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elegantlion

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elegantlion last won the day on September 18 2013

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    : lost in a book

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    elsewhere
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    historian

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  1. I used Turbo Tax for years. The last few years, they've charged me because I need some other forms as a student. This year, I went through the IRS website and used Tax Slayer. It was free for federal and state. I was self-employed for part of last year, as well. I used to file ex-dh's taxes when we were married. He was self-emplyed and they were complex and he was a lousy organizer. I hated it every year but I knew he'd blow off the responsibility (insert long story). Let's just say I won that argument well after our divorce was complete.
  2. I would not trust that attorney. I would definitely want something in writing from Medicaid, if it's allowable at all. SO just had to go through the process of getting his mom on this, she's already in a nursing home. I don't know how a loan would be exempt from that. https://www.medicaidplanningassistance.org/medicaid-look-back-period/
  3. We're already pretty frugal but there are some things we could cut back on. Amazon Prime (we do watch shows and since there are several items we cannot get here, I order on a regular basis. I could do better planning and order less frequently) Alcohol - SO already buys the cheap bourbon, but we could cut back. Sulfites in wine bother me, so I switched to rum or pre-mixed margaritas. I could find cheaper versions. Books - I still am buying limited books for my school work, but I could be more disciplined about using ILL. Takeout on weekends - we generally get takeout on Saturday, usually something that will last for two meals. We vary between Chinese food (pricey) and Taco Bell (cheaper) as budget dictates. Netflix - we're talking about dropping that since we don't watch as much anymore. I think one more price increase will make us drop it. Planners - I tend to try out a few different type of planners each year. No one really makes the planner that I want. I recently moved to a Happy Planner mini which for size is perfect. The layouts are not quite what I want, but I could make my own. Clothes - I like to thrift store shop. In the last year, I've been transitioning my wardrobe to more cotton and linen. Now that I'm working outside the home part-time, I have developed a work wardrobe (somewhere between business casual and casual). I've spent the last few months going through all my excess items and have been donating things that don't fit all my needs. Quit school - I'm working part-time and could work full-time. if I wasn't in school. My car is paid for, SO's car will be paid for this spring. We already shop at Aldi about every two weeks.
  4. I'd also be hesitant to combine finances at this point. I'd probably open a separate joint account like you did previously, especially because you have such diverse spending habits. Then each party pays their percentage into the joint account. SO and I maintain separate accounts. He's the one that pays the combined bills though and I contribute a percentage based upon my income. In our case, he's the super-detailed budget frugal one. We have one combined credit card and besides that we pay our own credit card bills. Ex-dh and I had combined accounts and it was bad. He was a spender....(long story)....anyway. I swore that I would not completely combine my finances with anyone ever again. SO and I have been together for over 4 years, we plan on spending the rest of our lives together, so it's not even a matter of me having independent finances in case I need to leave. We each a few quirky habits when it comes to money. I can see how they might be annoying if our finances were combined.
  5. In northern Missouri, it was 74 degrees yesterday with evening snow and an overnight low of 14. The winds were swirling in such a way that it knocked over a heavy wrought iron candle holder on our patio table. Our patio is generally sheltered from high winds but not yesteray. Today's high is supposed to be in the 40s.
  6. We haven't had issues but then again, we don't have high end knives that I'd be more concerned about ruining.
  7. We have a small granite slab for a cutting board. It's about about 12 x 12 and has finished edges, so it's not just a leftover slab. I don't know where SO got it as he had it before I moved in. We have a small kitchen, so it's perfect for us.
  8. I'm not sure mine was a "crisis." I call it reinventing my middle age. I divorced ex when the opportunity presented itself. Best decision ever. I started college with nothing but student loans. Ex had lied about our financial position and left me with less than $100, no savings, and he could not pay child support. Thank goodness for my parents who helped me from March until August when I started school. I lived in a small town and applied for all the jobs I could but not even Walmart called me in for an interview. A decade later, I'm me again. I don't walk on eggshells, I'm in a relationship with someone who treats me better than I ever thought possible, and I realized that the fiscal irresponsibility was ex's issue and that I am good with money. I'm still working on my PhD, I'm ABD was of 2022, took up bellydancing in 2023, and started working part-time outside of the university setting in December. I hope this job will translate into full-time once I finish my dissertation as it's the perfect job for me.
  9. None of these are a bit realistic for us but eastern England (not quite sure where) tops the list. Other contenders are Germany or Spain (no pinpointed cities). Closer to home, somewhere in Ontario as SO has Canadian ties. In the US, southern Colorado or northern New Mexico are contenders. We like cities with less than 100k, no super weather extremes would be nice. I'd like a place that has well-developed parks and nature trails and values historical preservation.
  10. You might check. It used to be that if you went inside and paid via CC, they did not put on a hold. it was only if you paid at the pump. I don't know if that's still true though.
  11. I vote not creepy. SO and I both comment on people (any gender) who happen to be very attractive.
  12. I am detail oriented which makes me a good organizer- both in person and digitally. I can summarize narrative information and can write well - both creatively and analytically. I can find creative solutions although I'm not always the one to implement them. I'm calm in a crunch. I have a decent sense of humor and I'm fairly intuitive - goes with the detail oriented. I'm more of a thinker and planner, not the doer. Pair me with a doer that collaborates well and we'd make a great team. This has pretty much been true in any volunteer organization I've been involved with. In a job situation, I'm more proactive about doing things.
  13. I'm more concerned with statements by our state officials rather than the actions of any football player. They went out to eat, they drank. SO WHAT? I bet a lot of people in KC had a drink after that event. I bet a lot of people went out to eat before heading home. I bet a lot of people were still in shock after that. Do we know the topic of conversation? Do we know that they weren't discussing how to handle this a team? Perhaps sharing the same feeling of hopelessness about what to do about the shootings. He took a picture with a police officer. A representative of the same force that also had dealt with the shooting incident. Are we criticizing the officer for asking for a selfie? No. Nor should we. We're critizing Kelce because he went out to dinner and he smiled in a photo.
  14. My SO and I share everything, even stuff we've done in the past. However, we've only been together for a few years. I do think age has something to do with it. He has regrets about things as do I, but it's not like we were together when those things happened. We both wish that we had met earlier, yet we both acknowledge that we might not have gotten along as well in our early years. Age & experience has allowed us to not worry about little things so much. We also work to respect the big decisions we each had to make in the past. I used to tell my mom a lot of things, not quite everything but close. Lately, I can't do that because she barely acknowledges my feelings. Like the other day, I shared about a decision that I made which was a really difficult, long-thought-out decision. She made one off-hand comment in a joking way and then changed the subject. She's 87 and her thinking has shifted in the last few years, so I giving her some grace due to age.
  15. Report now is one dead, at least 14 injured. 😢
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