filed a one for my other loans already and cited my case number. Last I checked (long time ago) it was still pending.
I attended IADT from 2003-2007. My private loans were initially Sallie Mae, then moved to Navient. Under both servicers, I struggled to pay and they only options they gave me were deferment or interest only payments. I had since exhausted my ability to defer and even when interest reached 10% in 2022, they only offered deferment (well, not really because they told me I exhausted that) or interest only payments. Which is also why I refinanced elsewhere. Long story short, since 2007 when I was required to begin making payments, I have paid 2-3 times what I borrowed on my loans and still owed half as of 2022.
CFPB
Since learning about the misconduct application and a recommendation to file a CFPB complaint to be able to apply, I tried it. I basically asked to be able to apply like anyone else and if the application proves that I was a victim, I asked for Navient to buy my loans back from my new servicer and treat my case like any other. I didn't expect they would do this, but worth trying, right? About a week later, they responded basically saying that because my loans are paid in full and they are no longer my servicer, I am not eligible for the application. I mean, it makes sense on the surface. But it does NOT excuse them taking such advantage of me nor does it discount the fact I was a victim of fraud. I have 60 days to provide feedback to my CFPB response, but the case is closed. Feedback is only used to help improve the process, not affect my complaint outcome in any way.
Side note - Since 2007, probably a few years later, I had reached out to 1-2 lawyers about suing, but no one wanted to touch it nor did I know who or how to really approach any of this legally. One was already suing IADT in Florida (I'm in Illinois) and I only reached out to that one or even knew about it because it showed up on a news article. Initially, when I reached out, the lawyer said they would include me and expand the case outside of Florida. A while later, they rescinded and said they couldn't help me. I'm not even sure if the case in FL went anywhere.
I also discovered during my BD application process when looking for evidence that in 2019, like 49 states sued CEC (the parent company of IADT) and settled by stopping all of the loans for their schools. I was not informed or included in this settlement and I don't know why. Here's 1 article discussing it - https://www.npr.org/2019/01/03/682057881/nearly-180-000-students-wont-have-to-repay-loans-from-for-profit-higher-ed-compa I had reached out to my state's AG twice to inquire about this and why I wasn't included. The 1st time, they basically said "What case?" and acted like they had no idea what I was talking about and ignored me afterwards. The 2nd time I got no response. So... I'm not sure what this settlement even entailed. I also checked all of the boxes for the Navient settlement before SvC except that I was not in default. Had I been in default, I would have found relief in that settlement. So... yeah, striking out here.

During the course of my career as an alpha Sasquatch hunting, Dogman destroying, pussy crushing, luxury watch loving dude, I have run into this particular woman a few times. She is one part uber sensuality, and the other part deadly. Yes, I am speaking about the lovely, Anna Conda. I bring her up because I had another run-in with her last year.

Anna and I first joined forces, so to speak, when she acted as a go-between in my business deal with the Chinese to sell them bigfoot parts. See, I would hunt and kill the critters, cut them up, deliver the parts to Anna, who in turn gave me a suitcase containing unmarked American hundred-dollar bills, then she would transport the bigfoot parts to the Chinese. I was never really sure of what the sneaky-ass Chinese were doing with the body parts. All I knew for sure is that they are extracting certain materials from them, then synthesizing them with some other shit, creating some sort of drug. Whether it then becomes a bio-weapon or a dick stimulant, I do not know. Neither do I care. As long as they kept the hundies coming, I was good.

Now, while Anna is of Russian descent, she is a freelancer. She will work for any sick, skeevy motherfucker out there. She does not care. She has no conscience, at least not in the traditional sense as we understand it in western civilization. Today she is working for the Chinese, and tomorrow she may be working for Hamas. She is a slippery motherfucker.

So here is how it went down. At 11:32 p.m. on a Friday in September of last year I get a call on my cell phone. When the call came in I was balls deep into this hot little lass I picked up at the bus station a little earlier in the evening from an old swarthy chap named “Colorado Joe”. He wanted to sell me the girl. I was assured she was over 20 years old. I told him I needed to take her out for a test ride, which he agreed to.

So, there I was, balls deep in “Bing Bang Yun”, and my phone rings. Of course, I silence all incoming calls not in my contacts list. Thus, I knew that I must know the caller. In mid stroke I reached over to the nightstand to retrieve my cell and looked at it. It was a call from “Sergio”. I thought, “Oh shit…. I am going to have to cut the Oriental bang circus short.” When Sergio calls, I have to respond…immediately. He has the best blow on the east coast!!

“Hey, Serge! What’s up?”, I asked. All he said was, “Hooters. 2:00 a.m.”, then hung up. This was obviously the rendezvous for the transaction. Now, understand that Serge was not talking about the chicken wing restaurant. Hooters was code, in case the feds were listening in on the line. “Hooters” meant the titty bar out on Highway 69 called “The Plump Rump”. We had a communications code we used.

It was a long haul to the titty bar, so I needed to get moving. I had no time to return the girl to Colorado Joe, so I took her with me. I had her blow me on the way to the meeting with Sergio, telling her that her performance would make the difference on whether I save her from Joe or not. Of course, after she was done I tossed her out of my speeding truck and down, over the bridge, and into the Wendigo River below. I did not need any complications in my life right now.

I arrived at The Plump Rump at 2:00 a.m. on the dot. I saw the manager, Lou Skunt, sitting at the bar when I walked inside. I nodded. He walked over and said to me, “Use my office for the meeting The parties are already in there waiting for you.” I nodded and then headed to Lou’s office. Then it hit me: Lou said the “PARTIES” are already here. That is, parties, meaning more than one person. It was not just Sergio. It was 2 or more people! Lou was probably in for a cut of whatever was about to go down.

Something was bad fucked up!! I know for a fact that Sergio never brings anyone with him on a deal, at least not with me. He is too distrustful of people to do that, and too fucking mean to need protection. Something was wrong. I was just as likely to get whacked when I enter Lou’s office as anything else. I needed a moment to think things through.

I took a spot in front of one of the performance poles to watch a young, swarthy Mexican lass perform. My mind quickly strayed from the problem at hand to this brown chick’s ass and tits. She was not a great looking chick, but her body was smoking!! I quickly became aroused. I thought to myself, “Goddamn Asian bitches!! They are just like Chinese food – after 2 hours you are ready for some more!!”

When the little Mexican chick went on break I motioned her over to my table. “Hola Senior!!”, she said. I pulled out a clear plastic baggie of blow and dropped it on the table. Her eyes grew wide and slobber starting falling from her mouth. Blow is like catnip for strippers. Thus, she fell under my spell immediately.

The next thing I know, this brown girl was on my lap, dry humping me like a feral bitch dog in heat. I had to bang her. I NEEDED to see my wang penetrating her. Just then, someone taps my shoulder hard. I look up to see Lou standing over me. He bent down and said, “Did you forget about my office, asshole?!?!?!” I replied, “Damn, Lou!! You read my mind!!!” I arose, with the little Mexican bolted onto my mid-section, and hastily retreated to Lou’s office. I figured Lou would prefer me to stain this chick in private rather than out in the open.

The door to the office opened easily. The lights were on inside. In a lustful haze, I set the little Mexican chick on her back across Lou’s desk and started pumping the shit out of her, completely unaware of the others in the room with us. In a moment I heard someone call my name. I twist my neck around to see Sergio sitting on Lou’s jizz crusted couch. I think to myself, “Oh shit! I forgot about that shit!”

I figured I would just move forward with the deal as it was proposed to me. “Hey Serge! What ya got for me, dude?”, I asked. He replied, “I have a very special deal for you. I need, uh … yeah, ……Hey, Rod, you want to stop for a moment so we can talk?” I picked up the little tamale and laid her down onto Sergio’s lap as I continued to plow her. She stayed on my cock the whole time. I told Sergio, “No, man. I’m good! Lay it on me!” Slowly, Sergio lowered his face into his palm.

Then it happened. The voice cam from behind me, in the dark corner of Lou’s office. It was velvety yet hard as steel. “Rod. Went need to talk”, it said. Even though I did not stop pumping the little brown chick, a chill went down my spine when I heard those words. It was the thick timbre of the voice, I think, that alerted me.

I turned to look across the room. There, sitting in a red leather captains chair against the wall was the source of the sultry voice: Anna Conda.

I picked up the little taco yet again and turned her around so I could face Anna as I continued pumping her. At this point the Mexican girl was merely a masturbation toy I was using. I increased my pump so I could dump my load and get this over with. Then BAMM!!!, it was over. I removed the lass from my huge rod, after which her body crumpled to the floor. I did not know if she was dead or injured, or what had happened to her. But I did not care either, so I did not dwell on it.

I tried to compose myself the best I could, then walked over to stand before Anna so I could get to the bottom of all this business. “Well, well, well. Anna Conda. We meet again. Tell me, what brings you here, to my little neck of the woods?”

Anna replied, “Rod, put your dick away.” I looked down and, indeed, I had forgotten to stow my cock. Out of pure curtesy, I packed it away. Then I returned my attention to Anna. “Alright, Anna, what’s going on here?”

Anna launched into a startling tale about what brought her to me. As she spoke I became lost in her wanton beauty. She got up from her chair and walked about the room as she relayed her story, presumably to make it more dramatic and demonstrative. I got a full-on view of her body, and it was fantastic!!

She stands 5’10’’ and weighs 105 lbs. She is lithe. She was showing it off too, wearing a black, silk dress that landed just about her ankles. The top was low-cut, betraying just a bit of cleavage from her C-cup wineglass titties. She was not wearing a bra. Anna never wears a bra. Her nips were perfectly outlined through the silk. In fact, I think her nips were hard. It was probably something she did on purpose in an attempt to influence me. It was working.

Anna’s ass was perfect. It was not at all fat, but round enough not to be skinny. It was a fit figure skater’s ass. As she walked, I could see a tiny bit of jiggle emanating from her ass flesh, and then reverberated in the silky black dress she wore. My cock began growing hard again.

Her face was beautiful. Think Scarlett Johanson and Phoebe Cates rolled into one. But any sweetness this may evoke is quickly dispelled by Anna’s throaty voice with its thick Russian accent. I have known Anna for 20 years. Yet, she still does not look a day over 25. Jesus Christ!!! If ever there was a chick to die for ….. If I was one to delve into the belief of the paranormal, then I may conclude that Anna made a deal with the devil. But, I am not such a person.
And literally, Anna Conda is a chick to die for. She is deadly as fuck. She will kill you in a split second without a thought just because she does not like the shirt you are wearing. She can do it too. She is always armed and she knows how to use her weapons. Moreover, she is a total psychopath. This makes her doubly dangerous.

Anna and I have always gotten along for the most part. Like Anna, the dollar is my primary motivating factor. Such a mindset allows for understanding and predictability among people, which are elements that are sorely missing in many business dealings today that go on in the color of darkness.

Suddenly, Anna snapped me out of my thoughts. “Here’s your gun, Rod. Now let’s get started”, said Anna. She and Sergio were halfway through the door exiting Lou’s office when I said, “Hey, wait a damned minute!!! What are you talking about?!?”

They both stopped, and Anna walked back in and looked me in the eyes, saying “The plan, Rod. Let’s get on with the plan.” A little embarrassed, I sheepishly asked, “What plan?” Anna folded her arms and looked cross at me. After a moment to allow me to simmer in my shame, she asked, “You were not paying attention, were you, Rod?” I shook my head and looked down.

I heard a hammer cock. I jerked my head back up to find myself staring down the barrel of a pistol pointed at my head that Anna was holding. I protested, “Look, it is not my fucking fault!! Put that fucking gun down!!!” I continued, “You were distracting me with …. Well.. you know, how you are dressed, and that hot, sultry voice…. You know?”

“So, instead of paying attention to the plan, you chose to eye-rape me. Is that what I am to understand your position is, Rod?”, she asked. Knowing that my life was on the line, I said, “Anna, look, you know I am horny to a fault. Then you come in here, swinging them tits around, wearing that silk dress showing off the crack of your ass…. WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU EXPECT TO HAPPENED?”

Anna lowered her gun. She knew that my explanation of being a total cocksman was truth. “Let’s go”, Anna curtly said. I obeyed.

Anna explained the plan to me again on the drive from The Plump Rump. She made me wear a blindfold so that I would not get horny during her explanation. Here is how it went:

Anna Conda was now working for the Russians. It seems that Putin caught wind of the Sasquatch project that the Chinese were working on. He also knew that the American government have been fucking with sasquatch for decades. Thus, he was very concerned about the existence of a bigfoot gap. He ordered the acquisition of a Sasquatch specimen immediately.

Moreover, said specimen must be prime. It needed to be the biggest, baddest sasquatch of them all – a true alpha – so as to speed things along. Putin did not want some weird shit-creature, is-it-a-sasquatch-or-is-it-a-dogman, kind of monstrosity. He wanted purebred, badass sasquatchery, and preferably from the American Pacific northwest.

Anna got in on it because she sold the intel to Putin about China’s Sasquatch operation. She then told Putin she could produce sasquatch corpses for him. She told him she had a contact (i.e., me). Thus, with Putin’s blessing and promises of riches to come, Anna set out to America to find me.

Now, here is where things got a bit squirrely. See, I agreed to procure some more dead sasquatch. I have no problem with killing sasquatch because, in my opinion, they are an abomination on this Earth. I kind of feel like I am doing God’s work by wiping out as many of them as I can. And given all the not-so-Godly stuff I have done, I feel like killing Sasquatch kind of offsets that to some degree.

But Anna, she was stuck on Putin’s instruction that she must supply him with apex Sasquatch. So she did not want to take my advice of heading to the Pacific Northwest or Alaska. Instead, Anna claimed to have pinpointed the whereabouts of a particularly gruesome sasquatch beast that she KNEW would win her a fortune from Putin if she brought it to him.

“So, where is this beast?”, I asked. Anna replied “Martha’s Vineyard”. I paused. Then I asked her to repeat herself. It turns out that I was not mistaken about what Anna had said. I continued, “Uh, Anna, there are no sasquatch on Martha’s Vineyard, just a lot of wealth New Englander schmucks.”

Anna looked at me and told me I was wrong. Then she decided to attempt to taunt me. “Oh, Rod, mighty slayer of Bigfoot! Yet, you fail to take notice of where the biggest, most foul and rotten beast of them all makes its home. Jesus, Rod!! What kind of bigfoot hunter are you, anyway?” Anna then spit at my feet and wondered aloud whether she even needs me for this job.

I decided that I needed to straighten out the hierarchy here in order for this here deal to move forward. I said, “Well, Anna, feel free to truck on over to Old Whitey Beach and battle that beast. But, if there is a big old mangy sasquatch lurking around over there, then it is probably a fucking Nazi-Squatch. You know, those fuckers out there hate the Jews.”

The work “Nazi” visibly shook Anna. Her great grandfather died defending Leningrad. Her entire family there died of either starvation or cannibalism during Hitler’s siege during Operation Barbarossa. Anna despised Nazis. But she feared them too. After landing that punch, I decided to push my luck.

“Now, I am still willing to help you catch this here Nazi-Squatch, but you have to do something for me”, I said. Now Anna’s eyes were on me, and they were narrowing. I continued, “I want you to get bare assed naked and pleasure yourself while I stand over you and jack it.” Anna stared at me silently for a long moment. Then she replied.

“After the job is done, and you can get none of your … fluids… on me”, she said. I shook my head and countered, “Now, and I will ‘try’ to not get my spunk on you.”

However, Anna then turned the tables on me. In fact, she picked up the table and bashed my head in with it. She looked me in my eyes, then matter-of-factly said, “You get the beast, and your prize shall be a night with me, anything goes, darling.” Well, since this caused all of the blood to immediately drain from my brain, I had a lapse in judgment. “DEAL!!”, I said. Then we shook on it.

“OK, tell me more about this supposed monster sasquatch on Martha’s Vineyard”, I said. I still was not ready to believe there was a monster out there. “I show you photo”, said Anna. She took out her phone, scrolled to find the photo, then handed the phone to me. “There. Sasquatch”, she said.

I stared at the photo and remained silent. After a long moment, I turned the phone so that Anna could see the photo and asked, “Uh, Anna, is THIS what you intended to show me?” She replied. “Yes! There…Sasquatch! The biggest, grossest monster around.”

Now, I could not argue with Anna that the image on her phone is a big, gross monster. Hell, it could actually be a sasquatch, and THE UBER sasquatch. It is most certainly the grossest thing on Martha’s Vinyard. But I somehow do not think this is what Putin is expecting.

I turned to Anna and said, “Anna, this is a photo of Michelle Obama. I know it looks vile, and has a huge, hulking body with large appendages where a woman should not have them. But, sweatheart, that ain’t no sasquatch. That’s a big, hairy Chicago street negro.”

Anna did not believe me at first. She was hard in her conviction that Obama was a sasquatch. “I have seen the Sasquatch beast you deliver to me for China. This … Michelle Obama …. It is big, and hairy, and ugly like the sasquatch beast, but worse.”

When the truth finally set it, I could see that it had kind of broken down poor Anna, if only just a bit. I put my arm around Anna and told her, “Look, Michelle O fooled you. Hell, she and her Hamas Hubby fooled millions of Americans, twice! At least you saw Michelle for what she is, to wit: a big, gross sasquatch, and NOT some kind a retarded leftist messiah.”

After that, things took a rather dark turn. “What if we still take her to Putin? We can make deal; sell her to Putin!!” At this point I held up my hands and said, “I’m out”, then turned and walked away. Anna followed, trying to get me to stay. At this point, I could tell that Anna was coming undone a little.

See, she had to produce for Putin. There is no telling what kind of secret deal she actually had with him. She had to deliver a big old mangy Obama …. Er, uh, I mean … Sasquatch, to Putin.

“Ok, Rod, we do your plan. We go out west to kill bigfoot. Huge, monster bigfoot. she said. I turned and looked Anna in her eyes and said the following: First, we bang for 48 hours straight, right now, so I can get my fill of you. Second, you pay me $10,000.00 cash upfront. Third, upon delivery of the dead bigfoot, you pay me $1 million immediately.”

Anna agreed to everything, but noted that at the present time it was her “time of the month”. I grimaced, as I will absolutely not go there (and she knows that). “Fine, next week we bang”, I said. She pointed out that I would be in the woods next week hunting sasquatch. “Fine, once I come out of the woods, then we bang – 48 hours straight”, I said. “Of course, darling!”, she agreed.

Well, it took several days to set up the hunt, but it finally happened. I was in Washington state at high elevation based on intel I has acquired that indicated that there was a monstrous 15’ tall sasquatch on the mountain range that had been murdering and eating hunters and hikers. After 3 months in these mountains without a trace of the creature I began to lose hope, thinking that I probably got some bad intel, or bad coordinates.

I got my satellite phone out to call for an extraction. Winter was setting in fast, and if I did not get off this mountain soon, then I would freeze and/or starve to death. Unfortunately, my contact did not answer. I tried for 2 days. No answer. I had been fucked. I wondered what had happened back in civilization that caused me to be abandoned like this. I resolved that I would get off that mountain and get to the bottom of this shit. There would be hell to pay for this betrayal!!’

I was able to get in touch with contacts from back home. I got old Billy Ray from Ellijay and Rattler on the phone and got them to come out here to Washington State to extract me. Rattler use to fly helicopters in the Army. He has an old Huey sitting in his front yard, to the chagrin of his HOA. He fired that sucker up, and him and old Billy Ray flew out here to my coordinates and extracted me.

After landing at a convenience store to buy some beer for the flight home, we headed east. Through the skies a way, Billy Ray said, “Well, Rod, I guess you is bout ready to git back home to Georgia, eh?” In fact, I was ready to go home. But I had to take care of some business first. I told them both to take me to New York City. They were both perplexed. All I said to them was “I have an old friend there I have to see before I can go home.”

I have intel on where Anna Conda stays when she is in the United States. She stays at certain hotels depending on what month she is here, and whether her check-in date is an odd or even number. This is for undercover work. I came across the code for her stays while doing the sasquatch work for China. She an I were caught in a snowstorm one night in Buffalo, NY, and had to share a room at the Holiday Inn near the airport. We had like 10 big Igloo ice chests with iced down sasquatch body parts with us in the room.

Anna was like, “No hanky panky, Rod. I am tired and I want to go to bed. Tomorrow we finish business.”

Frankly, I did not blame her for withholding her magnificent muff from me. I was tired as hell. But, I could not settle for nothing. So, when Anna was in the bathroom taking a shower, I started going through her suit case. I wanted to find some of her panties to jack off into. Instead, I found a little black notebook. Inside it contained her lodging codes, and some other interesting things. I photographed the contents with my phone and then put it back.

When Anna got out of the shower she was already dressed in her night clothes. She saw me lying on my back, nude on the bed, and jacking it. “Rod!! GROSS!!!! Go to the restroom to do that shit!!!”, she commanded. I just did it to get a rise out of her. LOL!!

So, if Anna is still inside the U.S., then using the codes I stole from her I can locate precisely where she will be that night. I studied it for a few moments then had my answer. Tonight she would be staying at the Dogman Inn on Hwy 95 South, Room 355. I told Rattler to get me there stat!

We had to stop several times for fuel and beer. Those Hueys go just a bit over a hundred MPH, you know. But eventually, we got there. I gave the boys some money and told them to go to the Waffle House for some coffee to sober up. Then they would fly me home.

I should mention that I also had Rattler’s fully auto Russian AK-74 with spare mags. During the long flight with 2 drunks from Washington State to New York City, I had worked myself up into a towering rage over how Anna fucked me on this Putin deal. She had clearly thrown me aside. But for what, exactly? I figured I would storm the hotel room, get some answers, then shower the room with gun fire.

I busted through the door of Room 355 at exactly 3:35 a.m. There she was. My entry roused her from slumber. I was pointing my rifle at her, center mass. She was shocked at the appearance of a gunman in her room at this time of night. However, she was not as shocked as one would think (this was not the first time something like this has happened to her).

I raised my face from the receiver just enough so she could see it was me. “Rod!!!”, she exclaimed. “What happened to you?!?!? I thought you had died up in those mountains when we never hear from you!” I replied, “Shove it up that cute little ass of yours, Anna. You fucked me. And not in the good way. What the fuck was all that shit about needing a sasquatch for Putin?!?”

Anna played dumb. But it struck me that I had been deliberately put out of the loop for 3 months. Why? Who wanted me away for that long, and why? What went on in my absence?!? I was just dying to know!!! I set my rifle down and pulled out my fixed blade knife, ready to get down to some real nasty work on Anna so I could get some truth. The pure evil of what I was about to do to her caused a wide death grin to grow on my face. Anna saw it. She knew what it meant. She swallowed hard and her eyes betrayed the shear terror she felt inside. I was engorged with blood lust. She knew she had fucked up one time too many this time!!

Suddenly came the sound of the toilet in the bathroom flushing. I was momentarily shocked. I did not expect anyone else to be there with Anna. Anna saw it in my face. I glanced at her and saw that the terror in her face was replaced with pleasure, a slight smile creeping over her face.

I was going to have to face off against this person in the bathroom, who would be out in a split moment. When I do that, I will have to turn 180 degrees from Anna, thereby making me vulnerable to her. I had only once choice: Shoot Anna first.

Just as this came to me, but just before I could act on it, the bathroom door opened. I had to deal with that person before Anna now. I spun around to see that it was a completely nude, and fat, white man. He was a real oafish blob. He looked surprised to see me. He also looked sort of familiar.

I next heard the crack of something hitting my skull hard. I remember the immediate hateful pain that shot through my body and the sound of blood rushing through my ears. I remember the dizziness, then falling to the floor. Clearly, as I fixed on the man from the bathroom, Anna had cracked me over the head with a blunt object.

I came to the next morning, Billy Ray and Rattler had manage to track me down based upon coordinates I left in the chopper that said “IN CASE OF EMERGENCY”. Billy Ray filled up the hotel room ice bucket with cold water and doused my head with it to bring me conscious. I was disoriented at first. But after a bit, what happened in this room the night before came back to me.

Honestly, I am surprised that Anna did not just kill me. I presume that she thinks she can leverage her drop-dead hotness to get me to do more shit for her in the future. She is absolutely right about that too. Rattler then said, “Hey, Rod, that snake bitch left a letter fer ya.”

He handed me the letter. This is what it said:
____________________________________________

“Dear Rod:

Sorry about the boo boo on your head. Hope it heals soon. Also sorry about leaving you in the mountains. I was not running a scam on you Rod. Rather, an opportunity arose for me to acquire a sasquatch body from another person. You may know him since you are a sasquatch hunter. His name is Matt Moneymaker. Anyway, until next time…..

Yours truly,
Anna Conda”
_____________________________________________
I could not fucking believe it. That was fatfuck Moneymaker in the hotel room earlier. Anna fucked Matt Fatfuck Moneymaker for a Sasquatch! That fat son of bitch!!

Billy Ray asked, “You ready to go Rod?” I stood up and said, “Yeah, let’s go.” Then Rattler said, “Hey, ya wanna stop and git some beer fer the ride home?” I replied “Hell yeah.”

I felt like I wanted to die. Thank God for beer and buddies. I don’t blame Anna. She is a fucking snake, and I knew that before this started. Also, I cannot really blame fatfuck Moneymaker for wanting to get some of that hot poon pie Anna serves up. I guess I have to blame fate for fucking me over this time. I even started thinking that next time I will just avoid Anna. But I know I won’t, thus making me subject to this sort of shit again. I had Rattler set us down in Charlottesville so I could buy some hard liquor.

EDIT: "Got an extra $140 million?"
Let's review: ISD 709 says it wants "$5.2 million annually" to give every child a Chromebook. Sounds pretty good.
But no one asked for a set amount. They asked for a percentage of the property taxes, seemingly just over 3%. In the first year, that would be $5.29 million. Rounding 5.29 down to 5.2 should already alert us to what we are dealing with.
That amount would go up each year with the assessed value of our homes. Even if they only increased 3% per year, the total after ten years would be $59.6 million. Is ISD 709 "asking for" $5.2 million but actually taking more like $60 million? Well, wait! There's more.
The following paragraph, from the ISD 709 Future Forward web page, seems to be a flat lie. "If approved by voters, the capital projects levy would automatically expire after 10 years and cannot be renewed without voter authorization." Unless I am missing something, that statement is completely false.
The new subdivision "9b" that was added to Section 126C.17 of the Minnesota Statutes last May states that the school board may renew such a referendum "by board action." That means the entire ten year plan can be renewed without even asking us (but only once).
So, it seems that ISD 709 would get $139.7 million dollars (even at only 3% growth in home values). That's more than its entire 2024 General Fund of $136 million, and quite different from the $5.2 million figure that is being quoted over and over.
This request is described on the Future Forward website as a "Capital Projects Levy for Technology Improvements," presumably under "Section 123B.63 - Capital project levy referendum." That would suggest that this money is being used to buy assets that have real value (capital). That's why all property types must "chip in" on capital projects, while operating levies are only put upon individual homes and businesses.
However, according to the ISD 709 web site, it will only spend about a quarter (26%) of that money on learning technology (and digital curriculum, which perhaps means lesson plans?). Plans include spending 17% on staff, 15% on staff training, and 10% on "program maintenance." How could any of that be considered a capital project?
According to subdivision 3, a capital funding request must "state the estimated total cost of the project, state whether the project has received a positive or negative review and comment from the commissioner, state the maximum amount of the capital project levy as a percentage of net tax capacity ..." among other requirements. Has that been done?
This all seems to be a "cross-subsidy," where new funds are used to pay for something that used to come out of the General Fund. This frees up the money in the General Fund for ISD 709 to spend however it thinks best - without any input from us. So, here's my question: Why not just be honest and ask us to fund whatever it is that ISD 709 is planning to fund with that money?? Is it because we would not approve of that, while a Chromebook on every desk is an easy sell?
Please vote NO again.

Here are the goodies.

I am excited about the butter. It's dairy free, and you can't tell the difference for most of the baked goods I make!

Total: $19.84

Coupons: None!

Total Cash Back: $20.45

Final Cost: -$0.61 - Money Maker

 
Here is the complete break down and sites used. The stores are listed in the breakdown image. I don't include sites that take any receipt on my breakdown.
Note: Individual deals vary by user for most apps. If you don't have the deals right now, you can try checking back later.
 
My Guides

1. All rebate apps/sites I use and/or know about
   
2. How I do my hauls
   
3. Beginners guide to using rebate apps/sites - for those who don't know where to start
   

 
If you aren't interested in this kind of thing, please keep your comments to yourself. If you don't like what I buy, you can buy different products. If you don't like hunting for deals, you can do surveys, microtasks, games or whatever else you like instead. There is no need to discourage other users just because you aren't interested in the same things!
 
If you don't need feminine hygiene products, toothpaste, soaps, etc - consider donating them to your local women's shelter, church, or school!
 
Some Additional Deals

• Stem Fly Trap Starter Kit - Money maker after IB + SB
  
• $10 back on 7 Kellogg's Products (specific products only) - Military Commissaries only - Refund is a digital gift card (includes Prepaid visa - view the website for all the options) - Expires 5/31/24 - (Thanks to u/Kicker774 for mentioning it!)
  
• Nature Valley Wafer or Breakfast Bars (specific products) - Free after Rebate - PayPal or Venmo - Void in CT, RI, ND, and Miami Dade County - Expires 8/31/24
  
• Nature Valley Lunch Box Bars, Mott's Baked Bars, Fiber One Donuts (specific products) - Free after Rebate - PayPal or Venmo - Void in CT, RI, ND, and Miami Dade County - Expires 8/31/24
  
• Fresh Fizz - Free can at Fresh Thyme - Venmo or PayPal
  
• Painterland Sisters Yogurt - Free at Whole Foods (PA, VA, MD, DC) - Venmo or PayPal
  
• Pepsi - Free after Rebate. Expires 6/17/24
  
• Tru Water - Free can at Walmart - Venmo or PayPal
  
• Cheesecake Factory GC - $10 bonus card when you buy a $50 one - Expires 5/12
  
• Fromm Diner Can - Free after coupon. (It's pet food)
  
• Painterland Sisters Yogurt - Free after rebate. PayPal or Venmo. Whole Foods only.
  
• Beneful - IB + SK
  
• Suja Protein Shake - Free at Target in-store or online.
  
• Coffee (Any?) - You get a coupon for up to $10 in free coffee when you buy 3 participating special K cereals. I don't see anything mentioned about specific brands, but I also don't quite know how it works. - Expires 5/30/24
  
• Gooey - Free after rebate - Venmo/PayPal - (It says Walmart at the top, but it also says "from any store")
  
• Perfect Bar - One free bar - PayPal, Venmo, Amazon - Rebates are often instant
  
• CHKP - Free after Aisle - Fairway, Whole Foods, ShopRite
  
• Dr Elsey's Cat Litter - Up to $22 back on a bag up to 40 lbs when you purchase at Target, Walmart, or a local business pet store. You need to cut out the barcode and mail it in with the receipt. One rebate per person/household/address. Must submit within 90 days. There's also a handful of $1 coupons on this page.
  
• Free bag of Like Air Puffcorn - Refund via PayPal or Venmo. Must purchase in-store or for curbside pickup. Expiration date unknown.
  
• Kellogg's Promotions - Various stuff ranging from coupons for free products, movie tickets, various merchandise, and more.
  
• Various Sampoll offers
  
• Offers on Aisle Referrals: Halfday Rockstar - Buy 2 get $5 back. No gas purchase needed. Can do every other week. Free HOP Water (using my ref will give me another rebate offer) Pays out via PayPal or Venmo
  
• Various freebies on Ibotta.
  
• Various deals I've done in previous weeks can still be done.
  

 

Afterthoughts

Small haul for a small bonus today. I put together that part of the haul last night, and once I saw the $5 / 10 bonus, I completely forgot to check every other app, haha. Technically a slight profit loss meeting my IB bonus today, but that's okay because I'm making progress towards my bigger bonus. If I were to prorate that bonus, that'd be an extra $4.52, so it's definitely worth it.
 
My Beneful finally stopped resetting, unfortunately. Hopefully the Mac a Roni and butter keep resetting. I was going to get a couple other things too just to work towards my big bonus, but my store was out. I'll be going out of town later this week, so maybe I'll get lucky and find some good deals at stores that aren't around here.
 

Time Spent

I glanced at IB last night for like 5-10 minutes. I was planning to finish planning the haul today, but I didn't need to find any more deals. I was in the store for 50 minutes today, which included my regular shopping as well as browsing through the plants and clearance aisles.
 

Food From Deals

Here's an idea: Mix up a white cheddar Mac a Roni, with your choice of ham, sausage, chicken, pork, or one of the vegan meat alternatives. Add a little soy sauce, and some green peas if you wish. You could even add some extra butter and milk (or plant based milk) to make it a bit creamier. Serve with a slice of buttered toast or some Jasmine Rice. Perhaps make a little Banana bread for dessert. (Note: Everything mentioned has Ibotta deals available.)
 
Here's some things I've made in the past: High Protein Tomato Crackers, Hot Sausage Cups, Peanut Butter Fudge & Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge, Chocolate Cherry Pie
 
Do you guys want me to continue showing things I've made using ingredients I got from rebate apps on these posts? Let me know in the comments, or you can vote on this poll if you want to remain anonymous.
 

Mini FAQ

• If you're new or confused - check out the guides near the top of the post. They go into detail about everything.
  
• I'm from the USA and these posts are tailored as such, but this post of mine does list things from other countries that I know about.
  
• My posts are tailored to being money makers to suit this subreddit. There are tons of great deals that aren't money makers but can still save you a lot of money.
  
• A lot of what I get is given away to friends, family or is donated. I do this more as a hobby than anything.
  
• I generally do not share my spreadsheet since the one shown in this post is not the one I actually use (it's put together with a script from my usual spreadsheet) and there are a ton of little things that will give you wrong values if you don't know about them and even then you have to be careful. It's super easy to make a spreadsheet with Google Sheets though.
  

Hi! Worked a bit on my currencies in the last week (two weeks?) after my last post, and I came here to talk about them. Please comment if you find some kind of inconsistency or have any questions!
In this post I didn’t detail how these coins look like, or anything like that, I focused mostly on their value. I imagine the weight of the coins of the two countries are the same.
COUNTRY 1:
Country 1’s mountains are rich of ores, but the gold they mine is nicknamed “dirty gold” by their neighbors, as it has a distinct green tint to it (this is an existing ore, electrum, which is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, that were used by ancient civilizations – to my understanding). This “dirty gold” is deemed less valuable than pure gold.
1 golden crown = 50 silver crown
The silver crown can be cut into pieces. There are lines on it, that indicate where to cut it into half or quarters, but often it cut into even smaller pieces. But a lot of establishments won’t let you pay with “silverscraps”.
1 whole silver crown = 0,02 golden crown
1 halfsilver = 0,5 whole silver
1 quartersilver = 0,2 whole silver (Yes, it’s worth less than a real quarter.)
1 silverscrap (anything smaller than a quartersilver) = 0,05 whole silver
The mint (is this the place where money is made called in English? I feel gaslighted xd) pays for silverscrap so they can melt it into new silver coins. They usually pay one whole silver for 30 silverscraps.
horse: 2-4 golden crowns war horse: 10+ golden crowns ox: 10 silver crowns cow: 20 silver crowns chicken: 0,5 silver crowns
the yearly income of a “district lord”: 1000+ golden crowns the yearly income of a moderately wealthy nobleman: 600+ golden crowns the yearly income of a not so wealthy nobleman: 80-300 golden crowns
the yearly income of a peasant: 2 golden crowns the yearly income of an artisan: 3-10+ golden crowns
1 night in an inn/tavern: 3 silver crowns – 2 golden crowns
***
COUNTRY 2
Country 2’s capital is famous for being the capital of the “carnal sins”, where you can try anything and everything… if you can pay for it. And they ask for a HIGH price. The capital is a popular “tourist spot” among wealthy foreigners.
Their currency is basically the Swiss frank of this world, and a lot of commoners don’t even own gold or silver coins. There isn’t really a subunit under silver drachma (these ones are not allowed to be cut into pieces), so poorer people usually trade goods, not buy them with money. This creates an even bigger gap between the classes.
(The currency is called drachma bc the country is loosely based on Greco-Roman “era”. xd)
1 golden drachma = 100 silver drachma
1 golden drachma = 3,5 golden crown 1 silver drachma = 1,5 silver crown
horse: 3 golden drachma (= 10,5 golden crown) war horse: 7+ golden drachma (= 24,5 golden crown) ox: 30 silver drachma (= 45 silver crown) cow: 60 silver drachma (= 90 silver crown) chicken: 1 silver drachma (= 1,5 silver crown)
the yearly income of an aristocrat: 1200+ golden drachma the yearly income of a moderately wealthy nobleman: 800+ golden drachma the yearly income of a not so wealthy nobleman: 120-400 golden drachma
the yearly income of a peasant: 3 golden drachma the yearly income of an artisan: 8-100+ golden drachma
1 night in an inn/tavern/”hotel thing”: 20 silver drachma – 20 golden drachma 1 night in a brothel: 40 silver drachma – 20 golden drachma spending time in a bathhouse: 20 silver drachma – 1 golden drachma
***
I’m not really interested if these numbers reflect the worth of gold and silver in medieval times (maybe this fantasy world has more gold than ours, maybe it is more easily accessible, idk), but I want to know if these numbers make sense in relation to each other, please help me with that. Thanks in advance! c:

Hi all... I was goin to just buy a little cheapy projector that you see all over amazon, until I went down the rabbit hole, lol. So just seeking advice.
Budget - max $700 - preferably sold by a place online that accepts paypal, as I have paypal credit, they also offer 4 pay, so it would be easier for me.
Also open to anything refurbished from a good place as well.
Home theater usage, just to watch movies, dvds, shows, not to replace my tv for all the time usage.
Have a 255 square foot living room, can get very dark even in daytime. Up to 17 ft clearance to put a projector from the wall it will be projected upon. Prefer to not mount on ceiling at this time.
I live in the middle of the desert, wifi isnt good out here, everything we have is wired, so options - need something that can be wired.
Also something that could be connected to surround sound speakers.

My (26) dad passed away almost two years ago, my parents were divorced and along with pensions, life insurances and general bank accounts our Dad left me and my older sister (29) our family home. My sister moved her boyfriend in a few weeks after my dad passed, and around 5 months later I decided to buy a puppy. My sister has “banned” the dog from living in the house, which has meant that I’ve had to move in with my mom. My sister constantly says “no one is saying you can’t live here but the dog can’t” - I don’t get on with my mom the greatest. Her house is very small, I work with her, and we argue a lot, it’s a case of we’re too similar and we’re with each other 24/7. I’m very unhappy and want my own space. I’ve recently started enquiring about renting a property, I’ve never lived alone before so would rather rent for a year or so to make sure I’m “ready” before the huge leap of purchasing a property. My issue is with my dads home there is no mortgage, so my sister is living there for free apart from utility bills (which up until winter I was paying a third of, despite not living there. I still pay a third of the council tax). My sister and her boyfriend earn a considerably higher amount than me, and if I was to rent a house I’d be looking at around 900pm. After utilities I’d be left with less than 100 to live off.
To make a long story short, am I entitled to “charge” my sister “rent” for living in what is legally half of my property as well where I’m realistically not “allowed” to live in, without either rehoming or leaving my dog. I wouldn’t charge her half of the market price (my house would rent for around 1500 going off similar in the area) so I wouldn’t charge her £750, but if legally I can I’d probably ask for just £300-£400, even if it meant they took it off my “share”. Is this legal and do I have a leg to stand on. I know my sister will be very very angry if I ask her to pay me for my share. I’ve heard from quite a few people I am eligible to but wanted to see if anyone here with legal knowledge can confirm this before I do ask her this.
(Edit for more info: This is in England.)

I'm (38m) (or was) in a relationship with a girl for the past year or so. While there are several issues in our relationship, today's topic is money.
Background: We both work for a big company, we both earn the same give or take, and it's an amount that provide for our needs, without making us wealthy. When I approached her romantically and in the original stages of the relationship I would pay most of the times when we would go out, I'd buy her small gifts and during the first month that she stayed at my place while searching for her own flat I didn't ask for rent or utilities (though she offered to assist with the utilities and I declined). Then some worrying patterns emerged; She would constantly whine about how her finances are tight, she would not stop me from paying her the amount for even a single morning coffee that she brought me, she would accept money from me for a concert ticket that she bought as a present for her ex and the tops she would do is to prepare food while we were in her place which almost every time I would go out and get us dessert/fruits/wine/whatever as an appreciation gesture (something she would rarely do when I was doing the same at my place). Then we decided to go dutch - every time that she was paying for something I would instantly reach for my phone and send her my share, being extremely mindful about it. Apart from a couple of times that I would tell her "that's on me" we would split everything. She was rarely forgetting to ask for my share (for example lunches that she thought I haven't paid her, which I had to just show her the transaction to prove it) and a couple of times she would be like "oh you paid for that uber so that's one is on me". Note here, she got plenty of presents and gifts from me, I have received almost nothing (irregardless if it is expensive or not). Now, there were several cases that I would get her something that she asked (cigarettes, groceries etc) and she would forget to pay me. I found it extremely petty to ask my gf for that, so I never did and I had no problem with it.
Fast forward to a situation where we were splitting the cost of a gift for her friend's birthday. Hours after purchasing the gift, she reminded me to send her $20 for my share. I reacted angrily, stating, "You won't lose your money, don't worry, as you never have before," and instantly venmoed my share. She noticed my irritation and asked what was wrong. I expressed my frustration, feeling it was petty for her to request such a small amount when she often overlooked the times that she forgot to do the same. She escalated the situation, calling me "psycho" for reacting this way, arguing that she did nothing wrong—after all, she was simply asking for the money I had agreed to pay and I should have done the same.
AITA?

So far sales had been steady but not spectacular. Jenna hoped they would pick up after the school let out. She chatted and sampled with customers, pitching her spiel about supporting their troop's efforts to earn badges. It was fun work even if tiring on her feet.
Gazing up at the cloudless sky, Jenna wondered idly if it might rain later. The forecast hadn't mentioned anything, but you never knew. A tiny speck in the distance caught her eye. She squinted, trying to make it out. It grew rapidly in size—and shape. Whatever it was, it wasn't a bird.
"Hey Jamie, do you see that?" Jenna nudged her friend, pointing. Now the other girls had turned to look as well. What had been a speck was now clearly some large, cylindrical object descending from the heavens. It shone silvery-grey in the sunlight.
"Is that...a rocket ship?" breathed Tammy.
As it neared the treetops, its design became evident. Definitely not any spacecraft Jenna had seen on the news or in movies. It was smoothly rounded on all ends, with no visible engines or fins. Eerily silent, it drifted toward an open field and settled softly on four tapering legs.
The girls stared open-mouthed, cookies momentarily forgotten. A hatch appeared in the side of the ship. Light spilled out, glowing an ethereal blue. Then towering figures emerged, moving with an inhuman grace.
Jenna caught her breath. Peering closer, she could just make out bipedal forms wrapped in loose, silvery garments. Their limbs seemed overly long and jointed in odd places. As they turned in her direction, two dark eyes set wide in hairless faces met hers. No nose or mouth was visible beneath.
"Aliens," Jamie whispered. "Actual aliens. I don't believe it."
Tammy squeaked and clung to Jenna's arm. But Jenna's mind was racing. This was an incredible opportunity, too good to pass up. She flashed the others a mischievous smile. "Come on, girls. Let's go make some sales!"
The troop fell into step behind her as she marched into the field. The creatures had paused, gazing around at their surroundings with a palpable air of curiosity and caution. As Jenna neared, they angled their expressive eyes down at the little band approaching. Up close, their skin shimmered in shades of aqua and moss green, veined with silvery networks.
The tallest one shifted its gaze between the girls, as if taking their measure. It spoke, but the sound was like rushing wind and dripping water blended into an eerie melody. Its friends chattered in response, their voices blending into a dissonant choir.
Undeterred, Jenna beamed and proudly presented her box of Thin Mints. "Cookies!" she enunciated clearly. "Would you like to buy some cookies?" To her astonishment, a glowing rectangle like a computer screen lit up on the tall one's torso. Words scrolled across it in crisp English letters.
WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND. WHAT ARE COOKIES? IT SEEMS YOU ARE SELLING SOMETHING, BUT WE HAVE NO CURRENCY OF YOUR WORLD.
Jamie leaned in to whisper, eyes shining, "They can understand us! This is so cool."
Jenna gathered her thoughts, focusing on her sales pitch despite everything unusual about the situation. "Cookies are a sweet treat made of chocolate and biscuits. They're very popular here on Earth. And all the money we earn from selling them goes towards fun trips and learning new skills as Girl Scouts. Please, won't you buy a box to help support our troop? I'm sure you'll love them!"
The aliens conferred amongst themselves, still in untranslatablespeech. Finally, the glowing display lit up again. I APOLOGIZE, BUT WE HAVE NO MEANS OF TRANSACTION. WE ARE EXPLORERS HERE IN PEACE TO STUDY YOUR WORLD. PERHAPS ANOTHER TIME WE CAN BARTER. FOR NOW, WE ONLY WISH TO LEARN.
Jenna tried to hide her disappointment. This wasn't how she'd envisioned the interaction going at all. But she had come this far, so she wasn't giving up yet. An idea bloomed in her mind. "Well, since you want to learn about us, how about a trade? We'll give you a box of cookies to try in exchange for letting our whole troop come aboard your ship for a little while. What do you say?"
The girls held their breath. This was assuredly against every safety rule. But an opportunity for an out of this world experience was too enticing to pass up. The aliens conversed quietly before responding.
VERY WELL, HUMAN CHILDREN. FOR THE SAKE OF CULTURAL EXCHANGE, WE AGREE TO YOUR TRADE. COME, WE SHALL GIVE YOU A TOUR OF OUR VESSEL.
Screeches of delight arose from the Scout troop. Jenna tried to shush them, not wanting the aliens to change their minds. But she couldn't contain her own grin of excitement and triumph. This was going to be one very memorable cookie sale!
Jenna stepped forward nervously, holding out the box of Thin Mints for the aliens to see. She did her best salesperson smile while gesturing to the colorful packaging. "Cookies!" she said again loudly and clearly.
The tallest alien leaned down, its large dark eyes fixing on the box in Jenna's hands. A long, nimble finger reached out to poke gently at the box, then drew back just as swiftly. Its companions murmured again in their strange tongue.
Frustrated not being able to communicate properly, Jenna popped open the lid so the sweet scent could waft up. She took one mint and mimed taking a bite, sighing happily and rubbing her belly. The aliens copied the sign for stomach, looking quizzical.
An idea sparked in Jenna's mind. Rummaging in her bag, she pulled out her phone and found the notepad app. Typing awkwardly with her thumbs, she showed them the words "Will you trade for this?" Arrows pointed to the cookies and to their ship.
A spark of understanding lit in the aliens' eyes as they studied the makeshift message. Their glowing display lit up in response. I APOLOGIZE, SMALL HUMAN, BUT WE HAVE NOTHING OF VALUE FROM OUR WORLD TO OFFER IN RETURN. OUR MISSION HERE IS ONE OF DISCOVERY ONLY.
"Please?" Jenna typed, giving her best pleading look. The girls clustered behind her, joining in the silent begging. But the aliens only seemed perplexed by this behavior.
Suddenly Tammy piped up, "What if we clean your ship for you? We'll dust and sweep and take out the garbage." The others stared at her, surprised by this inventive offer.
The display considered this. THAT IS A GENEROUS OFFER. HOWEVER, OUR CRAFT UTILIZES TECHNOLOGY FAR BEYOND YOUR WORLD'S CURRENT STAGE. I DOUBT YOU COULD PERFORM MAINTENANCE TO OUR STANDARDS.
At this rejection, the girls deflated with twin sounds of disappointment. But Jenna wasn't giving up yet. She furiously texted another message. "How about you give us a little tour then? We promise to be very careful and not touch anything."
The aliens conferred quietly amongst themselves for several moments. The girls held their breath, hoping their persistence was finally paying off. Then the glowing display lit up once more.
VERY WELL, SMALL HUMANS. FOR THE SAKE OF CULTURAL EXCHANGE, WE WILL ALLOW YOU A BRIEF LOOK INSIDE OUR VESSEL. BUT YOU MUST FOLLOW OUR INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY. OUR TECHNOLOGY COULD PROVE DANGEROUS IF MISUSED.
The Girl Scouts whooped and cheered, doing a little victory dance. Jenna grinned, popping another Thin Mint in her mouth triumphantly. "Deal! Thank you so much for this."
The tallest alien gestured gracefully with one long arm. "THIS WAY, YOUNG ONES. WE SHALL BEGIN OUR TOUR."
Clutching their cookie boxes eagerly, the girls fell into line behind the extraterrestrials. They followed them up a floating gangway into the belly of the ship.
Inside, the walls glowed with an otherworldly luminescence. Strange symbols and interfaces winked all around, totally indecipherable. The floors felt bouncy underfoot, as if made of gelatin.
"Wow," breathed Jamie. "It's so beautiful in here."
The aliens guided them through sleek corridors and compartments full of glowing tech. They pointed out living quarters, a laboratory, hydroponic gardens, and an observation deck showing the curve of the Earth.
In the cockpit, countless viewscreens displayed alien constellations and scans of their small town below. Control panels rippled like liquid mercury beneath touch.
"This is where we navigated our journey to your solar system," explained their guides. "Truly a marvel, the distances stars can be bridged.
Tammy peered out the main viewing portal. "Your ship is so fast! How did you get here from wherever you came from?"
As the explorers launched into an explanation involving hyperdrives and folded spacetime, Jenna began to lose the thread. Space travel clearly worked very differently where these beings hailed from.
Their tour lasted nearly an hour, the aliens answering every barrage of questions patiently. All too soon, it was over, and they found themselves back outside in the late afternoon sun
"Thank you so much for the amazing tour!" Jenna gushed, hugging her now-empty cookie box. "Learning about aliens is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The tallest being dipped its head graciously. "IT WAS OUR PLEASURE, SMALL HUMANS. YOU HAVE PROVIDED US AN INSIGHT INTO YOUR YOUNG ONES AS WELL."
Its fellows chattered in their musical language, some holding half-eaten cookies and gesturing appreciatively. Jenna beamed, glad they seemed to have enjoyed the treats.
"Will you come back to see us again?" asked Jamie hopefully.
"PERHAPS, IF OUR EXPLORATIONS BRING US BACK THIS WAY," was the reply. "BUT FOR NOW, WE MUST RESUME OUR JOURNEY AMONG THE STARS. FAREWELL, AND THANK YOU ONCE MORE FOR YOUR HOSPITALITY.
The aliens turned as one and glided back up the gangway. The rockets flared, rising gracefully into the sky until they vanished into the dusk.
The girls stood watching long after, buzzing with excited chatter about this unforgettable day. In the end, it had been the best cookie sale ever. Maybe even worth breaking a few rules...

So far sales had been steady but not spectacular. Jenna hoped they would pick up after the school let out. She chatted and sampled with customers, pitching her spiel about supporting their troop's efforts to earn badges. It was fun work even if tiring on her feet.
Gazing up at the cloudless sky, Jenna wondered idly if it might rain later. The forecast hadn't mentioned anything, but you never knew. A tiny speck in the distance caught her eye. She squinted, trying to make it out. It grew rapidly in size—and shape. Whatever it was, it wasn't a bird.
"Hey Jamie, do you see that?" Jenna nudged her friend, pointing. Now the other girls had turned to look as well. What had been a speck was now clearly some large, cylindrical object descending from the heavens. It shone silvery-grey in the sunlight.
"Is that...a rocket ship?" breathed Tammy.
As it neared the treetops, its design became evident. Definitely not any spacecraft Jenna had seen on the news or in movies. It was smoothly rounded on all ends, with no visible engines or fins. Eerily silent, it drifted toward an open field and settled softly on four tapering legs.
The girls stared open-mouthed, cookies momentarily forgotten. A hatch appeared in the side of the ship. Light spilled out, glowing an ethereal blue. Then towering figures emerged, moving with an inhuman grace.
Jenna caught her breath. Peering closer, she could just make out bipedal forms wrapped in loose, silvery garments. Their limbs seemed overly long and jointed in odd places. As they turned in her direction, two dark eyes set wide in hairless faces met hers. No nose or mouth was visible beneath.
"Aliens," Jamie whispered. "Actual aliens. I don't believe it."
Tammy squeaked and clung to Jenna's arm. But Jenna's mind was racing. This was an incredible opportunity, too good to pass up. She flashed the others a mischievous smile. "Come on, girls. Let's go make some sales!"
The troop fell into step behind her as she marched into the field. The creatures had paused, gazing around at their surroundings with a palpable air of curiosity and caution. As Jenna neared, they angled their expressive eyes down at the little band approaching. Up close, their skin shimmered in shades of aqua and moss green, veined with silvery networks.
The tallest one shifted its gaze between the girls, as if taking their measure. It spoke, but the sound was like rushing wind and dripping water blended into an eerie melody. Its friends chattered in response, their voices blending into a dissonant choir.
Undeterred, Jenna beamed and proudly presented her box of Thin Mints. "Cookies!" she enunciated clearly. "Would you like to buy some cookies?" To her astonishment, a glowing rectangle like a computer screen lit up on the tall one's torso. Words scrolled across it in crisp English letters.
WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND. WHAT ARE COOKIES? IT SEEMS YOU ARE SELLING SOMETHING, BUT WE HAVE NO CURRENCY OF YOUR WORLD.
Jamie leaned in to whisper, eyes shining, "They can understand us! This is so cool."
Jenna gathered her thoughts, focusing on her sales pitch despite everything unusual about the situation. "Cookies are a sweet treat made of chocolate and biscuits. They're very popular here on Earth. And all the money we earn from selling them goes towards fun trips and learning new skills as Girl Scouts. Please, won't you buy a box to help support our troop? I'm sure you'll love them!"
The aliens conferred amongst themselves, still in untranslatablespeech. Finally, the glowing display lit up again. I APOLOGIZE, BUT WE HAVE NO MEANS OF TRANSACTION. WE ARE EXPLORERS HERE IN PEACE TO STUDY YOUR WORLD. PERHAPS ANOTHER TIME WE CAN BARTER. FOR NOW, WE ONLY WISH TO LEARN.
Jenna tried to hide her disappointment. This wasn't how she'd envisioned the interaction going at all. But she had come this far, so she wasn't giving up yet. An idea bloomed in her mind. "Well, since you want to learn about us, how about a trade? We'll give you a box of cookies to try in exchange for letting our whole troop come aboard your ship for a little while. What do you say?"
The girls held their breath. This was assuredly against every safety rule. But an opportunity for an out of this world experience was too enticing to pass up. The aliens conversed quietly before responding.
VERY WELL, HUMAN CHILDREN. FOR THE SAKE OF CULTURAL EXCHANGE, WE AGREE TO YOUR TRADE. COME, WE SHALL GIVE YOU A TOUR OF OUR VESSEL.
Screeches of delight arose from the Scout troop. Jenna tried to shush them, not wanting the aliens to change their minds. But she couldn't contain her own grin of excitement and triumph. This was going to be one very memorable cookie sale!
Jenna stepped forward nervously, holding out the box of Thin Mints for the aliens to see. She did her best salesperson smile while gesturing to the colorful packaging. "Cookies!" she said again loudly and clearly.
The tallest alien leaned down, its large dark eyes fixing on the box in Jenna's hands. A long, nimble finger reached out to poke gently at the box, then drew back just as swiftly. Its companions murmured again in their strange tongue.
Frustrated not being able to communicate properly, Jenna popped open the lid so the sweet scent could waft up. She took one mint and mimed taking a bite, sighing happily and rubbing her belly. The aliens copied the sign for stomach, looking quizzical.
An idea sparked in Jenna's mind. Rummaging in her bag, she pulled out her phone and found the notepad app. Typing awkwardly with her thumbs, she showed them the words "Will you trade for this?" Arrows pointed to the cookies and to their ship.
A spark of understanding lit in the aliens' eyes as they studied the makeshift message. Their glowing display lit up in response. I APOLOGIZE, SMALL HUMAN, BUT WE HAVE NOTHING OF VALUE FROM OUR WORLD TO OFFER IN RETURN. OUR MISSION HERE IS ONE OF DISCOVERY ONLY.
"Please?" Jenna typed, giving her best pleading look. The girls clustered behind her, joining in the silent begging. But the aliens only seemed perplexed by this behavior.
Suddenly Tammy piped up, "What if we clean your ship for you? We'll dust and sweep and take out the garbage." The others stared at her, surprised by this inventive offer.
The display considered this. THAT IS A GENEROUS OFFER. HOWEVER, OUR CRAFT UTILIZES TECHNOLOGY FAR BEYOND YOUR WORLD'S CURRENT STAGE. I DOUBT YOU COULD PERFORM MAINTENANCE TO OUR STANDARDS.
At this rejection, the girls deflated with twin sounds of disappointment. But Jenna wasn't giving up yet. She furiously texted another message. "How about you give us a little tour then? We promise to be very careful and not touch anything."
The aliens conferred quietly amongst themselves for several moments. The girls held their breath, hoping their persistence was finally paying off. Then the glowing display lit up once more.
VERY WELL, SMALL HUMANS. FOR THE SAKE OF CULTURAL EXCHANGE, WE WILL ALLOW YOU A BRIEF LOOK INSIDE OUR VESSEL. BUT YOU MUST FOLLOW OUR INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY. OUR TECHNOLOGY COULD PROVE DANGEROUS IF MISUSED.
The Girl Scouts whooped and cheered, doing a little victory dance. Jenna grinned, popping another Thin Mint in her mouth triumphantly. "Deal! Thank you so much for this."
The tallest alien gestured gracefully with one long arm. "THIS WAY, YOUNG ONES. WE SHALL BEGIN OUR TOUR."
Clutching their cookie boxes eagerly, the girls fell into line behind the extraterrestrials. They followed them up a floating gangway into the belly of the ship.
Inside, the walls glowed with an otherworldly luminescence. Strange symbols and interfaces winked all around, totally indecipherable. The floors felt bouncy underfoot, as if made of gelatin.
"Wow," breathed Jamie. "It's so beautiful in here."
The aliens guided them through sleek corridors and compartments full of glowing tech. They pointed out living quarters, a laboratory, hydroponic gardens, and an observation deck showing the curve of the Earth.
In the cockpit, countless viewscreens displayed alien constellations and scans of their small town below. Control panels rippled like liquid mercury beneath touch.
"This is where we navigated our journey to your solar system," explained their guides. "Truly a marvel, the distances stars can be bridged.
Tammy peered out the main viewing portal. "Your ship is so fast! How did you get here from wherever you came from?"
As the explorers launched into an explanation involving hyperdrives and folded spacetime, Jenna began to lose the thread. Space travel clearly worked very differently where these beings hailed from.
Their tour lasted nearly an hour, the aliens answering every barrage of questions patiently. All too soon, it was over, and they found themselves back outside in the late afternoon sun
"Thank you so much for the amazing tour!" Jenna gushed, hugging her now-empty cookie box. "Learning about aliens is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The tallest being dipped its head graciously. "IT WAS OUR PLEASURE, SMALL HUMANS. YOU HAVE PROVIDED US AN INSIGHT INTO YOUR YOUNG ONES AS WELL."
Its fellows chattered in their musical language, some holding half-eaten cookies and gesturing appreciatively. Jenna beamed, glad they seemed to have enjoyed the treats.
"Will you come back to see us again?" asked Jamie hopefully.
"PERHAPS, IF OUR EXPLORATIONS BRING US BACK THIS WAY," was the reply. "BUT FOR NOW, WE MUST RESUME OUR JOURNEY AMONG THE STARS. FAREWELL, AND THANK YOU ONCE MORE FOR YOUR HOSPITALITY.
The aliens turned as one and glided back up the gangway. The rockets flared, rising gracefully into the sky until they vanished into the dusk.
The girls stood watching long after, buzzing with excited chatter about this unforgettable day. In the end, it had been the best cookie sale ever. Maybe even worth breaking a few rules...

I'm 17 years old. I've been considering just buying a tent and fucking off for years. But deadass today was my last straw.
Been in college this whole year, haven't put in Any effort into all but one if my classes because the one class I liked was the only reason I was there.
Found out today that I failed everything other than that one class [as expected], and have spent the last hour getting lectured by my dad about how I'm being a dumbass and don't apply myself because I'm a lazy shit or something.
Love my father to death, but I've been getting this same lecture for years on end.
Now he wants me to get work and pay 300 a month rent at 17.
Call me a pathetic kid if you want, but I'm fuckin gone mate. Soon as I get my licence for my motorbike I'm fuckin out of here.
Fuck this shit. Fuck it all. Systems can kiss my ass.
Bless up.

• Max

Hello you beautiful weirdos! I just wanted to post a few tips from a guy who lives in Prague for those who will be coming to visit. The show is in an area that isn't really known for their late night antics so I wouldn't expect much after the show, but you are a short walk uphill through a tunnel to a great night spot, Zizkov.
Transport - Public transportation is great here in the city but make sure that you have a ticket. Download the app from this website and you can buy tickets on your phone. https://pidlitacka.cz/en and I recommend you have a ticket as the IIHF hockey tournament is happening in Prague so we have more visitors than normal and they will be looking to fine tourists. Google maps will also suffice for how to get from one place to another and of course we have ubebolt if you prefer to just get a faster ride.
Beer - It is what this country is known for, Pilsner Urquell is the flagship and if you can find a place that has tankovna it will be even better. Lokal is the big chain around the city and good Czech food with great beer at all places. Around the corner is https://maps.app.goo.gl/YdY9AXdzn42QXsGx6 which has a large indoor place and even tables outside in the back. Dva Kohouty has a nice outdoor area and is walking distance from the show. Bad Flash Karlin has some craft beer quite close to the venue as well. If you just want to grab some bottles BeerGeek Karlin is the spot and they have multiple shops and a bar with 30 taps of beer and decent wings. Download untapped and you can find all the craft beer spots if that is what you are after. Avoid the center for food and drink as you will pay more for sure, but that is the same for any European capital city.
Hockey - As mentioned the IIHF tournament is happening now in Prague and Ostrava so there will be plenty of people wearing jerseys and getting rowdy. There is a fan zone that is free where you can watch on a screen outside and drink and eat with a rowdy environment so if you are into hockey go to Ceskomoravska on the yellow line and you can't miss it. This will also make some places much more crowded as the city is full of people for that, especially if they have TV's as people will be out watching the games.
Partying - Despite what all the signs will tell you we have not legalized weed here in Prague so anything you find in some corner store will be either CBD or some HHC variant. The people on Wenceslas square might have something but you will not get what you pay for and you might also just get some cbd or something else so be warned. Zizkov that was mentioned earlier is a place full of pubs that are open late and your odds are much better of getting something legit. I am not here to promote anything, just trying to help you avoid getting ripped off. Please be safe and remember people do actually live in the city so get as weird as you want, but please don't be a loud mess on the streets after 10 PM as that is the official legal quite time for noise.
Hope that helps and I will come back here and try to field questions up until the show. Have fun and let's enjoy a killer Her and I that I hope to manifest.

Hi, I (33m) got a substantial pay raise last year which puts me into the highest tax progression bracket this year.
I also got into a new 2nd pillar plan which allows me to make a buy-in for a higher amount (around 40k I think).
Now if I look at the guaranteed interest rate of the pension plan, it does not appear very attractive compared to traditional assets (the usual 1-1.25%) currently. Further, I see uncertainties in connection with 2nd pillar economically and politically.
However, I fathom that a buy-in for an instant 35% tax deduction can be very attractive, especially because I am looking to finance a home within the next 5-10 years (i.e. buy in now for 35% savings and buy-out for home financing after the lockup period at a more favourable rate). This is very uncertain, so I may also end up not making use of this, which will mean that my contribution may end up triggering a lot of opportunity cost.
What is your take on additional 2nd pillar contributions (buy-ins)? Is there some golden FIRE rule (especially tax-wise) for it or is it really as depending on personal circumstances?
I feel like I am overcomplicating things here..

Okay so I 16F have a half-sister 19F who ill call Pinky. Pinky and I share a mom and grew up together, my dad is her Step-dad he practically raised her, shes basically in my eyes my full blooded sister. We just started to get closer because she was reallyy mean to me when we were younger and i continued to hold a grudge for a while. Hopefully thats enough background context.
Our dad has this little old red pontiac car, its broken down and he told us that if me or my sister pay the 500$ to get it fixed one of us could have it. Ive been working for 4 months i saved every paycheck and just paid to get the car fixed, i also was able to pay for some modifications, i got it wrapped and bought some new rims with cute teddy bears on them if your curious what those look like search up “4X100 RONAL URS TEDDY BEAR old school SILVER wheels rims” it should pop up lol. Ive been really excited about continuing the process of fixing it up so i was talking to my sister about it and she blew up on me basically saying “Dad promised ME that car not you. you’re so weird you knew i wanted it. you’re selfish and now ur rubbing it in my face that you took that opportunity from me xyz” but like heres the thing
I’ve been working towards getting my permit since I was 15, i got it in january I’ve been talking so much about how i cant wait to start driving, and at first i was planning on buying a completely different car and letting my sister have my dads old one but, whenever i spoke to her about it she was like “Im scared to drive I’m not ready yet” so thats when i decided to fix the red car. If she wanted the car she could’ve fixed it since shes been working for way longer than i have, she hadn’t indicated she wanted it until i had it? AND our dad didn’t promise it to her he promised that whoever fixed it could have it? and it told her all of that but she wasn’t hearing me out so i just left the room.
She told our mom and my mom told me that if i knew Pinky wanted the car i should’ve waited and that i’m too young to be driving anyways. Shes not hearing me out on this and I’m scared they’ll take the car. my dad doesn’t really have an opinion he just wants everyone to stfu about it. I feel bad because imo she didn’t make it clear she wanted it but at the same time like, why wait until AFTER i paid for all the modifications and stuff?
And then my other sister “the oldest” called me and said the same thing my mom did, im too young to be driving anyways, that it was wrong to take it from Pinky, i shouldn’t have rubbed it in her face.
Idk what to do about this anymore should i just stop talking to them about the car or stop mods for a while till things cool off or what? Am I wrong??? Do yall think i was rubbing it in her face?

Okay so I 16F have a half-sister 19F who ill call Pinky. Pinky and I share a mom and grew up together, my dad is her Step-dad he practically raised her, shes basically in my eyes my full blooded sister. We just started to get closer because she was reallyy mean to me when we were younger and i continued to hold a grudge for a while. Hopefully thats enough background context.
Our dad has this little old red pontiac car, its broken down and he told us that if me or my sister pay the 500$ to get it fixed one of us could have it. Ive been working for 4 months i saved every paycheck and just paid to get the car fixed, i also was able to pay for some modifications, i got it wrapped and bought some new rims with cute teddy bears on them if your curious what those look like search up “4X100 RONAL URS TEDDY BEAR old school SILVER wheels rims” it should pop up lol. Ive been really excited about continuing the process of fixing it up so i was talking to my sister about it and she blew up on me basically saying “Dad promised ME that car not you. you’re so weird you knew i wanted it. you’re selfish and now ur rubbing it in my face that you took that opportunity from me xyz” but like heres the thing
I’ve been working towards getting my permit since I was 15, i got it in january I’ve been talking so much about how i cant wait to start driving, and at first i was planning on buying a completely different car and letting my sister have my dads old one but, whenever i spoke to her about it she was like “Im scared to drive I’m not ready yet” so thats when i decided to fix the red car. If she wanted the car she could’ve fixed it since shes been working for way longer than i have, she hadn’t indicated she wanted it until i had it? AND our dad didn’t promise it to her he promised that whoever fixed it could have it? and it told her all of that but she wasn’t hearing me out so i just left the room.
She told our mom and my mom told me that if i knew Pinky wanted the car i should’ve waited and that i’m too young to be driving anyways. Shes not hearing me out on this and I’m scared they’ll take the car. my dad doesn’t really have an opinion he just wants everyone to stfu about it. I feel bad because imo she didn’t make it clear she wanted it but at the same time like, why wait until AFTER i paid for all the modifications and stuff?
And then my other sister (the oldest) called me and said the same thing my mom did, im too young to be driving anyways, that it was wrong to take it from Pinky, i shouldn’t have rubbed it in her face.
Idk what to do about this anymore should i just stop talking to them about the car or stop mods for a while till things cool off or what? AITA??? Do yall think i was rubbing it in her face? sorry if this is all over the place im really lost myself lol.

Hi I'm 19 and I live in Italy, I'm starting to look in investing for my future, from what I know dividend are taxed so they are excluded, here the salary that I could probably get to is 2k after tax per month, my idea was to start from now to invest almost all my money that I can make during the summer while I study in university in a global index fund (around 500 per month/5 to 6k a year) and continue while I work so by 30 I should have around 100k saved up with a 9-10% return rate so I can start diminishing the contribution to have the money to start a family or look to buy a house and leaving the money there if life doesn't go well and I can't find a job to make good money by the time im 40/45 i should have around 300k that could technically make enough to live with (i will probably continue to work just maybe diminish a little the hour, or have a more satisfying job that pays a little less), it's realistic? There's something I'm not accounting for? Is it safe to invest in a global index? The returns are correct?

I’ve never vented about this issue or talked about this with anyone but I’m having a complete meltdown so pardon me if this is all over the place. My family (me 22f, sister 25f, brothers (17 and 27), mom and dad) has never gotten along, like genuinely you’ll never see us all in the same room without fighting or screaming at each other. My two brothers don’t talk to each other ever and if they do it somehow always ends up in a big fight between them and then my parents take it out on all of us. My mum is… well not a girls girl lol. Not in the literal sense like she loves us and buys us stuff and everything but there’s a huge double standard when it comes to her two little boys and then us. I get a better treatment since I’m the youngest girl and dad kind of spoils me so no one can upset me much, but as for my sister, she has gotten the worst treatment out of all of us. She’s had to step up a lot in family work, every mistake she makes the consequences is 100 times worse than if it were anyone else. I’ve always felt like my mum loathed her, most of her teen and young adult years have been hell imo and I often caught her crying under the covers (we share a room) but as hard as I tried to mend their relationship it has never worked. Things are a bit better than before but still when my mom and her get into an argument it’s always so so toxic and I just feel sad for her. She always points out how everyone else gets a better treatment than her but that’s always met with so much more fighting. Oh and the famous “ you always make me feel like I am the worse mother in the world” and the famous “ when you get a step mom you’ll learn to appreciate me more” (??? No idea why but ok) We have tried to show her our point of view gently but it always ends in her being upset with us. But here comes the trick, in my moms opinion she’s doing much better than what her parents did, and it’s genuinely true so I guess i always have to keep in mind that meanwhile I may have bones to pick with her she’s still trying to be better and obviously this is her first time being a mom if that makes sense. Mom and dad’s relationship is shit to say the least. Idk what’s going on with them but my entire life they’ve been arguing and saying the most hurtful things to each other, I remember when it got physical I would just lock my self in a room and cry because I have no idea what to do. I would try and interfere when they fight but that has always resulted in more crying on my part lol. My mom feels like she has spent her entire life waiting for my dad to love her and that her years have gone by without he husband by her side, and it is true. My dad has spent the majority of our lives travelling for work but what can you say? He has worked hard to try and provide for us and he has put 3\4 of us in prestigious schools and payed for med school until we graduated. But I guess it has come at a cost, we are not close to him and he is not close to us. There is also the problem where my dad loves his family more than us, even when his family has caused us so much harm. We have literal proof that they tried to do black magic with the intention to hurt us but he refuses to believe it. So there’s that lol I used to be super close with my brother but we had a fight two months ago and I have not talked to him since. He has become more and more mad (like as a person) and he has actually genuinely hurt me to the point where I told my mom he is not my brother until he apologises for what he did but he said he will never apologise. My older brother… where do I begin lol. He is a loner, he has so much on his plate and he is always stressed and angry so I just avoid him honestly. I feel like I am a bad sister and daughter for talking about this, because I know I have it a lot better than most people, I even have it a lot better than my own sister. Whatever I want I mostly get, and I do get the princess treatment but probably cause I cry a lot. Idk if the reason is my family situation but I am WEAK like I cry a lot , I cannot defend myself, people can walk all over me and I would apologise. y’know that sort of person. I hate that about myself so much but oh well. I do not expect advice or anything, I honestly just wanted to vent because I feel like my chest is so heavy from all of this. We were all in a screaming match just now and I just ran to my bedroom and cried hard it is embarrassing, my mom tells me all families are like this but I doubt it. I just wish we were close and loved each other and had each other’s back. But oh well. This barely covers the surface but it will do for now, I feel a little bit better getting this off my chest. TLDR; Broken home in the making, I am sad and wish things were different.

Just thought I'd post my FTB experience so far (ongoing, not homeowners yet). Been lurking here on reddit for a while.
We are looking to buy in Harrogate, it's considered semi posh I guess. We don't have a huge deposit (barely 10%) and we are mostly looking for something that might need some updating but is livable due to our limited savings. We are lucky that our current rent is great and location is lovely, so we felt we might have to pay more to live in a smaller place... But it would be ours.
I should also add that my husband and I are musicians and my husband specifically wants to play metal drums. Not likely he'd be able to play an acoustic kit at home, but we wanted to keep our electronic kit, and would prefer at least one room/bedroom not to border with neighbours where he could have his music room. Semi detached would be ideal but then again, more expensive and depends what layout you get. A garage would be a bonus.
We viewed a lot of houses, some of them in terrible state and terrible location. My husband grew up here and luckily knows what is what, I sometimes don't when booking. A lot of houses were overpriced to the extreme for the size, I still see some of them being listed months later...
We viewed one house in a village quite far out, and it was spacious and ticked a lot of boxes but the distance to town was just too far. We passed on it.
The first one we bid on was in town, lacked garden but had the space we needed, next to our friends. We viewed it and called the next day just to find that someone else had offered on it already and they didn't want any further bids. It was on the market for 3 days maybe. Fair, first come first served, I wasn't sure how to feel, seemed like we weren't completely sure about it and now it's gone so quickly. It was well priced but I'm picky and anxious.
Next one we put an offer on weeks later was on a busy street and needed quite a bit of updating. Kitchen was all ripped out, all decor old, unsure about heating or electrics without survey. It would have been tough on us but the thing that killed it was that EA mentioned something about land once belonging to the church and there being a clause in the contract... Neighbours said it's been for sale for 2 years with people dropping it last minute. Red flag. Turns out it had an overage clause and any redevelopment would require house owners to pay the church. So not leasehold but something almost equally unpleasant. We didn't know the implications fully but it was enough that no lender wanted to touch it with the amount of deposit we had, it seemed. That was that. We felt lucky we dipped out after talking to the broker, before instructing the solicitors.
Now the current one. We didn't look at any houses in this area before, I personally didn't know it well to consider, but this house came up recently reduced and had the layout we needed, a garage and a garden so we thought we should try? I rang the EA at 10am after a pretty naff morning we had, got a viewing same day at 1pm. We went and although it was again an older person's home, it was lovely and very well kept. New boiler, newish windows. Needed better bathroom and kitchen but not unlivable. Houses around were nice, area quiet and close to green space. We loved it and offered that same day at 3pm (under already reduced price) without even discussing with in-laws like we usually do. They got back to us at 6pm with an adjusted offer and we agreed. All other viewings cancelled and house taken off the market that same day. We were stunned we got it but unlike the previous house we don't feel the dread of making a mistake, we feel excited and hopeful, our naff morning was long forgotten. We will be able to fit our Roland kit and I'll also get my garden and be in a quiet, nice area. I guess we got that feeling that everyone is talking about, I wasn't sure I would get one.
So yeah, this is my story so far, solicitor instructed, broker doing his thing too. Wish us luck and thanks to all of you here on Reddit, I feel less clueless after reading your posts for months.

My Costco membership account was blocked recently because of Costco employee at the merchandise pickup office apparently gave me four speakers instead of one. Here is my story:
I was doing some last minute gift shopping and decided to get a JBL Bluetooth speaker as a gift. I stopped by at a Costco to buy the speaker since it was on sale. I picked up one of the cards for the item and continued to the register and paid for one JBL Speaker. After paying for the item I got the receipt and went to the merchandise pickup area and the employee took my receipt and found the item in storage and scanned the item and handed me the JBL box. After receiving the box I thought to myself why is the box so big, and checked the outside of the box and it said JBL so I then got mad thinking why would they use so much packaging for one speaker since I was going to have to wrap a larger box. I took the item and the employee at the Costco exit checked my receipt and the item and checked off my receipt. I went home after and wrapped the speaker and gave the speaker as a gift.
What followed after was shocking. Costco management called me and left me multiple voicemails, some very rude, threatening to block my account. I didn’t see or hear any of the voicemails since I block any unknown numbers and who would expect calls from Costco. So they went through and blocked my account. I only found out the situation when trying to buy food for lunch and found out my account was blocked. I asked the local Costco and they gave me the number to call. I called the location and they referred me to the manager who was very rude and gave me two options. To get my account unblocked, I had two options he said, bring the 3 extra speakers they accidentally gave me or come in to pay for them. I told him that I gave the speaker as a gift and did not know if there were 1 or 4 speakers in the box, he told me to call the person and have them return the 3 extra speakers (which is ridiculous). They left me no choice, so I did call the person I gave the speaker to and they said they got one speaker. Since they were unreasonable and not understanding, especially since not my fault, I tried calling Costco membership customer service but they said they can’t help me. I asked what about my annual membership, would they refund me since I can’t use it. They said no.
So basically Costco customers have to pay for employees and bad managements mistake.
Anyone else have a similar situation?