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Sephiroth_IRA posted:Libraries are lending books to e-book reading devices like kindle now? http://www.overdrive.com/ This is the service a lot of them use. EBook library loaning terms are often horrible for the library (as in, incredibly costly in a last-ditch effort by publishers to kill ebooks), but on a personal level, it's great for the reader.
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Mar 14, 2014 17:09
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tuyop posted:Oh yes. And just imagine, you could be selling that poo poo for 3-4 bucks for next to nothing. Just buy my BASIL kit, only 49.99!!! I have never once regretted buying you that avatar. 
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Mar 17, 2014 18:11
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I paid $2,200 in taxes today. BFC General/Daily Discussion thread. Don't pay taxes today.
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Mar 20, 2014 18:42
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spwrozek posted:^ I like the way you think. Ouch. I can't really complain since I totally owed the money (it was from unpaid quarterlies from my side business), but it still hurts, especially when you see that you've already had $23K withheld and STILL owe money. At least I'll only file for one state in 2014. I had to file in three for 2013.
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Mar 20, 2014 19:33
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I just authorized my final student loan payment. I am officially  debt-free! Gee, that was fun - let's do it again, this time with mortgages and car payments and babies. (Or not... I don't want any of those.) I may eat out today to celebrate, though.
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Mar 28, 2014 16:29
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dreesemonkey posted:Post your budget-bustinest pictures 
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Mar 31, 2014 14:14
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moana posted:This past week made a bunch of chili and lentil soup, freezing half of it for suppers so I don't waste a ton of money going out. I've been spending $500-$1k each month on eating out with my fiance, and I'd like to cut that down to more like $300. It's a stupidly easy trap to fall into, isn't it? I ran my 2013 finances at the end of the year, and we somehow managed to rack up $14,500 in total food expenses for 2013 (groceries plus eating out plus special occasions, etc). I had no idea at all because we were still saving up and paying down debt at a good rate, but that doesn't make it anything other than loving ridiculous. I could've had my student loans paid off in October instead of March if I'd paid attention. gently caress, I could've had a trip to India if we'd spent half as much. We went onto low-carb diets for the new year, which has severely cut down our restaurant expenses, mainly because there's nowhere we can eat.  Our expenses are way more reasonable now.
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Apr 1, 2014 03:34
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Yay for end of the month tallies.  Increased savings by $5,577 this month thanks to the powers of Magical Side Business! On one hand, awesome. On the other hand, it totally hosed up my budgets in Mint because the site treated my royalty checks as negative quantities of book shopping on Amazon. I shall have to fix that. GoodProblems.txt ? Sundae fucked around with this message at 15:30 on Apr 30, 2014 |
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Apr 30, 2014 15:18
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Yeah, I'm a romance writer.
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Apr 30, 2014 15:52
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Sephiroth_IRA posted:Eh it really irks me when a business and some individuals cheat on their taxes so I really don't see a problem with it. It's not like taxes are difficult to pay. Most people I've met that cheat on their taxes or owe a lot to the government typically have a bad case of entitlement or they're just really bad with money. I have the opposite experience. Most people I've met who cheat on their taxes do so because their employer has just hosed them over on their taxes owed. (False independent contractor classification, fraudulent relocation package costs, W2 not matching income earned for the year, etc.)
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May 7, 2014 14:53
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spwrozek posted:Isn't that all illegal? Sure is, but both are completely unenforced. You still get stuck with the tax bill and nobody gives a poo poo. Sundae fucked around with this message at 17:52 on May 7, 2014 |
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May 7, 2014 17:42
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quote:How do people retire early when there are penalties for withdrawing from 401ks/IRAs before a certain age? I'm more curious how they do it without going bankrupt from medical bills, honestly. The ACA makes it easier since you can't be turned down for a pre-existing condition, at least, but it's still ungodly expensive to have any kind of medical emergency in the USA, insurance or not.
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May 20, 2014 16:51
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Buwahahaha... I now know exactly what Nail Rat makes. If only I knew his name, I would know as much about his compensation as is readily available to the general public in Norway! Clearly, the world would burn.
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May 22, 2014 14:35
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Folly posted:Ya, I've always heard that the US is odd about keeping our income secret. And that doing so is not usually in our best interest. Information asymmetry in salary / wage bargaining is a very bad thing, and that's why they try to force you not to share your salaries. (Well, we rather than you. I'm in the USA as well. Generic you.) The employer knows exactly how much everyone makes at his firm and probably, at a large company, has a good grasp of what the rest of the field and local job market makes through wage comparisons. You do not know what anyone else makes at your level, nor do you know what they make anywhere else unless you've been networking with people willing to share salaries. You have no comparator except for your own salary history. It's a very one-sided negotiation, information-wise, and it's completely intentional.
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May 22, 2014 14:45
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handbanana125 posted:Trying to gauge interest here, if I were to open up a thread for all things relating to Consulting, Auditing, and Advising, does anyone see if I can better suit that to one of the megathreads? The perspective would be from my experience as an internal auditor/consultant and how companies and corporations need/justify external reviews and the like. Focus would defintely extend way beyond the "It's required by X". Thoughts? I'd definitely read it. I'm looking to exit the FTE circuit permanently in the next few years, and some consulting info would be useful if my other plans fall apart.
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May 22, 2014 19:11
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EugeneJ posted:Question of the Day: If you got laid off and had to go on Unemployment, would your Unemployment benefits cover your expenses? Nope, they wouldn't. It would take about 3 weeks of post-tax UE benefits to pay my rent in Pennsylvania. $573 pre-tax is the maximum payout, roughly a quarter of my pre-tax weekly day-job salary. Given my rent just went up from $1185 to $1315 a month, not a chance of affording it My side business would prevent me from being hosed, but I try to pretend that income doesn't exist anyway. However, I do not have five quarters of consecutive employment in this state and thus would not be eligible for UE in the first place. My compensation would, by my reading of the eligibility rules, be $0.00. (They take the top four of your last five quarters and average them as compensation guidelines, but require that earnings be present in all five quarters. I have not lived here for that long yet.) Sundae fucked around with this message at 19:57 on May 25, 2014 |
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May 25, 2014 19:03
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dreesemonkey posted:If I can pay ~$21500 OTD for a brand spankin' new car that all the major powertrain stuff will be covered for 10yr/100k miles, it's nice piece of mind vs. buying a 3 year old Accord that is almost out of warranty for maybe $5k less if I get a good deal. Historically the accord would probably be exceedingly reliable, but it's hard to know the history of used cars unless you personally know the owner. Or you could just buy a 15-year-old car for under $500, knowing that no amount of yearly repairs (or in the case of expensive quotes, donations of the vehicle to your fire department's Jaws of Life training program) will ever make the hunk of junk cost as much as the price-tag plus insurance on a new car.  I'm currently driving a $250 1996 Grand Marquis with 114K miles on it. I'll never buy anything even semi-new ever again.
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Jun 11, 2014 15:50
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Oh right, I forgot that every last one of us died in the 90s because apparently nothing was safe or functional. The early 2000s must've been one hell of a time, what with the tens of thousands of broken down cars from the 80s and 90s clogging the highways. Enjoy your car payment, I guess?  quote:I should rephrase, would your wife let you put 2 little kids in the back seat? (hint: the answer is no) Hell, her car's even older than mine. She has a 1994 Toyota (Corolla? Camry? I never remember which model) with almost 200K miles on it. We 100% no question about it would absolutely put kids in the back seat of either her clunker or mine (if we had kids, which we intentionally don't because kids suck and are super expensive). Driving without an inspection sticker... posted:If you get pulled over with one, it'll be a ticket and go on your driving record, pushing your insurance prices up for the next 3-ish years. Yep. It may depend on your state, but in my experience, states with inspection laws tend to consider driving without them to be on par with having an expired license plate. Not a good thing to do. Cast iron pots and pans are awesome. Super heavy, but awesome as hell. We had a kickass iron skillet that went missing in our last move and losing it made us unnaturally sad. Sundae fucked around with this message at 01:17 on Jun 12, 2014 |
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Jun 12, 2014 01:15
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Jesus Christ, so call it a $2K car or a $5K car or whatever your local market bears if it makes you feel better. It doesn't matter - the point is that you don't have to pay $20K+ to get a car that loving works. There are four under $1K in my local classified ads right now, as low as $470 for cars that appear (as best you can tell without actually going and taking a look at them in reality) to be in reasonable shape plus one that is a clear piece of poo poo. There are about ten under $3,000 (admittedly way above my $250 number) that have significantly less than 100K miles, including a 97 garage-kept Volvo with supposedly only 33K miles. My 1996 grand marquis cost $250 two years ago and was purchased via local classified ads on Long Island. I sunk another $450 into it to replace all the brake lines (one of the legitimate safety concerns with older cars) plus other minor maintenance, and it remains great. It had 93K miles on it at the time, now has 114K after two moves and a lot of road trips to visit relatives. Prior to that, I drove a $400 1998 Grand Marquis with 130K miles on it. My grandmother borrowed it, drove it through a red light and wrecked it when someone with the right of way T-boned her. She came out uninjured, thankfully. Scrapped the car, though.  quote:What the gently caress, how do you get out of bed in the morning if all you think about is the likelihood of death in all your activities? Are you in insurance or something? I hate agreeing with Tuyop, but I do agree with this. Sundae fucked around with this message at 21:00 on Jun 13, 2014 |
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Jun 13, 2014 20:57
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Grumpwagon posted:Please keep posting this stuff! Very interested in hearing about wedding costs in a BFC mindset. 2011: $7,800 total in Massachusetts for 65 guests, including dress, tux, venue, buffet catering and reception. Paid cash, felt like royalty.
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Jun 18, 2014 20:25
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FrozenVent posted:Any of you ever have a moment where you look back and think "wow, taking this job was the worst career mistake I've ever made"? I feel like that at every job I take these days. Turns out there's more to career satisfaction than large paychecks.
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Jul 3, 2014 15:48
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spinst posted:$$$ Jesus christ... your highest pay-scale for a PHD maxes out lower than the 0-year MA salary at my high school, and I graduated in 2001.
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Jul 4, 2014 15:35
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tuyop posted:And if you have a floor...? Then why do you need a mattress?
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Jul 31, 2014 14:17
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Walked posted:Really though, it depends on the rest of your budget and situation. But $200/mo is pretty darn reasonable if you ask me This seems like a fair view to me. If you're rapidly paying down your debts or don't have any, are adequately saving for retirement/important goals and have a good emergency account, there's nothing wrong with blowing some extra cash on fun. If not, re-evaluate your priorities and spending.
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Sep 4, 2014 18:47
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Rhianasaurus posted:I don't understand this 'vesting' business. Is it to encourage employees to stay with the company longer? What happens if you lose your job? If you lose your job, you keep whatever portion had vested, depending on the way your schedule was defined. Let's say you're fired after 1.5 years of service in the following conditions: #1 - 401(k) has a 2-year vesting period. Result, you keep your initial principal and no matches. You probably lose the gains proportionate to the match as well, but that's not guaranteed / kind of gray. #2 - 401(k) has a 1-year rolling vesting period. Result, you keep the matches for your first year of service, lose the last six months of company matches. #3 - 401(k) has a 1-year vesting period, all or nothing: You keep everything, including the last 6 months. It is ostensibly to convince you to stay and not job hop, but in reality, it just gives an incentive to fire you quickly.
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Jan 21, 2015 15:00
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Oh, definitely not a good job on stopping the hopping. Agreed there. I left my last job because it sucked even worse than my current one, and I didn't even care that I forfeited 100% of all 401(k) matches because the pay rise at the new job was greater than the balance lost. I've more than made up the difference now. My current place has no vesting period, but does not provide any match until you've worked there for a year. Then it's 75% on the first 6% of your salary, so ~4.5% of salary. My last place was 50% on the first 12%, if I remember correctly, but had a 2-year all-or-nothing vesting period. I didn't make it two years. Now that you mention it, you're probably right with regard to the tinfoil. Pension vesting periods, on the other hand... the number of people I've seen get fired a few months before their pension vesting is amazing. Sundae fucked around with this message at 17:07 on Jan 21, 2015 |
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Jan 21, 2015 17:05
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ladyweapon posted:I have the worst luck with this kind of thing. I had comcast service moved to my current place, split off from a joint account, and after a year it popped up to ~$75/mo just for the internet (after being told that it wasn't a promo rate, why I didn't get that in writing..). I don't watch TV, I don't need a landline, just for my computer to connect to the internet, but I don't use/need $75/month worth of internet. I called them up and told them I need a lower price, even my old price (~45) & I don't care if it means hella slow speeds - the new price is the problem. They told me there was absolutely no cheaper internet plan at any speed that they could offer me. I told them that I can get a price I like from their main competitor, they said "OK." and we processed the cancellation without an issue a few weeks later once my new internet was set up. The guy who did my cancellation was probably the nicest person I've ever spoken to at comcast, though. He asked why I was cancelling, I gave him this run down, and then we got everything disconnected. v Yeah, it really depends on where you are and if there is any competition whatsoever. Comcast pulled the same thing with me because the only other internet provider serving my area is 0.5 megabit DSL. Hard to bluff that you're quitting when they know you have no alternative.
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Jan 22, 2015 16:48
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Inverse Icarus posted:I just sent mine out to freelance RPG writers/artists/cartographers, all electronically. I received like twelve 1099s this year, and every last one except for my share of a joint project with Moana was a physical form. Thanks for being part of the modern era, Moana. My W2 was paper, also.
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Feb 11, 2015 22:10
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moana posted:Also amazon just sent out emails that all their 1099s were wrong anyway, AHHHHHRHGHGHG Infuriating, because that e-mail came a few hours after my accountant sent me back all the paperwork. DAMNIT.
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Feb 12, 2015 17:33
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Nail Rat posted:I've had my Moto E cheapass Republic Wireless phone for 5 months, and it's definitely worth the $300 that's been saved to date Yep - same thing here. I'm on the $25 per month plan with the Moto E, and I couldn't be happier.
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Mar 16, 2015 15:22
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Sephiroth_IRA posted:Yeah I just upgraded to the 25 plan yesterday and its so worth it. Yep, and you get a "get out of jail free" card every six months, I believe. It lets you ignore the bandwidth cap entirely for in case of things you really, really need. I've never even come close to the 5GB limit since it only applies to cellular data.
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Mar 16, 2015 15:47
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I'm definitely switching over the HDHP next year if I'm able to, given my fee-for-service plan has somehow still managed to weasel out of over 75% of the costs this year anyway. No point paying these premiums if I'm still on the hook for thousands and thousands of dollars anyway. Hip MRI with Fluoroscopy: Fluoroscopy rejected as medically unnecessary ($165), MRI rejected because it required two pre-approval referrals, not one. First, my wife had to get pre-approval to see the specialist who would do the MRI, and then after he decided that an MRI was required, he had to send a referral document back to her PCP, who then had to send out a second pre-approval request for the actual MRI. Silly us, just getting pre-approval to "see a specialist for an MRI." $1,700 more not covered for the MRI. I spend more time in insurance appeal arbitration than I do actually dealing with doctors. Edit: Last year I lost an appeal for over nine grand because there was no provider in my entire network whatsoever who could perform the necessary service. 0% coverage outside of network, plus a carve-out in my plan that doesn't allow coverage at all for any unavailable procedures. Sundae fucked around with this message at 16:26 on Jun 3, 2015 |
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Jun 3, 2015 16:21
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How do you guys handle the never-ending stream of "one time" expenses? My wife and I do great on the general budgeting, eating out, groceries / shopping / whatevers. What inevitably murders us, or has for the last two years, is travel associated with one-time events like weddings, baptisms, funerals, etc. It's only June and we've attended six weddings out of state already, with three more later this year and several more we know are coming next year but haven't RSVP'd for yet. It seriously adds up in a hurry. We can afford these things (and everyone in our family/social circle knows it, unfortunately), but it's still not Good With Money(tm) to attend them all. Do I just have to start telling people no?
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Jun 19, 2015 17:28
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BossRighteous posted:Of all my yuppie friends, only one owns a house, and he rents out 2 rooms to friends. I think there is a cultural shift with millennials, in which a house can be a huge weight keeping you from being dynamic in the workplace. The stability of a home is kind of lessened when you weigh the issues it can cause to a young career. I don't understand why all my peers keep buying houses. I watch it play out time after time, year after year. New house, new mortgage, BAM new job seven hundred miles away and panicking home owner trying to sell when everyone else in his neighborhood is selling because they all worked at the same company. I've watched this happen like clockwork in my industry for eight loving years now. Screw having a house when I know what's going to happen from watching my co-workers get ruined.
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Jul 15, 2015 02:19
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quote:You do not generally get rewarded for doing more than you are expected. The reward for doing more than you are expected is being expected to do more. This is exactly my company's mentality (127,000 employees). The more you do, the more jobs you absorb and the less co-workers you suddenly have. Meanwhile, your pay remains unchanged.
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Jul 16, 2015 18:09
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Anything but Skillpath. They're useless, expensive, spend half their conferences/courses upselling you on more courses, and you will get spam mailers from them forever afterward.
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Mar 2, 2016 01:32
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My commute is 8 minutes normally., and it's kind of funny how different things cause/don't cause road rage. Stuck behind a slow-driving granny? FURY. Stuck behind an Amish buggy? Well that's just cute. I've been here three years now, and the horses still don't bother me as much as someone going 5mph under the limit in a car.
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Mar 26, 2016 17:05
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froglet posted:Relevant detail - it's an electric bike (i.e. reasonably expensive) to commute to work. According to the internet, it's "only" $100 to insure, which is low enough for me to consider just getting it, but is there anything else I should be taking into consideration here? If the ocean suddenly swallowed up my bike tomorrow and I weren't insured, I'm not sure I'd be prepared to splash out my own funds for a new one, which I guess means I should probably insure it? Do you really need an electric bike? What about your commute requires you slam down $2,500-4,000 on an electric bike? Are you commuting through the hilliest hills ever hilled? Are you commuting 40+ miles each way? I guess where I'm going with that line of questioning is: Are you debating insuring your toy, or are you debating insuring a vital form of justifiable transportation? The answer on whether $100 every six months (plus your maintenance costs, which are higher than a regular bike) is justifiable kind of depends on that, in my view. (Also, if it's a toy that you can't afford to replace, you can't afford the toy.)
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Jul 25, 2016 18:31
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froglet posted:It's $100 a year rather than every 6 months, but that's just semantics. Fair enough, then! If the alternative is a car and you're too far from work / too ungodly hilly to do a regular bike ride, I'm not going to condemn an electric bike. $100 a year isn't bad when compared to auto or motorcycle insurance, and if it's your main mode of transportation, then it would indeed be a problem to lose it.I think it's reasonable, then, if a regular bike truly isn't an option.
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Jul 26, 2016 05:20
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Pryor on Fire posted:I love the way BFC goes off into a tizzy any time a luxury or semi luxury product is mentioned that some people think is needless. You guys are a bunch of crotchety bastard Ebenezer assholes and I love it. It's not so much the luxury aspect of it, to me, as it is the cost/risk vs benefit of the ebike. EBikes are loving expensive to maintain if the wrong part breaks, they scream "pricey" and invite theft, they're still small enough for someone to steal in a hurry and get away with if not properly secured (and the higher the value, the harder it is to "properly" secure a bike because even the individual parts can sell for a lot - speaking from experience there re: unnecessarily expensive bikes getting part-jacked), and while they're way better than cars, they don't have the same exercise benefit as a regular bicycle. But if it really is the best option, it's the best option.  Not going to argue on that one, and it's way better than owning a car if you can avoid having one.
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Jul 26, 2016 16:46
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