Mariner

When I put my house on the market, I removed everything in closets, drawers, kitchen, and bathrooms, and left the majority of the furniture in place and just removed the clutter pieces. Was under contract in 3 days. That fell through due to the bank, and went under contract again two days when back on the market. The buyer wanted to buy all the furniture, and gave us the prices we asked for.

I was shocked, but at the same time I would want to see furniture in the house (real stuff not virtual) to get an idea of spatial elements.

I went on a getaway vacation in Savannah with the family years ago when budgets were tight. Took the kids to play/eat in the hotel courtyard. A couple in their late 30's/early 40's were lounging in the courtyard reading books for like two hours. Dead quiet and no talking/taking breaks. They looked like their connection on vacations/daily basis was with books. No kids.

To each their own and I had to respect what they were doing, but I have so much going on with everything else. It seems the last thing I have time for are books. Kudos to those who manage their time to do it. I just have different priorities.

I prefer to do research on products/investments/lifestyle help reading short articles and watching videos, than read a novel.

I feel that I would love to read when the kids go off to college and then again in retirement. It's calming.

Chiropractor is a bad word in ortho doctor offices, but pain management doctors seem to like them and even suggest them. Orthos claim that chiros are just treating the symptoms, while orthos promote lifestyle changes.

For chiropractors, you have to go in for multiple sessions before you get results of feeling better.

A few months ago, I had bad back pain for the first time in my life. I think the disc was bulging for years but the pain was minor (I had sciatica), but I finally injured it while working out. I could not sleep at night for several days, and was often in tears.

After getting on with a pain doctor, I started with the chiro I have used for a few years for wellness. He put me on a decompression table for about 10 visits. Also I tried his new shockwave therapy machine. After several weeks, the pain was gone.

I have had no complaints.

I12 needs to be 3 lanes from Slidell to BR. The highway has too much congestion on the two-lane portions.

I was good friends with girl back in HS/College who was a maid in Endymion one year and a queen the next. I was her guest both years. Not sure how much it costs today but I would assume at least $100K to be the queen.

I attended the parties/festivities/VIP table at the Extravaganza, etc. I have to say that to this day it was such a memorable experience, and I would love to do it again or even for my daughter if I could afford it. And afford it means to be in a position that you barely know that the money is gone. It was a fun expense for them. We lost touch but if I ever saw her or her family in person today I would thank them again for the experience.

Experiences like that are unique and an amazing bucket list item for anyone involved.

And yes the connections aspect is great.

Pretty certain that I will do it for my three kids. I read up on it and I like the benefits it offers besides retirement, such as buying a house.

I have seen different outlook from all walks of life during my time. I have been around old money families who maintained and improved their financial security, and also middle class/lower middle class co-workers who planned out their retirement spending so that they would die with only nickels left to their name, and nothing left to the family. They had the mindset that their children had to experience every single hardship that they had. I also knew similar workers who put their children above them. The old money people believed in some hardship experiences, but they also believed that family will always have a safety net, rather than be in a trap.

I'm a believer in giving loved ones altruistic boosts in life, if its affordable. Yes you don't want to enable bad behavior/fundamentals, but I really do think this will put your children in a better situation and a setup for success.

A strong family unit is key to individual success. Old money families inspired me.

I have special ordered my most four recent cars. I love it. The downside is that you cannot really negotiate the price compared to the one no one wants and has been sitting on the lot for 4 months.

I am very particular about options and styles, so it makes better sense for me to special order. Its almost impossible for me to find what I want in current inventory.

If its a car that has been in production for a few years, the lead time is 2-3 months. However if its a model change, or the plant is in limbo between next model year production, you have no idea how long it will take. As expected, one took almost 7 months and the other was 5 months. The ones in production already took just under two months and the other was three months.

You have to be a patient customer though. The dealer has very little info besides when the car goes into production and when it is shipped. The seven month one sat at the plant for two months. Its almost impossible to find out why and also when it will get shipped/built/etc.. The one that was built in less than two months, the dealer called me and was shocked that the car had been built and shipped so soon after initial order. Its not straightforward.

You have to have a patient mindset.

Eve's first year (Mandeville) was a joke and lasted about 20 minutes. They had multiple back to back floats with no bands or marching orgs in between.

Its grown every year since then.

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How do you know if they're rich?

Been in too many rich homes that were anything but... just builder grade everywhere you look. Cheapest of door sets, locks, plugs, and switches. Plumbing of plastic, no brass internals at all. Everything reeked of big box from the MDF cabinets, to the cheapest of trim and moldings (maybe even plastic). Poorly fitted carpentry, piss poor painting, bad drywall, cheap carpet, cheapest of tile put in wrong, cheap faux floors, cheap lighting, every corner that could be cut was and no telling about the wiring, electrical, HVAC, roof, water heater(s), and on and on.

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As a guy who went from living in a 2000 SF house in a middle class subdivision for 18 years, to living in a custom built home neighborhood, I can attest to that. When I wanted to build, a very reputable builder I am close friends with recommended for me to use a licensed architect (not a draftsman). A full blown architecture and design firm is rarely used in my area. After designing a couple houses with that firm, walking through brand new nearly finished homes with them, and riding around the neighborhood with them, the faults were pointed out, the cut corners were noticed, and the mirages was brought to my attention.

One of the things that gives away new money or house poor, is a brand new custom built home with no window treatments, or bare bones/underwhelming landscaping, or a backyard that is just grass or limited with only a pool and limited decking. We bought a nice 4000SF transition house that was less than two months to completion, located in the same 'hood, and used the interior design team of the architecture firm to furnish it. Talk about expensive, and I discovered all the tricks builders do to save them money. I stopped the landscaper after he told me the budget he had, and did it right with full coverage of the front and backyard using his landscape architect. That costed me as much as a small house. I stopped the custom closet guy after he showed me the designs for the closets, laundry room, and mud room. What I wanted and paid for costed 4X as much.

While doing this, I have also learned that some of the "luxury home builders" that have these fancy websites and well done social media pages is all one big facade. They are building shoddy houses that look great for a few years, then the issues sink in as it gets older. They are also using cheap subs and are blacklisted by the good subs, as the facade custom builders don't pay their bills in a timely fashion. No good sub will tolerate that, but the below average desperate ones will.

I also found that Louisiana people are cheap even though they are wealthy. They want everything for cheap and think expensive = ripoff. They don't have the mindset of getting it done the right way. My architect told me that his go to statement to potential clients who balk at his proposals: "for the price you want to pay for a design and service throughout construction, you don't need me.....you need a draftsman." :lol:

For those wanting or planning to build a custom home.....NEVER EVER EVER sign a price per square foot contract. NEVER. You open the door for shoddy construction and cut corners, cheap subs, delays, etc.

ONLY sign a cost plus contract with a proven builder, and have high consideration for the architect's recommended list of builders. I have a great builder who is in heaven that I am a client with my architect and design team assigned to his project. He calls me every day with options. He points out that the architect calls for ____ materials or amounts, like pilings needed. He gives me the price for what that would cost, and the price of what most people do. I have the choice, and that includes craftsmen, such as when the roof design called for intricate details in framing, we decided to use a guy fluent with this design, and proven by similar projects that he did. After several convos, the builder understands that we will only do what the structural engineer and the architect designed, however we will always discuss the cost differences of the material choices in case I wanted to omit anything. One thing I love about architects is accountability put on the builder, as its their creation and a reflection of them. I also like the CYA mentality of the builder by pointing out several issues that are solved before the materials are ordered. By not having that, the builder will cut a corner to make it work, and the buyer would never know. Nothing is half assed. The state is full of average Joes who want a nice house but does not want to pay to do it right.

The guy building across the street from me was about to lay a slab without pilings. He questioned his builder when a pile driver showed up to my house with 190 piles on the property. He made the builder drive piles after I finished.

I also discovered that by using an architect, you have access to the best subs out there. These subs cost more, but man you get what you pay for.

As far as the original poster, yes it does feel nice to be in or visit a nice house, but I have a lot of respect for people who have small charming houses that are furnished well. I think the problem is the "we won't get our money back" mentality along with "we may as well move to a larger house." That mindset will always put someone in a underwhelming house no matter the size of it. I completely renovated my 2000 SF house , along with upgraded lush landscaping, before we decided to go larger. The neighborhood was inspired and projects followed with their homes. When I sold, I was under contract in three days with a ton of inquiries.

529 - I have it and like it for the tax advantages, but mainly I like it as its a dedicated fund to my children's education, and no one can mess with it. If they don't use it I would probably gift it to my grandchildren's education, in which my children would appreciate given the burdens of education costs. This is a long term old money plan but with education at the forefront.

Also, if I died and my wife got lonely and insecure, then rushes to marry a Baw who never went to college, or had to pay his own way through college, the Baw would have a different outlook on the $ if say it was just in a brokerage account. The Baw may love deep sea fishing, and convince your widow to cash out the brokerage to fund his charter fishing business, plus a few other man toys. The 529 protects your child from a Baw ruining his/her future.

Don't do option #2. All they are getting from me is a custodial checking account I am saving like $150 a month to. It will be a nice chunk as a gift at 18, but they choose how to save or blow it, but they have to live with it. Hopefully its a lesson learned early in life before bigger decisions come into play.

Option #3 is great but if your wife divorces you or marries the baw, all bets are off.