The difference between my two boys...

Sigarms · Apr 17, 2021

My one boy gave his brother $16 in change (because he wants bills) for a $10 bill because he's driving his pick up truck that he bought out of his own money earned working, to take his buddy fishing this afternoon.

The boy who gave the $10 bill for $16 in change is going to take all the change he got and deposit it into his bank account.

I explained to the one boy who received the $10 bill for the $16 in change that in one day for this transaction, he paid over 36% gross margin ($6 dollars more out of his pocket for 10 dollars he already had) for what he already had in cash in coin, not dollar bills.

I'm curious to where they are at 10 years from now....

I'm really worried now if that one boy ever gets a credit card.

MossRoad · Apr 17, 2021

Pretty funny. Try explaining the costs of buying pop out of a vending machine VS the grocery store sometime. I still have adults that don't get that one.

Sigarms · Apr 17, 2021

MossRoad said:
Pretty funny. Try explaining the costs of buying pop out of a vending machine VS the grocery store sometime. I still have adults that don't get that one.

I'm curious, if pop and the grocery store both own vending machines, it would generally cost you more to buy out pop for the vending machine itself.

Is my line of thinking correct or did I misinterpret your comment?

MossRoad · Apr 17, 2021

Sigarms said:
I'm curious, if pop and the grocery store both own vending machines, it would generally cost you more to buy out pop for the vending machine itself.

Is my line of thinking correct or did I misinterpret your comment?

What I'm getting at is this:

I work with people that will buy 2 pops a day from the vending machine at $1.35 a bottle. So $2.70 per day, $13.50 per week, 50 weeks a year = $675.00 a year on pop from a vending machine.

We buy pop at the grocery store for 4 six packs for $10.00. That's about 42 cents a bottle. 90 cents per day, $4.50 per week, times 50 weeks = $225 per year.

Coincidentally, 675/225 = exactly 3. I get three years worth of pop to their one. They just look at me when I show them the math.

One guy now brings his pop from home like me. The others continue to buy from the machine.

Try and explain that to kids.

flyerdan · Apr 17, 2021

Seems to be a common malady; we had guys who'd show up at work having just come from the Kwik-E-Mart where they'd dropped a tenner on a deck of smokes, a big fountain drink, and something deep fried from the counter rotisserie. Coincidentally, they were also the same ones who routinely whinged about running out of money several days before payday.

Sigarms · Apr 17, 2021

MossRoad said:
What I'm getting at is this:

I work with people that will buy 2 pops a day from the vending machine at $1.35 a bottle. So $2.70 per day, $13.50 per week, 50 weeks a year = $675.00 a year on pop from a vending machine.

We buy pop at the grocery store for 4 six packs for $10.00. That's about 42 cents a bottle. 90 cents per day, $4.50 per week, times 50 weeks = $225 per year.

Coincidentally, 675/225 = exactly 3. I get three years worth of pop to their one. They just look at me when I show them the math.

One guy now brings his pop from home like me. The others continue to buy from the machine.

Try and explain that to kids.

Got it. I'll admit at the office I'm a sucker for a guys kid that sells candy for $1 that goes towards his youth missions though.

I asked because around 2009 when I took what I thought was the worlds biggest salary cut when I left my first career job on a whim (mistake because everyone told me I'd be hired in two weeks) and ended up working for a blind gentleman, who actually had a state vending maching business (he would get state contracts due to his disability, and he was really blind as a bat). I was bored crapless afer a month not working and found the job with the state unemployment office.

I was amazed at the money to be made with vending machines when he was buying the product in bulk at Walmart and other big box stores.

First day on the job, on a Saturday, he told me don't expect overtime, and the first day I worked 14 hours LMAO.

Also never forget driving looking for a old folks home in Charlotte. He was telling me to take a right at the light and the GPS was telling me to take a left (swear to God) and I thought to myself, who do I believe? The blind guy or the GPS? Since the guy was paying my check, I listened to him.

Got paid like $8.50 an hour for that job (left a decent salary and commission from past job for this? LOL). My lesson learned was the guy I worked for had nothing but idiots working for him in the past at that payrate, with workers sent to him by the state. Previous workers had all the machines screwed up with what was supposed to go where, and when I was reading the instruction manual on how to fix one of his machines, he thought I was a vending machine service tech after I fixed it, but I didn't have the heart to tell him all I did was read the service book (they don't make those books in brail with the machines). Point being, no one he had at that payrate took any pride in their work AT ALL.

After learning that business for a bit working in it, found out that a lot of vending machine companies will actually pull the machine if it's not bringing in x-amount of dollars a month.

Also realized then that state contracts for state highway rest areas are BIG business for vending machines, and depending on the state, being handicapped in business can actually be an advantage.

Do the math on those machines with what you make per item, and it can really add up quick over a years time.

MossRoad · Apr 17, 2021

I'm surprised he was able to purchase pop at a Walmart and resell it. My wife and I were involved with a Little League for several years. On multiple occasions we had someone from the state come out and question where we purchased our pop from. We were getting it at Sam's Club. They told us if it weren't for the fact we were a non-profit, we'd have faced fines for not purchasing the pop from a wholesaler. I'm guessing it's a state-by-state thing.

I liked your job story. I quit my job at the airport out of frustration and it took me 6 weeks to find a minimum wage job delivering flowers for a wholesaler to florist shops around the area. The owner had me ride with the person that was currently running the route that I was going to inherit to learn the route. So I did. Next day I was on my own. I'd come in, fill my orders, load my truck and make my deliveries and pick-ups, and I'd get back to the shop in about 3.5-4 hours. Every day he'd ask me if I made all of my stops, any problems, etc,? Yep. All ok.

After a week of that he asked if I was a fast driver? I said no. For one thing, I'm in your truck with your company name all over it, and two, it's a small Toyota diesel with a 5spd manual with a cooler box on the back and I'm lucky if it'll do the speed limit. He looks over his glasses at me, then turns his head to the person that had the route before me and asks why it took them a couple hours longer each day?

That was awkward.

JethroB · Apr 17, 2021

At work we had two Coke vending machines in a couple of office areas. The vending company that tended our huge plant break room supplied them along with the keys. We were free to put whatever we wanted in them and set the price. The low man on the totem pole made a run to Walmart when needed. 25 cents a can. Rolling the coins was a PITA though. Low man again or whoever had ticked me off recently got that chore.

Sigarms · Apr 17, 2021

MossRoad said:
I'm surprised he was able to purchase pop at a Walmart and resell it. My wife and I were involved with a Little League for several years. On multiple occasions we had someone from the state come out and question where we purchased our pop from. We were getting it at Sam's Club. They told us if it weren't for the fact we were a non-profit, we'd have faced fines for not purchasing the pop from a wholesaler. I'm guessing it's a state-by-state thing.

I liked your job story. I quit my job at the airport out of frustration and it took me 6 weeks to find a minimum wage job delivering flowers for a wholesaler to florist shops around the area. The owner had me ride with the person that was currently running the route that I was going to inherit to learn the route. So I did. Next day I was on my own. I'd come in, fill my orders, load my truck and make my deliveries and pick-ups, and I'd get back to the shop in about 3.5-4 hours. Every day he'd ask me if I made all of my stops, any problems, etc,? Yep. All ok.

After a week of that he asked if I was a fast driver? I said no. For one thing, I'm in your truck with your company name all over it, and two, it's a small Toyota diesel with a 5spd manual with a cooler box on the back and I'm lucky if it'll do the speed limit. He looks over his glasses at me, then turns his head to the person that had the route before me and asks why it took them a couple hours longer each day?

That was awkward.

In all honesty, I remember the small bags of chips coming from Walmart, the soda may have been from somewhere else as we'd run to a couple of different places to pick things up.

Speed on the job? Worked security at a factory at night when the place was closed (sometime around my college years). Detex watchclock system. I had like 7 spots in the factory that I had to punch every hour. Found out if I litterally ran, I could hit all the clocks under 10 minutes. Start second run at quarter of the hour, and I'd finish before the hour. Then started 5 after the hour, and I'd finish by quarter after the hour, then that would give me a whole two hours to goof off before my next "run".

One weekend working during the day (factory closed), ended up brining my lawn chair and suntan lotion, and would stay outside for 90 minutes working on my tan. Heard the front gate open up, I run back to the office, put on my work clothes and it was an executive coming in on the weekend to do office work. I greet him with my uniform on, and as he walks past me, he asks me what I'm wearing because he smells the suntan lotion LOL I was young and dumb, and my tan was important to me back then LOL

Looked online, place still in business, looks to be bought out by a Japanesse company.