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SamanthaCarter

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Everything posted by SamanthaCarter

  1. Yes, I would consider the frozen cookie fresher. With limited exceptions, I find that homemade cookies go stale very quickly, so either consume, or freeze.
  2. Question: have you ever been to anyone's house where they broke out the crystal glasses and serving dishes? I think I have, once. ETA: actual CRYSTAL, not the china - I have antique china that I use regularly. Family dinners and when the everyday dishes are all dirty.
  3. haha! Same! I sold and regifted so much crystal and "entertaining" pieces! All because I registered at Bed Bath and Beyond and Target instead of Belk and the powers that be were not amused. In my outsider status, I didn't know Belk was a requirement.
  4. This is why I don’t go to baby or bridal showers unless I know the person well. I don’t like the parties, can’t afford to attend them all, and most people don’t even need all that stuff. (I say that in reference to people being married after establishing an adult life, or being given large amounts of baby things from family and close friends ). I’ve been to too many showers that felt like gift grabs (on hostess or recipient’s part) or shows of affluence (on the part of givers). Also, for our showers, we were given so many things we never used. I’m over it. ETA: yes to the rude invite.
  5. Oops, just lurking. Didn’t mean to post.
  6. Windows: replace blinds with retractable shades. Or if you don’t really need them, remove them. Wash drapes or curtains every six months or so.
  7. Books: cull, cull cull. Only keep the best and the most nostalgic. Then dust what you have left on a regular (no less than once a month) basis. It’s a little sad to own so few books, but your health will thank you.
  8. It’s growing all over the place over there, but I think most of it’s being used as animal feed.
  9. Yes, our budget is "food" and it includes both groceries and dining out. Though there is a ~$100/mo cap on dining out, so they are separate to some extent. It's heartbreaking how few lunches and coffees $100 buys in a month. I love the encouragement to prep fruit and veggies!
  10. I hope the “who wants to tackle...” folks are not unhappy about this. I get kind of lost in those threads. Yesterday I was not able to get the car inspected (boo) and MILs visit was less intrusive than I feared (yay!). This morning Dh and I took the car to the mechanic and walked home, so we got a walk together. Today: 1. Bathe the dog and apply flea treatment. 2. Return the stuff I bought on my J Jill gift card. Everything was too big. Thank you vanity sizing. 😡 3. Meal plan from what’s in the fridge and freezer and make a shopping list.
  11. Well, I stopped by the nearest mechanic so I could leave the car and walk home, but there was a sign on the shop door that said all inspections were full for today. 😧 DS is working on his essay. It might kill him and then science camp is not an issue! 😂
  12. Back when I was buying and wearing that stuff (early 2000s, public accounting, auditing), I really liked Kasper. But even then, there were many clients where we could just get away with business casual, and a suit looked too stuffy. I tended to break up those matching suits to dress them down a bit. ETA: I just went out and checked and yes, Kasper is still making workwear. Do a search in Belk or Macy’s. I can attest to good quality and fit 15 years ago...
  13. Dh is encouraging me to do a top 3 tasks with him, I thought it might be interesting to do that here too. So this is like “Who’s going to tackle Wednesday with me,” condensed to top three. 1. Get ds to work on his essay for application to science camp. 2. Get a plan for having the car inspected (it was due Dec 31) 3. Have a good attitude about mil being here all day. And Thursday. and Friday. Ugh. These are the things that kept me awake last night. Among others. 😕
  14. My opinion changed at the viral meme of the kid who would put her elderly, lame dog in one to chase the UPS truck down the street together. ❤️ Who knows if it’s even real, but I find it plausible.
  15. Wait, TT is free now? I’ve been just using FreeFile to save the money the last several years....I do like TurboTax though...Even though I hate Intuit...
  16. TurboTax charges a lot for multi state returns. If your tax situation is not complicated otherwise, I’d look it up on the state dept of revenue sites and fill them out by hand.
  17. Ha! I can guarantee that an 18 year old is more expensive than your average 3 year old.
  18. I’m CPA -inactive status. Meaning I put it in stasis when I went SAHM so I didn’t have to pay too much money and time to comply with continuing education requirements. I’m reactivating it as soon as possible.
  19. It’s because very few people can withhold $0 in federal withholdings. Even if you don’t end up paying any federal income tax and get it all back, there’s still a token amount taken from every paycheck. Oh wait, I thought you were someone else. In your case it’s because the CPA would rather you get a refund than deliver the bad news that you owe. So he’s conservative in withholding estimates. It’s about managing client sentiment toward himself, the CPA.
  20. We have some money in a 401(k). You can convert that into a traditional IRA and then to a Roth. At least when I did it 10 years ago when I got out of the workforce, that was the process.
  21. If it’s a real concern to you, maybe start a campaign for no cost school lunch for all. Most of the schools around here do universal school lunch. I am very fiscally conservative, but I see wisdom in this. Back when I was doing independent auditing on school districts, we had to review the applications for lunch, mostly looking for fraud and evidence of school compliance. That has a price tag! Weigh the increased food costs against the decreased audit pressure, and I think you have a decent trade off for the good it will do to those kids in each school that have negligent parents.
  22. I have an actual frugal thing to share instead of me coming on here to whine. 😉 Since last year was our lowest income (and tax rate) of the last decade, are going to take the retirement we have and convert to Roth. I need to do a preliminary tax return to find out just how much to convert so we don’t bump “ordinary income” high enough to trigger a penalty on our health care subsidy. We’ll probably not get a tax refund, we’ll use 2019 withholdings to pay the income tax for Roth conversion. But it’s a smart move when you take the view that things can only get better income wise, and our tax rate will be higher later
  23. Oh yes this! It goes back to the insane amount of packaging that all our goods come in.
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