331–340 of 362 posts
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There are many k-cups that are not from keurig, and they are %100 industrially compostable. You can also put a small compost bucket beside the pods so they would actually be composted. That plus sweetener in paper packets and you have a %100 compostable system. Maybe there are powder creamers out there that come in paper packets too. I use these guys myself, and they are 0.30 a cup from Costco: https://www.sanfrancis…
Yes I buy Kirkland as well. You're right much cheaper, but same horrendously wasteful packaging. So, talk to me about the bidet. I've always though that if I hosed myself off real good, then I could consistently use just one wipe with the tp to dry off, instead of needing an unpredictable number of wipings to the same without water. Is this realistic? Do you find it's consistently just one tp wipe per job? Because th…
There are fancier models that have a built-in blow dryer so you wouldn't even need to dry at all, but they require an outlet near the toilet.
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These examples vary in how outrageous they are, but some of them have the ability to singlehandedly depreciate someone else's most valuable asset by tens of thousands of dollars without any sort of recourse. Even if the nightclub or parking ventures aren't successful you'll probably have a hard time getting the same value out of that house. And that's fine?
Yeah. You have no right to ROI on any investment.
If you're buying the property for any purpose other than flipping then ROI from the sale of the property itself shouldn't be a serious consideration. Either you're living there and sale doesn't really matter so long as you don't get shafted too badly whenever you do sell or you're renting or using it commercially in which case the cost to acquire is sunk and the returns from that should more than make up for change in value and whatever you get from a sale at the end is just a bonus.
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> I’ve spent a lot of summer trips hiking around small vacation towns in Colorado, and I’ve always found regular hotels to be a great way to do it. Occasionally I need to drive a bit more, but it’s not too bad. That sounds nice, and it suits a lot of people just fine. But try doing that with a family, and on a limited budget. I'll give you an example: last year I "rented" my own place for a week with family. We cramm…
In a hotel room with an attached suite, this isn’t very hard. Most in the group can stay in small economy rooms, then use the suite for group things or big meals. My extended family (usually groups of 20+, with various budgets) does this also for beach vacations to book oceanside hotels pretty cheaply, and we also make use of shared spaces, like picnic areas or large table spaces you can use for free at some lodges.…
> you have to have someone in the group spend time cooking and cleaning instead of just enjoying the trip.
That person is me. I love to cook, and I assure you it's quite possible to enjoy a vacation while making crepes for your friends. :)
> it would be a sign that it’s not a financially good idea to plan the trip so soon and I should save money longer before going.
Or, if you were able to stay in a home instead of a hotel, you could save enough money to make the trip affordable now, instead of waiting until later in life to enjoy it.
It seems like you might just really like hotels. I think that's fine, and I think a lot of people agree with you. Vacations are what you make of them, and it sounds like you've really got your act together. I admire that. But it also seems like you're trying to apply your own standards and experience generally to everyone else. I'm pretty sure if you asked the folks who rented my place for a week over Christmas what they think, they'll say they'd rather not pay twice as much money for a couple of small hotel rooms in Dillon with no kitchen. Because like it or not, that's my competition.
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I, as an individual want to lay taxes and I want them to be put to good use. I also think my income bracket pays too little taxes. I want a thriving, stable society and I’m well aware on an intellectual level that if faced with the constant decision whether I should donate here or donate there or pay more for child-care so that they can subsidize people with less income, I’ll become overwhelmed and fail. I already fa…
" make me pay taxes, but make everyone else pay theirs" If you want to pay, as you stated, no one needs to force you. That was the point of my original statement. It sounds like you approve, in general, of the tax structure and the manner in which money is spent - which is totally fine. But no one needs to make you do anything that you already claim to want to do. To be clear, it sounds like you want what the taxes p…
IME, most people do want to exchange something for the goods and services they consume. For some, if not only so they can complain about them. I personally don't like handouts, and will go to lengths to avoid them.
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In a hotel room with an attached suite, this isn’t very hard. Most in the group can stay in small economy rooms, then use the suite for group things or big meals. My extended family (usually groups of 20+, with various budgets) does this also for beach vacations to book oceanside hotels pretty cheaply, and we also make use of shared spaces, like picnic areas or large table spaces you can use for free at some lodges.…
Hey, if you're ok with fast food and take-out, that's great. Nothing wrong with that, and it gives you flexibility. But if you have to do it in a hotel up here in the mountains, you'll still spend multiples more money than you will at a place like mine -- a place that also gives you a full kitchen. > you have to have someone in the group spend time cooking and cleaning instead of just enjoying the trip . That person…
I’m saying if I need to book a house rental because saving on the margins with home cooking might make or break my ability to afford the vacation, then I clearly don’t have enough money for the trip to be a responsible purchase until saving more.
So almost by definition, considerations that happen at exactly that margin decision boundary aren’t very applicable for reasoning between the two options.
> “That person is me. I love to cook, and I assure you it's quite possible to enjoy a vacation while making crepes for your friends. :)”
I love cooking too, but it ruins a vacation if I have to cook, as opposed to getting to cook, particularly meaning I would spend much more on high-end ingredients to make special meals that are much more expensive than eating at even medium-quality restaurants.. plus you still end up wasting vacation time on clean up and prep like chopping, or if things need to bake a while then someone’s stuck in the kitchen potentially long before the meal.
Any way you look at it, unless you’re doing something like a cabin vacation where all the recreation is right in and around your lodging all day, then needing to devote money and time to grocery shopping, prep, cooking and clean up is a pretty expensive chore in terms of time & money to commit to during a vacation. Clearly even if some people like it, you can imagine a lot of other people don’t see that as an effective trade-off.
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>In the end it was just a horrible situation to open up what was a hotel, right in the middle of our association / neighborhood. By joining a HOA, you've delegated away to the collective the right to dictate to your neighbors what they can and can't do with their own property. In your case, the system worked - because you are in a HOA. If people want to exert that kind of collectivist control over their neighbors, th…
Alternately, this is a blind spot in zoning laws, which exist in part to make sure that residences remain pleasant spaces to live in, and this blind spot needs to be addressed. The flipside of the libertarian "you have no right to dictate what I do" stance is that you may be generating external costs that your community has to absorb, so the legal structure should make sure you bear your share of that cost in accorda…
This is a really well-crafted statement that applies widely to all kinds of issues in governance.
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> HOAs don't block purchases by particular people HOAs no longer are able to do that directly (even though naked racial discrimination was actually central to the original purpose of HOAs and the covenants which give life to them), but they continue to enforce cultural standards that are designed particularly to enforce the behavior preferred by a particular subculture and exclude others.
Which specific cultural standards and particular subculture are you referring to?
Also dog owners. I know an HOA board that was, for a time, populated by fervent dog haters. They enacted a rule that forbid dogs from all streets and sidewalks. You could only walk your dog between your house and the next to the common grassy area behind. There's been some turnover in the board, but the rule is still in effect AFAIK.
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Hey, if you're ok with fast food and take-out, that's great. Nothing wrong with that, and it gives you flexibility. But if you have to do it in a hotel up here in the mountains, you'll still spend multiples more money than you will at a place like mine -- a place that also gives you a full kitchen. > you have to have someone in the group spend time cooking and cleaning instead of just enjoying the trip . That person…
> “Or, if you were able to stay in a home instead of a hotel, you could save enough money to make the trip affordable now, instead of waiting until later in life to enjoy it.” I’m saying if I need to book a house rental because saving on the margins with home cooking might make or break my ability to afford the vacation, then I clearly don’t have enough money for the trip to be a responsible purchase until saving mor…
We're pretty far in weeds here with talk of ingredients and prep and whatnot. Like I said, for family accommodation, with the flexibility of a kitchen and laundry, there is no competition of any kind from hotels in my neck of the woods, and there probably never will be. It's not even close. My only competition is from other vacation rentals, and all us little guys currently contribute a big chunk of our town's tourism revenue.
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> I’ve spent a lot of summer trips hiking around small vacation towns in Colorado, and I’ve always found regular hotels to be a great way to do it. Occasionally I need to drive a bit more, but it’s not too bad. That sounds nice, and it suits a lot of people just fine. But try doing that with a family, and on a limited budget. I'll give you an example: last year I "rented" my own place for a week with family. We cramm…
In a hotel room with an attached suite, this isn’t very hard. Most in the group can stay in small economy rooms, then use the suite for group things or big meals. My extended family (usually groups of 20+, with various budgets) does this also for beach vacations to book oceanside hotels pretty cheaply, and we also make use of shared spaces, like picnic areas or large table spaces you can use for free at some lodges.…
Whole-home-style rentals are always more relaxing, and the only reason I've used AirBnB. I have friends who feel the same way, so I'm not alone. Are we a minority? Possibly. But we exist.