Yeah, learned that one the hard way too.

But what if the cheap scanner just saved you from a more expensive repair, @abbyk10? Sometimes a simple code clear is all you need.

Saw a shop review that basically said what victor_stone mentioned. Cheap mixers can't handle the shear for modern metallics. You end up with bad color even if the thing doesn't break.

My dad's chili recipe has "more garlic" scrawled three times down the side of the card (he was not a subtle man).

Remember setting up that auto-pay a decade ago and basically forgetting the count. Hit 120 a while back and the feeling is mostly just quiet, you know, like the house is finally settling in with you. What helped me was looking at the original loan paper and seeing how much of the payment actually goes to the house now versus just interest at the start. That number changing is the only real update I get, and it does start to feel like you're building something solid instead of just renting from the bank.