FranLab is getting evicted

[james_s]

It's a lot better nowadays. Sit/stand desks are becoming quite popular and quite a few companies are encouraging use of the stairs instead of the elevator. Sites that have their own dining are providing more healthy options.

Using stairs is definitely good for you, but I've read that those sit/stand desks don't actually do anything for your health. You really need to get aerobic activity which standing still isn't. It might have some benefit for your posture but you're not going to lose weight by standing at your desk.

[NiHaoMike]

Using stairs is definitely good for you, but I've read that those sit/stand desks don't actually do anything for your health. You really need to get aerobic activity which standing still isn't. It might have some benefit for your posture but you're not going to lose weight by standing at your desk.

I read that a workflow that regularly alternates between sitting and standing is better than either sitting or standing most of the time.

[rsjsouza]

Using stairs is definitely good for you, but I've read that those sit/stand desks don't actually do anything for your health. You really need to get aerobic activity which standing still isn't. It might have some benefit for your posture but you're not going to lose weight by standing at your desk.

I read that a workflow that regularly alternates between sitting and standing is better than either sitting or standing most of the time.

I can attest that sitting/standing is beneficial in part, at least for me. I use these desks at the workplace and it is much better for the overall well being to stand for at least an hour or two. During lockdowns I worked at home and therefore sitting throughout the day - I felt much worse at the end of the day (not to consider the occasional back pain).

[MrMobodies]

I find it disturbing that this thread is still here after so many years and nothing is still certain for Fran and the living arrangements. I didn't realize Fran moved again last year until I had a good look back some weeks ago. I hope things will materialize one day.

[SiliconWizard]

Nothing is ever certain.

[james_s]

Nothing is ever certain.

I think it's pretty close to certain that the process of Fran scrambling to avert a living situation crisis will occur again.

[EEVblog]

Nothing is ever certain.

I think it's pretty close to certain that the process of Fran scrambling to avert a living situation crisis will occur again.

IIRC she has already mentioned this and expects it to last into early 2023 at best.
I really hope she does something pro-active to prevent it, anything really.

[Quarlo Klobrigney]

Untrue.
Entropy is a certain.

[Nominal Animal]

I really hope she does something pro-active to prevent it, anything really.

I wonder if she realizes she's torturing herself, by instead of dealing with this source of great stress decisively, postponing dealing with it with knowingly temporary "solutions".

This is not just procrastination; this is a vicious cycle, and can lead to serious mental harm.  I did it to myself, and still pay the price.

[EEVblog]

I really hope she does something pro-active to prevent it, anything really.

I wonder if she realizes she's torturing herself, by instead of dealing with this source of great stress decisively, postponing dealing with it with knowingly temporary "solutions".

It's easiest to make no changes when things continue to work as they have.
It's would probably require a 50% or more drop in Patreon funding and drying up of the Youtube ad revenue at the same to elicit drastic changes.

[MK14]

It's easiest to make no changes when things continue to work as they have.
It's would probably require a 50% or more drop in Patreon funding and drying up of the Youtube ad revenue at the same to elicit drastic changes.

This Fran situation, seems to partly remind me of a (at least once) popular, multimeter (and other things) testing/review Youtube channel, from South Africa , which eventually disappeared (or was planning/seeming to).  Called mjlorton.

https://www.youtube.com/@mjlorton

Talks about Youtube Fatigue:
https://youtu.be/8DgoMLwZc9A?t=1216

[sokoloff]

It's easiest to make no changes when things continue to work as they have.
It's would probably require a 50% or more drop in Patreon funding and drying up of the Youtube ad revenue at the same to elicit drastic changes.

While Fran's choices may not be the ones that I would make, I think it's fair to observe that 60+% of Americans (and probably many other developed nations as well) are living pretty economically precarious lives, tending to live a lifestyle that spends nearly all of their income.

US savings rate over time has tended to range in the 4-8% area for most of my adult life: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PSAVERT

Personally, if I was only saving 8% of my income, I'd feel that was catastrophically too low to provide for a financially secure future, but that or lower is the reality for a great many Americans and I can't find specific, grave fault in Fran's decision to live her life in a manner fairly consistent with lots of other Americans.

[bitwelder]

This Fran situation, seems to partly remind me of a (at least once) popular, multimeter (and other things) testing/review Youtube channel, from South Africa , which eventually disappeared (or was planning/seeming to).  Called mjlorton.

Well... except Martin doesn't seem to have a problem to relocate thousands of km away from his previous place(s).

[Stray Electron]

It's easiest to make no changes when things continue to work as they have.
It's would probably require a 50% or more drop in Patreon funding and drying up of the Youtube ad revenue at the same to elicit drastic changes.

While Fran's choices may not be the ones that I would make, I think it's fair to observe that 60+% of Americans (and probably many other developed nations as well) are living pretty economically precarious lives, tending to live a lifestyle that spends nearly all of their income.

US savings rate over time has tended to range in the 4-8% area for most of my adult life: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PSAVERT

   All too true.  Most people in the US feel pressured to 'keep up with the Jones' and constantly over spend on houses, cars, vacations, fancy toys (motorcycles, boats, ski mobiles, the fanciest refrigerator, the BIG screen television etc) and most spend all of their disposable income instead of saving any money. Then if anything happens such as an illness, being laid off, a large home repair, or a large car repair they have to finance it with a credit cards and the interest on that puts them behind the curve where their outgo constantly exceeds their income and they go deeper and deeper into debt and they never catch up.  The solution is really simple, control your spending!  Don't buy the biggest house on the block and in neighborhoods where you can't afford to live, don't buy a new car every two years, don't take those multi thousand dollar vacations to Disney World every year and stop using credit as a means to meet routine living expenses.  Start saving some money instead of spending every dollar that comes your way.

  My wife and I fight about this constantly, I still live in the same house that I bought 39 years ago and I drive a 13 year old truck . My wife has been badgering me for YEARS to buy buy a newer house in fancy subdivision and a newer vehicle and to take one of the expensive European cruises but I simply refuse to.

  Some of my wife's family are always complaining about not having any money but the entire family manages to go to Disney World (in Florida) for a week or more every year every summer and to go to Arizona so visit their grand kid at least twice a year.  I should add that they live in Washington state which in the opposite corner of the continental US from Florida.

[james_s]

While Fran's choices may not be the ones that I would make, I think it's fair to observe that 60+% of Americans (and probably many other developed nations as well) are living pretty economically precarious lives, tending to live a lifestyle that spends nearly all of their income.

US savings rate over time has tended to range in the 4-8% area for most of my adult life: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PSAVERT

Personally, if I was only saving 8% of my income, I'd feel that was catastrophically too low to provide for a financially secure future, but that or lower is the reality for a great many Americans and I can't find specific, grave fault in Fran's decision to live her life in a manner fairly consistent with lots of other Americans.

Fran is relying almost entirely on people giving her money ostensibly to produce new and interesting content, and in the process she is airing the dirty laundry in a very public way. Her income is plentiful, as far as I can tell she is taking in much more than I do, but she is pissing it away on rent in a totally unsustainable situation. I can't help but watch it unfold and think how I could have invested the same income into obtaining a much better and more sustainable living situation. Her problem is not insufficient income, it's poor and shortsighted use of that income through extreme stubbornness.

[james_s]

  My wife and I fight about this constantly, I still live in the same house that I bought 39 years ago and I drive a 13 year old truck . My wife has been badgering me for YEARS to buy buy a newer house in fancy subdivision and a newer vehicle and to take one of the expensive European cruises but I simply refuse to.

LOL 13 year old truck sounds so new and modern to me, my daily driver is now 32 years old, I think the newest vehicle I've ever owned was the 1987 I bought back in 2000. Why replace a perfectly good vehicle if you can keep it going? The only reason I've ever replaced a car is it got totaled in an accident, otherwise I can keep a car going indefinitely.

[Kasper]

[...]
  My wife and I fight about this constantly, I still live in the same house that I bought 39 years ago and I drive a 13 year old truck . My wife has been badgering me for YEARS to buy buy a newer house in fancy subdivision and a newer vehicle and to take one of the expensive European cruises but I simply refuse to.

I'm not saying you should blow all your money but it's nice to have some lifestyle progression throughout the years.  You're career probably progressed over those 39 years, why can't your lifestyle?

[james_s]

I'm not saying you should blow all your money but it's nice to have some lifestyle progression throughout the years.  You're career probably progressed over those 39 years, why can't your lifestyle?

Maybe it has? Personally I think the financial independence of having no debt is the best lifestyle progression one could hope for. My income could increase by an order of magnitude and I'd keep driving the same car and living in the same house.

[tom66]

Having a complete aversion to debt I think is foolish, you have to use it creatively and be careful not to go too far.

Debt is eroded by inflation, so if you can borrow money at below the inflationary rate and save it in a general savings account or put it in money markets then that can be more beneficial than paying off something immediately.

For instance, I have about £4,000 on a credit card, which I used for some larger expenses a while ago.  It's interest free for a promotional period, which is a common arrangement in the UK and elsewhere.  I could easily clear it tomorrow, but I would need to take money out of savings, which is earning me money.  Meanwhile, the debt has no interest on it, and only a fixed fee of 1% for 24 months of this.  If I can beat ~0.5% a year then I shouldn't pay this debt off.  That's pretty easy right now, but even before the base interest rates increased on current accounts you could typically earn a decent amount on the stock market, in the long run. 

Of course, the card provider is betting on you failing to pay the card off, and incurring higher interest payments.  But you can beat that by ensuring the monthly payment amount over the promotional time will clear the card.  You also need discipline. 

Buying things in cash also usually offers no payment protection; if I buy a holiday with my CC and pay it off in full next month, I'm covered even if the tour operator goes bust. 

[james_s]

I buy almost everything with my credit card for that exact reason, and I pay it off in full each month. Actually I usually round up and keep a small positive balance on it just because it amuses me to see those angry red numbers on the statement.

[Kasper]

[...]
  My wife and I fight about this constantly, I still live in the same house that I bought 39 years ago and I drive a 13 year old truck . My wife has been badgering me for YEARS to buy buy a newer house in fancy subdivision and a newer vehicle and to take one of the expensive European cruises but I simply refuse to.

I'm not saying you should blow all your money but it's nice to have some lifestyle progression throughout the years.  You're career probably progressed over those 39 years, why can't your lifestyle?

Maybe it has? Personally I think the financial independence of having no debt is the best lifestyle progression one could hope for. My income could increase by an order of magnitude and I'd keep driving the same car and living in the same house.

Sounds like his wife disagrees and as such, he has been badgered for years and is 'fighting constantly'.  I wouldn't call that an ideal lifestyle for either of them.

During inflationary times, using debt to buy assets can be a good move.  I took debt at about 3% to buy a house.  While I paid that down, my house value went up about 20% / year for 5 years.  That was partly due to inflation and partly due to lots of work we put into home renos.  Had I not taken that debt, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to ride the inflation wave or to do fun home reno work and get paid well for it.  I probably would have had to move away due to increasing rent costs, I would have been more stressed about cost of living going up faster than my wage, more stressed when I got laid off and less able to keep being productive while I job hunted.

If you have debt or own assets, inflation can be good.  If you don't, it sucks.  The policy makers generally fit into the prior category so they are incentivized to push for inflation and as such, I think it's reasonable to assume inflation will continue.

[james_s]

Sounds like his wife disagrees and as such, he has been badgered for years and is 'fighting constantly'.  I wouldn't call that an ideal lifestyle for either of them.

To me that sounds like a fundamental incompatibility and a relationship I would not wish to continue, but that's only something each individual can determine for themselves. If I had a wife that was badgering me to buy a different house or a replace my car I would replace the wife instead with one that is frugal like I am but that's just me.

[sokoloff]

To me that sounds like a fundamental incompatibility and a relationship I would not wish to continue, but that's only something each individual can determine for themselves. If I had a wife that was badgering me to buy a different house or a replace my car I would replace the wife instead with one that is frugal like I am but that's just me.

Divorce is notoriously un-frugal in its own right.

[Stray Electron]

To me that sounds like a fundamental incompatibility and a relationship I would not wish to continue, but that's only something each individual can determine for themselves. If I had a wife that was badgering me to buy a different house or a replace my car I would replace the wife instead with one that is frugal like I am but that's just me.

Divorce is notoriously un-frugal in its own right.

  Darn right!  Been there done that and it ultimately cost me me my job and my house.  (first wife and first house).

[Kasper]

Might be cheaper to buy a nicer house now, instead of ending up with half a house later.