Post Your Wins

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Last year I got the Marriott card for DH again because we cancelled it during Covid. Well we had 3 free nights and had previously used one. Well this weekend we were in DC and used up the 2 free nights for the cost of the room around $300. Very nice win. I transferred points and we stayed 5 nights free, paid for the last night near dulles for $90.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Some of my wins from the Memorial day weekend in Laughlin. My overall tally was positive $200 casino wins + the $1428 Bet MGM win. Sometimes you win some, sometimes you lose some. Ate good foods, $21.99 dinner buffet at Riverside buffet on Saturday night, and $14.99 lunch buffet at on Sunday at Hibachi buffet Chinese food. Drank Heineken lights. Life is good.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Another profitable weekend at a San Diego casino along with this hit and a few other $100 hits (although not as profitable as last weekend in Arizona). My overall profit was $200 today which I used in Tijuana and had a grand ole time so basically my gentleman's entertainment this weekend was free, lol.

[Fishindude77]

Got an acre of pumpkins planted yesterday by about 11:00AM, then is started raining at 1:00PM, got about 3/4" which is near perfect.
I'll call that a win.

[disneysteve]

I don’t think I’ve mentioned it but about a month ago we decided to start growing herbs. We’ve wanted to for years and tried once in our yard but the animals destroyed them. This time we went with raised pots on the patio. We got basil, rosemary, cilantro, and mint. We bought started plants so they were ready to use right away. I picked up some larger pots at a yard sale for $1 each and got a raised bed table for free on our Buy Nothing group.

We’ve used the basil multiple times with pizza and Italian food, the rosemary a couple of times with chicken, the cilantro for fresh guacamole, and the mint a number of times in cocktails. And so far the critters don’t seem to be messing with anything.

I think we’ve spent about $35 total so far so not a huge investment either.

[ua_guy]

Another DIY maintenance win. Our RV was due for its 2nd oil change. Last year, for the first, it was a little too daunting, so we had a shop do it. Heavy diesel truck, lots of oil...the oil change itself cost about $700 before tax. One of the fuel filters also needed to be changed, and there was also a diagnostic charge for a question we asked about engine behavior; for a grand total of $982. So goes dining at a heavy truck shop. This year I put on my big boy pants and tackled the job myself. I bought a concrete mixing tub to catch the more than 8 gallons of oil ($19). 8 gallons of new oil was just over $200. I spent $300 on filters (oil, fuel, coolant) but bought enough for two intervals. A wrench to grab and twist off the gallon-sized oil filter, $16. Cabin air filter, $7.

I spent 3 hours studying the maintenance manual gathering details like which drain plug to use (there are a few). And pre-fill filters, or not. And how to prime the fuel system. Where and how many zerks on the suspension to grease. And also, navigating the service schedule to come up with a plan to maintain the rig going forward.

$392 DIY cost, remembering to subtract the $150 in filters that I will use on the next change. And getting my Youtube Diesel Mechanic certification was priceless. Add $12 for my "victory lunch" I bought after I disposed of the used oil at the parts store

[Like2Plan]

Another DIY maintenance win. Our RV was due for its 2nd oil change. Last year, for the first, it was a little too daunting, so we had a shop do it. Heavy diesel truck, lots of oil...the oil change itself cost about $700 before tax. One of the fuel filters also needed to be changed, and there was also a diagnostic charge for a question we asked about engine behavior; for a grand total of $982. So goes dining at a heavy truck shop. This year I put on my big boy pants and tackled the job myself. I bought a concrete mixing tub to catch the more than 8 gallons of oil ($19). 8 gallons of new oil was just over $200. I spent $300 on filters (oil, fuel, coolant) but bought enough for two intervals. A wrench to grab and twist off the gallon-sized oil filter, $16. Cabin air filter, $7.

I spent 3 hours studying the maintenance manual gathering details like which drain plug to use (there are a few). And pre-fill filters, or not. And how to prime the fuel system. Where and how many zerks on the suspension to grease. And also, navigating the service schedule to come up with a plan to maintain the rig going forward.

$392 DIY cost, remembering to subtract the $150 in filters that I will use on the next change. And getting my Youtube Diesel Mechanic certification was priceless. Add $12 for my "victory lunch" I bought after I disposed of the used oil at the parts store

Holy Guacamole! I think this must be a palace of an RV.

[disneysteve]

I took care of one task on my "retirement to do" list today. I called my insurance agent for my disability policy to discuss if there was any good reason I still needed to carry disability insurance now that I'm retired. I know insurance agents get a bad rap, but I've been with Northwestern Mutual for over 30 years and have had 3 agents during that time and have always found them to be very honest and trustworthy in their advice. True to form, when I explained that I was now fully retired (I had spoken to him a couple of years ago when I went part time), he immediately agreed that there was no reason to keep the policy.

Rather than cancelling immediately, though, he noted that the policy pays an annual dividend on the September 2nd policy anniversary date. If I cancel now, I'd miss out on that dividend payment. He double checked and my premium for July and August (June is already paid) comes to less than half of the dividend amount so if I keep the policy until September the dividend will well more than cover the extra 2 months of premiums. Fine with me. I'll pay for July and August and then cancel as soon as the dividend is paid out.

Once that's done, our annual expenses will drop by $3,100 which will be nice.

[scfr]

I paid our estimated taxes today, a bit early. No matter what happens in the next week, at least that's taken care of so no chance of interest and/or penalties. I looked in to paying by credit card since the processing fees have dropped over the past couple years and it's now possible to net a small amount with a 2% (or more) cash back rewards card, but I decided that the risk of using a third party vendor (risk that the payment wouldn't reach the IRS, risk of them haivng my PII) just wasn't worth the small payoff. I know that most of the wins we talk about in this thread are Offensive Team wins, but Defensive Team wins are important too.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Another DIY maintenance win. Our RV was due for its 2nd oil change. Last year, for the first, it was a little too daunting, so we had a shop do it. Heavy diesel truck, lots of oil...the oil change itself cost about $700 before tax. One of the fuel filters also needed to be changed, and there was also a diagnostic charge for a question we asked about engine behavior; for a grand total of $982. So goes dining at a heavy truck shop. This year I put on my big boy pants and tackled the job myself. I bought a concrete mixing tub to catch the more than 8 gallons of oil ($19). 8 gallons of new oil was just over $200. I spent $300 on filters (oil, fuel, coolant) but bought enough for two intervals. A wrench to grab and twist off the gallon-sized oil filter, $16. Cabin air filter, $7.

I spent 3 hours studying the maintenance manual gathering details like which drain plug to use (there are a few). And pre-fill filters, or not. And how to prime the fuel system. Where and how many zerks on the suspension to grease. And also, navigating the service schedule to come up with a plan to maintain the rig going forward.

$392 DIY cost, remembering to subtract the $150 in filters that I will use on the next change. And getting my Youtube Diesel Mechanic certification was priceless. Add $12 for my "victory lunch" I bought after I disposed of the used oil at the parts store

how much is it to dispose of the used oil?

[Fishindude77]

how much is it to dispose of the used oil?

I wouldn't pay to dispose of oil.
The small amount we generate, I save in a jug for burning brush, etc. Most any outfit that has a large fleet of trucks or equipment has a used oil holding tank and would probably allow you to dump a few gallons in. Outfits pick up this oil for free and repurpose it.
Many shops that generate lots of used oil, use it as a heating source for their buildings.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Auto parts stores have signs saying recycle used oil here where you pour it yourself into 55 gallon drums.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Profitable day at my local casino and $8.99 steak & 3 eggs, good deal.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Would you have held the deuce where the jack is currently at on that $800 win above? A kicker of 2's, 3's or 4's with 4 aces would have paid $4000. My thinking is that holding the deuce would decrease my chances of getting 4 aces which is needed first, before getting a kicker, hence why I did not hold the deuce. Also, the random number generator (RNG) is constantly changing until the redraw button is pressed so if I held the deuce the time it took to press the button may have not resulted in the 4th ace arriving. Technical stuff but I believe that is how modern day video poker machines operate. Anyway, would you have held the deuce?

[QuarterMillionMan]

This coming Saturday Jamul is giving $20 free play to all and free food.