BrewBarron
Well-Known Member
So,
I've made a few mistakes in brewing over the last few weeks and it got me thinking about how stupid they were. They were all preventable and they all cost me money in the end.
Anyway, I listen to Dave Ramsey (get out of debt guru) and he has this thing called a "Stupid Tax". A stupid tax is anything stupid you did to put yourself in a lot of debt. Basically he says, pay it, learn your lesson, and move on.
So, since it is tax season, I wondered just how much have I paid in homebrewing stupid tax over the last year? I decided to break it down:
$10 - new heating element. Just burned out a heating element in a plastic cooler when I decided to test my new control panel but forgot to add water. Burned it out in about 10 seconds.
$50 - new HLT. When I burned out my heating element, I attempted to remove it from my cooler and ended up cracking the bottom. Decided it wasn't worth fixing and had to buy a new one.
$20 - new flask. Learned that you could boil your starter directly in the flask but that electric heat was not recommended. So I decided to fire up my old camping stove that I haven't used in 10 years. Got it fired up but as I was tweaking the flame, I guess I super heated a small portion of the flask and it broke. It sent boiling wort and glass all over my workbench and my hands.
$10 - new hydrometer. During my first batch of all grain, I guess I enjoyed too many beers and got a little sloppy towards the end. Ended up dropping my hydrometer after one use.
So, it looks like my grand total is $90 paid in Stupid Tax. I guess it could be worse, but man, I paid a lot the past few weeks.
Was wondering if anyone else has paid this tax or is it just me?
I've made a few mistakes in brewing over the last few weeks and it got me thinking about how stupid they were. They were all preventable and they all cost me money in the end.
Anyway, I listen to Dave Ramsey (get out of debt guru) and he has this thing called a "Stupid Tax". A stupid tax is anything stupid you did to put yourself in a lot of debt. Basically he says, pay it, learn your lesson, and move on.
So, since it is tax season, I wondered just how much have I paid in homebrewing stupid tax over the last year? I decided to break it down:
$10 - new heating element. Just burned out a heating element in a plastic cooler when I decided to test my new control panel but forgot to add water. Burned it out in about 10 seconds.
$50 - new HLT. When I burned out my heating element, I attempted to remove it from my cooler and ended up cracking the bottom. Decided it wasn't worth fixing and had to buy a new one.
$20 - new flask. Learned that you could boil your starter directly in the flask but that electric heat was not recommended. So I decided to fire up my old camping stove that I haven't used in 10 years. Got it fired up but as I was tweaking the flame, I guess I super heated a small portion of the flask and it broke. It sent boiling wort and glass all over my workbench and my hands.
$10 - new hydrometer. During my first batch of all grain, I guess I enjoyed too many beers and got a little sloppy towards the end. Ended up dropping my hydrometer after one use.
So, it looks like my grand total is $90 paid in Stupid Tax. I guess it could be worse, but man, I paid a lot the past few weeks.
Was wondering if anyone else has paid this tax or is it just me?
