Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

[Almington]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

it should get forwarded. Hassle? Yes. End of world? I hope not.

I've moved twice since then and the USPS tracking indicates that it was delivered and not forwarded. Oh well, it's more frustrating and annoying than anything.

 

[FreshFish]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

it should get forwarded.

With USPS, there is a huge difference between "should" and "does" unfortunately. Regarding forwarding, they only forward for a limited period of time, then they stop: "forwarding order expired" is often seen on envelopes, unfortunately.


Regarding USPS and "should" vs "actual[or lack thereof]": We have been trying to serve papers on a former landlord for withholding security deposit money to pay for repairs to damage caused by Hurricane Irene and a registered letter has been sitting in the post office awaiting delivery for over two months now. If the recipient continues to decline to receive the letter, the USPS is supposed to return it to the Court so that we can hire a bailiff to serve in person; the Court says we have to wait for USPS but trying to deal with USPS is like making a phone call to a black hole. Grr.

 

[MissThundercat]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

Trying to set a livable budget grinds my gears. All these bills to pay, and it's a struggle to figure out how to pay everyone off, yet have money for necessities.

 

[leswp1]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

Adolescent male children. I probably don't need to say much more.

 

[Almington]

Trying to set a livable budget grinds my gears. All these bills to pay, and it's a struggle to figure out how to pay everyone off, yet have money for necessities.

1.) food
2.) electricity/water/gas
3.) shelter
4.) transportation
5.) only then do you worry about other bills

 

[RaceBoarder]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

1.) Blow
2.) Hookers
3.)
4.)
5.) only then do you worry about other bills

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

yes!!!

 

[goldy_331]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

Adolescent male children. I probably don't need to say much more.

Women. I probably don't need to say anymore.

 

[BassAle]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

1.) food
2.) electricity/water/gas
3.) shelter
4.) transportation
5.) only then do you worry about other bills

shouldn't shelter be a higher priority than electricity/water/gas? Without shelter there is no reason to have electricity/water/gas.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

shouldn't shelter be a higher priority than electricity/water/gas? Without shelter there is no reason to have electricity/water/gas.

I was going to point that out, but its impossible to change Almington's mind, so I figured there's no point.

Bob, if your bills are looking unbearable, you may want to try to consolidate them into one loan, and work towards getting a lower interest rate. Even if you owe the same amount as you do now, it probably won't look so daunting to have one loan, with a single monthly payment. There may non-profits out there that would help out with this, but I'd make sure to do research on them before going to any specific one.

 

[Painted_Bandit]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

POS Welfare drug using neighbors (nothing like the smell of pot a 5 am, when letting the dog out,) I don't if you live in a rental take some pride in yourself and where you live. Clean up the 5hit in your yard, especially the pile of partially burnt wood you piled up last Halloween weekend, before I decide i want to roast some marshmallows and hot dogs

 

[Almington]

shouldn't shelter be a higher priority than electricity/water/gas? Without shelter there is no reason to have electricity/water/gas.

They will cut off you utilities before they can normally go through the eviction process.

If you are having trouble coving the first three you are in a world of hurt regardless.

The point is that you cover your basic needs before you even worry about how to pay your other bills. You don't have the money and they can go pound sand because its not going to change the math.

 

[FreshFish]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

Bob, if your bills are looking unbearable, you may want to try to consolidate them into one loan, and work towards getting a lower interest rate.

a related option is to use a Consumer Credit Counselling Service. They often will work with credit card companies to get them either to charge 0% interest or even sometimes to reduce the principal owed. As Blue said you need to be sure you are working with a reputable one.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

They will cut off you utilities before they can normally go through the eviction process.

If you are having trouble coving the first three you are in a world of hurt regardless.

The point is that you cover your basic needs before you even worry about how to pay your other bills. You don't have the money and they can go pound sand because its not going to change the math.

Bingo. I was going to bring this up when I originally read Almington's post, but then it hit me that the eviction process takes time. Utilities could be tomorrow if you don't pay. Unless it's winter in Minnesota.

 

[MissThundercat]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

1.) food
2.) electricity/water/gas
3.) shelter
4.) transportation
5.) only then do you worry about other bills

I was going to point that out, but its impossible to change Almington's mind, so I figured there's no point.

Bob, if your bills are looking unbearable, you may want to try to consolidate them into one loan, and work towards getting a lower interest rate. Even if you owe the same amount as you do now, it probably won't look so daunting to have one loan, with a single monthly payment. There may non-profits out there that would help out with this, but I'd make sure to do research on them before going to any specific one.

They will cut off you utilities before they can normally go through the eviction process.

If you are having trouble coving the first three you are in a world of hurt regardless.

The point is that you cover your basic needs before you even worry about how to pay your other bills. You don't have the money and they can go pound sand because its not going to change the math.

a related option is to use a Consumer Credit Counselling Service. They often will work with credit card companies to get them either to charge 0% interest or even sometimes to reduce the principal owed. As Blue said you need to be sure you are working with a reputable one.

Bingo. I was going to bring this up when I originally read Almington's post, but then it hit me that the eviction process takes time. Utilities could be tomorrow if you don't pay. Unless it's winter in Minnesota.

Lucky for me, since I live with my stepdad, my utilities are covered. I just buy food and gas on occasion. The bills I have to pay are medical, student loans, and an old credit card that I maxed out. At least two of the three medical bills can be covered on the next paycheck.

And another thing that grinds my gears: when I was dehydrated and couldn't finish the Twin Cities Marathon, Hennepin County Medical Center only charged me $166 for observation and fluids. Fine. Health East ambulance, on the other hand, wants over $800 for a 5 mile ride where they did nothing but talk to me.

 

[FreshFish]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

Doing my income taxes today.

Anyone else thinking of doing the same, here is the perfect warmup exercise to get you in the mood and ready:

http://mistupid.com/games/theidiottest.htm


Yes, it's a link to a game called "the idiot test" and it challenges you to follow a series of step-by-step instructions.

I've found that taxes are not "hard" in the sense of "difficult" if you are patient enough to follow along their step-by-step instructions (just don't try to make sense of them, merely follow the steps); they are extremely tedious in some cases.

If you live in one state and work in another state(s) it is the multiple state tax returns that can really drag out. NY State is by far the worst I've ever seen. To fill out their Non-Resident income tax form you are directed to a worksheet in the instructions, and to fill out that worksheet, you are directed to another worksheet you have to complete first!


It's not bad enough that they keep raising rates, they also have to keep increasing the complexity too! Fill out this worksheet to complete that form to enter data on this line on another form.





I'd love to see it be a requirement that all legislators have to do their income taxes personally, themselves, using only paper, pencil, their own forms and instructions and workbooks, and a hand-held calculator. My hunch is that we'd see tax simplification follow soon after!

 

[Painted_Bandit]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

If you live in one state and work in another state(s) it is the multiple state tax returns that can really drag out. NY State is by far the worst I've ever seen. To fill out their Non-Resident income tax form you are directed to a worksheet in the instructions, and to fill out that worksheet, you are directed to another worksheet you have to complete first!

Hint, if you chose to live/work in different states, make sure they have tax reciprocity. I work in WI and live in MI, when I moved to MI I just had to fill out a 30 second form at work and only have to fill out Michigan income tax forms along with my federal

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

You know what really grinds my gears? People whose signatures are literally two pages long. Seriously?

 

[FreshFish]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

Hint, if you chose to live/work in different states, make sure they have tax reciprocity. I work in WI and live in MI, when I moved to MI I just had to fill out a 30 second form at work and only have to fill out Michigan income tax forms along with my federal

Sounds like you live in a civilized state. Actually the CT form was pretty easy, took about 12 minutes. The Fed forms took about 40 minutes, NY state an hour.

NY State does something really sneaky in a diabolical, dastardly way. Even though I don't live there, the instructions are to calculate the NY State income tax based on your entire income and then pro-rate the tax based on the proportion of income earned in NY. Because NY rates are graduated with lots of brackets and rates that escalate fairly steeply compared to most other states, this means you have to pay the highest possible rate even if the income you earned in NY alone would otherwise have been taxed in a lower bracket.

Then of course the CT credit for tax paid in another state is the lesser of what you'd have paid on that income had it been earned in CT or what you actually paid.


The difference is pretty steep: the NY tax is 14% higher than the CT tax would have been on the exact same income.

 

[jen]

Re: Ginding away- stop putting sand in my oil... Part 4

My new mortgage company is grinding my gears. The transfer was effective April 1, and we could not set up an online payment until April 9, and my payment was due April 1. Since I had to pay the new company and not the old one, I was supposed to mail my check to an address they provided, and did so on March 28. On April 9, I signed up for my online account and they hadn't processed my payment yet. I kept checking until I left for vacation - still nothing. After I got home, there were 2 automated messages asking me to call. So I called on Monday, went through a bunch of automated crap, then they said "volume is too high, please call back later". click. ?????? every time I called back - same thing. um, I don't get to wait and talk to someone? If they receive my payment after April 16, I have to pay a penalty, so I paid online on the 15th (which cost $9.95 for a one-time payment). Then I had to put a stop pay on the original check I mailed (cost $35).

I sent the mortgage company an email, telling them my story, and that they need to refund not only my web payment fee, but also the stop payment fee I had paid to my bank, and that this BETTER NOT BE ON MY CREDIT REPORT, and this wasn't a great way to welcome new customers. no response.

oh and also, I put the wrong serial number on my stop payment (totally my fault), so I called the bank and after 15 minutes, they managed to get another one added with the right number. I asked the guy... am I going to be charged for this? He said.. ABSOLUTELY NOT. I logged on this morning - yep, charged another $35. So I called again and they reversed the second fee. To the second person's credit, it took him approximately 2 seconds to refund the money.

what a cluster****. I did get a recurring payment set up now, so we'll see how that goes next month. ha.