Before paying for advice, I would look for a financial forum (similar to this forum but based on finances rather than homeschooling) and ask your specific questions. You are likely to get high quality advice for free. Bogleheads has a great forum. Maybe Mr. Money Moustache? Babycenter has some finance boards as well.

I would calculate what the lost vacation is worth and include that amount in your new hourly wage. Have you asked if they have options for time off without pay? That might be a way to bridge the loss of vacation. This sounds like a government job, though, which will be difficult to negotiate. They base your wage on your education and experience. It just depends on how they value your experience.

I don’t enjoy hosting sleepovers, but we do partake. As far as boy/girl, we don’t have rules; we just go with what feels right for he situation i hope to host a boy/girl sleepover for my 2nd grader and his buddies from school, but my ds isn’t ready yet. My 16yo dd’s boyfriend and two other boys crashed at our house last month. I was surprised they wanted to stay, but it really was a nonissue for all four families. My 16yo has spent a weekend with her boyfriend and his parents at their cabin. That worked out just fine too.

We aren’t really investing in 529s, but our college investments for our high schoolers are in more conservative (ie less risky) funds. We have money spread around between 529s, Roth IRAs, and regular investment accounts.

I'm looking for recommendations for on-line auction sites for our school's annual fundraiser. Anyone have experiences to share? Our fundraiser has silent and live auctions. The silent auction would be online as would (hopefully) options to donate for Fund-A-Needs. I would want mobile bidding and payment processing online. About 175 people attend the fundraiser, and I'm hoping to reach a bigger crowd with an online silent auction. We are a small 31 family parochial school with a small budget. Recommendations and reviews VERY appreciated. Thanks!

Have you considered looking for employment with mental health insurance coverage? I would seriously consider that option if I was faced with $500/week medical bills, especially since I would want services ASAP.

My friend Google isn't very helpful tonight. My 14yo son (5'7" and 135-140lbs) is wearing a men's medium. He hates clothes shopping, and shopping with him is a special kind of torture. He wants long Nike shorts that go to his knees or below. Is there a specific type of basketball short that is longer than others? I went through his purchases when we got home from shopping today (boys shopped together while I shopped with the girls so I hadn't seen anything before opening the bags), and it looks like he bought men's large shorts because he wanted more length. I'm now planning on ordering his shorts online. As long as they are Nike and long enough, our mission will be accomplished and we will all be happy to not step into a store together again. Any recommendations on which particular "models" are longer than others?

At our house, I have a couple levers that I rotate through: 1) chores must be done before eating the next meal 2)turn off the wifi and electronics until chores are done 3) no wifi or electronics tomorrow if your chores aren't complete today (including mom needing to remind you) 4) no fun activity until chores are done (playing with friends, etc) work comes before olay

Popular kids aren't silly, they are just another group of kids. What is your dd actually wanting and what does she admire about this popular group? Do they dress a certain way, participate in certain activities, have boyfriends, etc? My guess is that your dd wants the intangibles that she believes this group has - close friendships, cute hair/makeup, fun times outside of school, etc. We all need a place where we feel we belong. If your dd doesn't have this place, then she is searching for her people. Some of us find our people in the honors classes, some in student council, some in theater, etc. I have encouraged my kids to find their group Now I will say that I believe some of the outside trappings are important if you don't want to be a social outcast. I'm not saying it is right, but it is reality. For instance, a teen without a phone in our school would be a social outcast. A teen without any branded clothing would struggle as well. I will move mountains to make sure my kids don't have a target on them. The teen social world is tough enough; I don't need to add to it. So, we find a way to acquire the enough of the "must haves" to avoid the target.

My dh is an Air Force JAG. Based on his experience, he would recommend any new recruit stay away from "hotel parties." After basic training is done and the kids get a little freedom, many host or attend hotel parties. Many military careers are ended in one night at these parties. My dh's Air Force brothers tell their mom, they are "in the rear with the gear." When deployed, they are usually not in the thick of the action as the the air bases are usually a bit away from actual fighting. Dh is now in the Reserves, and he will be until he retires or they kick him out. The benefits have been amazing for us - pay for working part-time (mostly 1 weekend/month + 2 weeks/year), retirement benefits, and healthcare ($220/month premiums for our family w/$1000ish max OOP per year). Dh can also sign up for temporary duty stints to supplement our income or to bridge periods of unemployment. Right now he's on a stateside deployment for 9 months earning college money. His active duty JAG pay is nearly 2x his civilian attorney pay. Dh is a servant at heart, and he finds his military career extremely rewarding. He is proud to serve our country. His civilian jobs have mostly been serving the public as well (public defender, county attorney, judicial clerk, etc).

I don't like panty lines, regardless of the what I'm doing or what pants I'm wearing. I don't see why I would wear underwear under yoga pants. Seems redundant and a waste of laundry. Yoga pants are my primary casual wear, and I don't wear underwear with them. This helps simplify my life, and I am happy with my choice.

I work out with co-workers, so I do pay attention to some things. We have a program through work where we are paired up with personal trainers. My session is at 6:00am 2 days/week. I always shower or wash my hair before I go. Bed head, panty lines, and not letting my fat hang out are things I care about in that situation. i went for a 2.5 mile walk this morning, and I just rolled out of bed for that. I don't care about my neighbors seeing bed head, I guess. ?

I don't wear underwear under my tight yoga pants. I don't see any need. It's all gross when I'm done anyway.

My post wasn't directed to Quill. It was directed to the poster who said this board skews high income and who made a reference to common daily experiences ny people in the his board that are the norm of people in $2m neighborhoods. I've never had anywhere near that impression of this board, and I was wondering what types of things she seees here that I obviously see a different way.

I couldn't quite myself, but I'm guessing the $2m house living experiences in this thread would be studying abroad and owning an airplane? While I agree those are higher income splurges, I don't see them as normal, every-day items on this board.

I've racked my head, and I just can't think of which normal, daily life experiences you refer to here? I would love to have examples. Like others have posted, I find this discussion board to lean financially frugal. So often I read posts of financial situations that would be difficult for me to handle (hence why we have two incomes and don't homeschool anymore), but I don't read posts very often about plush $2m house financial situations. I am so intrigued by the differences in perception.

Since someone mentioned the milk thread....my dh pulled me aside yesterday to tell me that my 14yo had consumed a gallon of milk in less than 24 hours. Dh was delighted, as I had expected when reading through Scarlett's thread. I jjust chuckled to myself as he was telling me. My 14yo is 5'7", 130lbs, and growing. He eats and drinks everything in sight.

I don't understand the point? Yes, everyone's taxes were due in April for the prior year. If they aren't paid at that time, they are debt and the last debtor I want to have is the IRS. Financial prudence is to save for taxes throughout the year so the money is available for payment when due. If she isn't doing that, then you have another opportunity for financial education.

If she owed the IRS, she didn't have money for the trip to France either. That trip seems to be the big issue. She was already in debt for 2017 taxes (which would give me anxiety) and then she goes on a trip to France which cost more than expected (not uncommon). The time she spent in France could have/should have been time spent working to pay for her taxes and create a car replacement fund. If she hadn't gone to France, she would have had money for taxes, purse, and car, I'm guessing. Maybe the trip to France is the problem and not the purse?

Why would the kids be lacking the ability to prioritize their spending? This honestly confuses me. My kids are growing up in a household with a higher income, and managing money is definitely a priority lesson for them. My kids aren't fighting homelessness or hunger, so their ranking looks different than someone in poverty. But still, they are ranking and making choices with their money. i assume that if the OP's daughter had a firm payback schedule, she would meet those expectations and she might still buy the purse. The two items aren't mutually exclusive. Yes, spending the money on the purse means she doesn't have that money anymore, but maybe she would have found a way to do both. In fact, I'm assuming she does plan to do both. Dd's payment plan is at a slower pace than OP prefers, but they haven't aligned on a specific timeline.

An option, if he wants free rooms no biard, is to align with the working people schedule in the house. A college kid doesn't have to be out late during the weekday. If he is out late, however, he could stay somewhere else for the night. I assume he can stay up however long he needs to if he's physically home.

I would have gotten rid of it immediately, so I definitely vote to get it out of your house ASAP. I do not keep items which don't work for our family. Once an item is gifted, it is my choice what I do with it.

If it's public, it can be used as evidence. I'm guessing screen shots of nonpublic posts fall into the same category. My husband likes to say, "You call it Facebook, I call it evidence." People post some really stupid stuff on the internet.

Not exactly what you asked, but I would also serve chicken and a white sauce since I prefer my guests to have a choice. Not everyone likes sausage and vice versa.

If either of my teens drank that much milk in 24 hours, my dh would be ecstatic. He is always trying to get them to drink more milk. I would tease my 14yo ds, but I wouldn't be surprised or upset. Teen boys are hungry people. My brother went through that much milk as a teen. I would tease my 16yo as well, but I would question her a little about it. She doesn't eat nearly as much as her brother, primarily since she seems to not be growing much anymore. I do know she still goes through periods where she is hungry constantly, so I expect her body is still changing. If my teen bought his own gallon of milk or other food items, I wouldn't care one bit about how fast he consumed it, but I don't manage their eating anymore.