I recently moved into my first ever, pay-your-own-bills, MY apartment. It's a tiny little place that's old and apparently terribly energy inefficient. I got my first electric bill and it was OUTRAGEOUS, like the price of 2 Imperial Raiders I was going to preorder on MM. And I realized...

I might not be able to get the Imperial Raider EVER. At least not for a while... Is this adulting? I don't like it.

Is this life advice time? It feels like life advice time!

First: you are never going to marry the most awesome woman in the world, because I already did.

Turn the lights off in rooms you're not in. And the heat doesn't need to be higher than ~65. And Air Conditioning costs even more than heating does. Also: your drier is freaking expensive to run. Holy chao is it expensive! If you have a desktop PC, turn that off also, when you're not using it.

Debt: debt is how people own your soul. Debt is ok, if you can actually cover all your debt with cash on hand, but as a rule, debt is a monster that will perpetuate itself.

Don't kid yourself about how effective Torpedos are. They offer a terrible ROI.

Last: She may say "oh honey don't worry about it, I'm already on birth control"... never, EVER, take their word for it!

First you get the studies

Then you get the job

Finally you get the raider... or the girl­... or if you're lucky, a girl who will accept your love of X-Wing and let you buy a Raider

Or you find that ONE who understands your love of X-Wing and she buys it for you cause she knows your a bit short on funds.

A space heater will cost you more money than just paying the $200 for the deposit for the oil company.

If you don't like it, then it's an adult thing.

Well there is this "sex" thing. I quite like that...

I recently moved into my first ever, pay-your-own-bills, MY apartment. It's a tiny little place that's old and apparently terribly energy inefficient. I got my first electric bill and it was OUTRAGEOUS, like the price of 2 Imperial Raiders I was going to preorder on MM. And I realized...

I might not be able to get the Imperial Raider EVER. At least not for a while... Is this adulting? I don't like it.

Eh no worries young one... once you have your first "professional" job making decent scratch, you can buy all the toys you've ever wanted for the most part lol.

I have an actual theory on this that I have shared with my buds; I've been going to the San Diego Comic Con for almost 10 years now, 7-8 years ago getting a badge was simple and there were more than enough to come by... then something odd happened... all us 30 somethings who grew up in the pop culture 80s era of Star Wars, Transformers, etc. started making decent cheddar and all of the sudden you cant buy a pass to SDCC for less than 5 hunsky. Point is, the money will come and when it does you'll have all the toys you could possibly want...

but then you'll probably have a spouse by then that makes you hide all of your collectible sh*t away anyways due to the embarrassment it may cause lol... so you're pretty hosed with or without money.

I had to lol at that. When we got our house I told my wife that I was going to put up some posters in my office. Little did she know that meant about 10 posters, a giant map of the world and a shelf full of my collectibles. Needless to say, she keeps that door closed when we have company over.

I don't understand that. My wife and I have nerd stuff strewn about the house, in tasteful arrangements. And most of our guests come over to play boardgames. It would be weird to keep that stuff hidden.

Oh, and donating plasma will not only get you good cash for hobby money, it will make you need to buy less booze to get drunk that night.

Seriously, you can probably pre-order the Imperial Raider after one donation of plasma.

After about 15 years as an "adult" I've learned that it's better to forgo lunch to buy toys. It also keeps me in pretty good shape.

True dat. In Highschool: Spending lunch money on Magic cards is what gave me a lean physique and a respect for my momma's cooking.

I don't understand that. My wife and I have nerd stuff strewn about the house, in tasteful arrangements. And most of our guests come over to play boardgames. It would be weird to keep that stuff hidden.

If you were one of the lucky guys who married a nerd, then major congrats on that one... for the rest of us, its a mixture of shoe-aholics, Kardashian/Housewives watching, pintrest obsessed soccer moms who equate our love of nerdy stuff to that of an 8 year old child lol.

Oh, and donating plasma will not only get you good cash for hobby money, it will make you need to buy less booze to get drunk that night.

Seriously, you can probably pre-order the Imperial Raider after one donation of plasma.

Also there is this part where you help save people's life by donating blood... But that's incidental.

I recently moved into my first ever, pay-your-own-bills, MY apartment. It's a tiny little place that's old and apparently terribly energy inefficient. I got my first electric bill and it was OUTRAGEOUS, like the price of 2 Imperial Raiders I was going to preorder on MM. And I realized...

I might not be able to get the Imperial Raider EVER. At least not for a while... Is this adulting? I don't like it.

Is this life advice time? It feels like life advice time!

First: you are never going to marry the most awesome woman in the world, because I already did.

Turn the lights off in rooms you're not in. And the heat doesn't need to be higher than ~65. And Air Conditioning costs even more than heating does. Also: your drier is freaking expensive to run. Holy chao is it expensive! If you have a desktop PC, turn that off also, when you're not using it.

Debt: debt is how people own your soul. Debt is ok, if you can actually cover all your debt with cash on hand, but as a rule, debt is a monster that will perpetuate itself.

Don't kid yourself about how effective Torpedos are. They offer a terrible ROI.

This was a tip I saw elsewhere this week, but is a good one: buy things like roasts, large hams, etc, and cook them yourself in the oven. Then save it and carve them up for your own cold cuts for sandwiches. Much cheaper than getting it from the deli our dining out. Freeze whatever you won't eat in a few days.

And yes, definitely watch your debt. Have a credit card and use it to build credit, but never spend more than you can afford to pay off before the interest hits. Also do research on rewards, as those can add up (my Citi card has the worst rewards).

Edit: also, skipping lunch should probably only be considered if you eat breakfast. Not eating is generally bad for your blood sugar.

Oh, and donating plasma will not only get you good cash for hobby money, it will make you need to buy less booze to get drunk that night.

Seriously, you can probably pre-order the Imperial Raider after one donation of plasma.

Wait, where do I go to get paid for this? Blood drives on campus dont give us anything...

Switching to more energy efficient lighting goes a long way as does covering your windows to prevent heat loss. Your energy bill in the winter (depending on where you live) will be dramatically higher but you'll see a nice cut down in the summer, so that's your time to buy. Alternatively sell your organs, I got a buddy who needs a kidney.

I live in Arizona and have an average sized house. Our summer electric bill will be around $225. That's keeping the house just under 80 degrees. But our winter electric bill is hardly ever more than $40.

I live in Wisconsin, so we get the reverse, given the costs the op cited I was guessing he either lives in a northern climate or is wildly poor at turning things off

Look in the phonebook probably listed as plasma services . Usual pay out is $20.00 for first "donation" of the week then $40.00 for the second "donation" limit was 3 donations in a 7 day period spaced out every other day. And whatever you do don't tell them about the weekend in Vegas that you don't remember cause that's automatic rejection. . . . . I mean not that I really know what happened on that weekend cause it was real fuzzy but I did have a ring and was wearing Elvis shades when I got home.

Switching to more energy efficient lighting goes a long way as does covering your windows to prevent heat loss. Your energy bill in the winter (depending on where you live) will be dramatically higher but you'll see a nice cut down in the summer, so that's your time to buy. Alternatively sell your organs, I got a buddy who needs a kidney.

I live in Arizona and have an average sized house. Our summer electric bill will be around $225. That's keeping the house just under 80 degrees. But our winter electric bill is hardly ever more than $40.

I live in Wisconsin, so we get the reverse, given the costs the op cited I was guessing he either lives in a northern climate or is wildly poor at turning things off

It's been pretty cold this winter here. I'm in Missouri so we get 90's and humidity in the summer and averaging in the 20's the last couple months.

I recently moved into my first ever, pay-your-own-bills, MY apartment. It's a tiny little place that's old and apparently terribly energy inefficient. I got my first electric bill and it was OUTRAGEOUS, like the price of 2 Imperial Raiders I was going to preorder on MM. And I realized...

I might not be able to get the Imperial Raider EVER. At least not for a while... Is this adulting? I don't like it.

Is this life advice time? It feels like life advice time!

First: you are never going to marry the most awesome woman in the world, because I already did.

Turn the lights off in rooms you're not in. And the heat doesn't need to be higher than ~65. And Air Conditioning costs even more than heating does. Also: your drier is freaking expensive to run. Holy chao is it expensive! If you have a desktop PC, turn that off also, when you're not using it.

Debt: debt is how people own your soul. Debt is ok, if you can actually cover all your debt with cash on hand, but as a rule, debt is a monster that will perpetuate itself.

Don't kid yourself about how effective Torpedos are. They offer a terrible ROI.

^^^^ Agree

My wife and I have a 1300 sq home and we rarely go over $100 and used to keep it below $50 because we just don't use heater or AC. We sun dry clothing and generally turn everything off. Be smart.

Also +1 to whoever said put it in savings. You will find that saving now and building up a safety net will allow you disposable income in the future.

Finally, have fun with adulthood. Ignore vegetables. Have meat with a side of meat for dinner...mmmmm.

Ignore vegetables. Have meat with a side of meat for dinner...mmmmm.

Dude really, you're just gonna steal my pick up line like that...

Oh! And cars are a liability, not an asset! They will depreciate in value every minute of every day, and eat as much money as you have if you let them. Gas prices will always go up, unless there is an outbreak of peace in the MidEast and/or Argentina.

So: every mile you live from work/school is some money you are spending on gas- every day. It's worth paying some amount _more_ in rent to avoid this ever increasing expense.

I don't understand that. My wife and I have nerd stuff strewn about the house, in tasteful arrangements. And most of our guests come over to play boardgames. It would be weird to keep that stuff hidden.

If you were one of the lucky guys who married a nerd, then major congrats on that one... for the rest of us, its a mixture of shoe-aholics, Kardashian/Housewives watching, pintrest obsessed soccer moms who equate our love of nerdy stuff to that of an 8 year old child lol.

Sounds like you married a Kardashians nerd.

I don't understand that. My wife and I have nerd stuff strewn about the house, in tasteful arrangements. And most of our guests come over to play boardgames. It would be weird to keep that stuff hidden.

If you were one of the lucky guys who married a nerd, then major congrats on that one... for the rest of us, its a mixture of shoe-aholics, Kardashian/Housewives watching, pintrest obsessed soccer moms who equate our love of nerdy stuff to that of an 8 year old child lol.

Sounds like you married a Kardashians nerd.

Did... needless to say that mistake was rectified and the new girl is definitely in the nerd column. I learned from my mistake.

I don't understand that. My wife and I have nerd stuff strewn about the house, in tasteful arrangements. And most of our guests come over to play boardgames. It would be weird to keep that stuff hidden.

If you were one of the lucky guys who married a nerd, then major congrats on that one... for the rest of us, its a mixture of shoe-aholics, Kardashian/Housewives watching, pintrest obsessed soccer moms who equate our love of nerdy stuff to that of an 8 year old child lol.

Fortunately my wife does like sci-fi. But she has much to learn. She was surprised to find that I had Imperial posters. She didn't know that "people were for the bad guys". That lead to quite a discussion. She has obviously been brain washed by the Rebel propaganda that was Episodes 4, 5, & 6.

This thread has become more magical than I could have ever hoped.

I don't understand that. My wife and I have nerd stuff strewn about the house, in tasteful arrangements. And most of our guests come over to play boardgames. It would be weird to keep that stuff hidden.

If you were one of the lucky guys who married a nerd, then major congrats on that one... for the rest of us, its a mixture of shoe-aholics, Kardashian/Housewives watching, pintrest obsessed soccer moms who equate our love of nerdy stuff to that of an 8 year old child lol.

Fortunately my wife does like sci-fi. But she has much to learn. She was surprised to find that I had Imperial posters. She didn't know that "people were for the bad guys". That lead to quite a discussion. She has obviously been brain washed by the Rebel propaganda that was Episodes 4, 5, & 6.

Oh no... this cannot stand... no worries though help is on its way.

I lived in Philly for 15 years as a broke artist/musician, and every winter I'd have to wear like 3 pairs of pants and a few sweaters, a scarf, hat and gloves in the house. The only place I lived that was warm was an apartment with heat included, so much heat in fact that we considered installing an air conditioner during the winter.

The biggest part of your electric bill is probably your refrigerator. Make sure the freezer is always full, even if you just use ice, that will help cut it's expense a bit. Putting plastic over your windows helps a lot too.

I taught my GF to play Xwing, the next game night she won both her games (with a bit of coaching).

Switching to more energy efficient lighting goes a long way as does covering your windows to prevent heat loss. Your energy bill in the winter (depending on where you live) will be dramatically higher but you'll see a nice cut down in the summer, so that's your time to buy. Alternatively sell your organs, I got a buddy who needs a kidney.

I live in Arizona and have an average sized house. Our summer electric bill will be around $225. That's keeping the house just under 80 degrees. But our winter electric bill is hardly ever more than $40.

I live in Wisconsin, so we get the reverse, given the costs the op cited I was guessing he either lives in a northern climate or is wildly poor at turning things off

It's been pretty cold this winter here. I'm in Missouri so we get 90's and humidity in the summer and averaging in the 20's the last couple months.

But the standard deviation in MO would be huge. We had 70 degree weather one day and snow that evening.

Welcome to Missouri, where the forecast is made up and meteorology doesn't matter