One tactic I find is to ask them to find a single item within my budget and a single item with no price range budget to keep an open mind. I also on occasion ask them to bring in a third party for a second opinion. Any sales associate insulted by a third party opinion doesn't have my best interests and I would not…

I used to do the same. Now, I go to stores, choose a few items myself and ask a sales associate for a 3 or 4th and ask their opinion on whether to purchase what I chose, or what they chose and making it clear I'm willing to try a few additional items they suggest. I mean, much of the issue is about wondering whether a…

Which is why I build a vacation within the vacation. Every 2-3 days I have a day that is not planned at all with the intention of sleeping in (in a week long trip). Sure, I might lose 3-4 hours of the early morning of those days, but I enjoy the trip more because I notice more, and I am not turning the whole ordeal…

I find that this is quite self imposed. We go above and beyond to merely impress and tell ourselves we will likely be fired if we don't. I used to do the same. These days, I find employers are happy enough if I leave instructions and a list of phone numbers/file paths etc.

My girlfriend and I do this. We plan 1-2 days on the weekend to go somewhere and that's where the planning ends. Hop in the car and drive 2-4 hours in any direction and go look at anything and everything nearby even if it's not our usual flavor.

Oh wow, rough. In your situation, I can totally see why snooping is necessary. I wish you the best with your daughter. I also wish you a type of serenity I perceive you and your family are trying to seek together.

I agree with you. Adding independence in such a way (Your example) is the same thing in my opinion as not handing a four year old a pair of sharp metal scissors for arts and crafts. My child will get those cruddy plastic scissors until he/she can prove that he/she is not dumb enough to attempt to cut his/her fingers,…

I think it's fair game if you announce it so that they learn to protect their privacy, not just from you, but from others. Growing up, we get into all sorts of trouble and we hid the evidence. You deserve to be punished if you leave evidence lying around in nearly plain sight.

I agree. In all honesty, there's no problem with you walking into a room and looking at things at face value. Snooping via use of software etc is in my opinion crossing the line just as running into their room and rummaging through their belongings is wrong in my opinion. As others have said as well, being open about…

Cleaning/refurbing hacks would also benefit me greatly as I have just received a nice 11 year old hand me down grill which I have been using with great pleasure. Excited to see the results.

20-30 years down the road, wouldn't your suburban house be technically more urban than it is now?

It's rough enough for many of us to put together an emergency fund let alone a retirement fund at a young age. Or... wait... do we get to roll the emergency fund into the retirement fund down the road? If yes, what does that mean in terms of retirement funds?

Personally, I generally go with the idea that the first home is consumption and the subsequent homes are investments.

I know what you mean. I've opened up my Sony Vaio SZ and Lenovo T countless amounts of times with ease and the Dell inspiron I give a stare down due to the annoyances it has given to me in the past. I am also considering opening up my 4 year old macbook I acquired (White plastic one) to swap the HDD and clean up to…

Whew, that's what I've been doing. Thanks! I'll be even more careful from now on.

Similar to you, I make a checklist and tick them off as I go.

I know it's questionable practice, but I do fire a burst or two of canned air into my laptops. It's a disgusting yet satisfying feeling to see a white cloud come out for a years worth of dust. It reminds me of snow each time I do it.

I don't typically listen to music at work. When I do, it's generally instrumental.

When I first got a credit card, I got into the habit of paying it off in full within a week or two of spending. It kept me away from the spend first, figure it out later mentality I hope to believe.

I have a few of these and they were terrible to me. Not a few washes and they start curling like crazy. I went to a stores that specializes in suits and grabbed a few dress shirts there for about $20-30 as well as a few bargain bin Calvin Klein dress shirts and I'll say that the difference in quality is well worth the…