Search found 1610 matches

by Hexdump
Sun Feb 07, 2021 10:51 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Medigap or Advantage ?
Replies: 43
Views: 3516

Re: Medigap or Advantage ?

Very much to think about here and we meet once a day to rehash our thinking. Re Advantage: We live in Houston,,TX so a large metropolitan area with a generous choice of providers. Advantage plan that we are considering is with Aetna and is a PPO. Wifes primary care and gastroentrologist are both in the network. She also likes that she has dental covered to $2,000, and membership in a health club. Rx is minimal, 2 tier 1s. She doesn't like that the coverage when we travel (covid be damned), is sketchy. She has a potential for a longer term illness, nothing at present but has a family history. Re Medigap we like all about it except for the additional OOP for the things that Advantage provides. Dental, Rx, Health club, Vision. Question: Is the...
by Hexdump
Wed Feb 03, 2021 7:35 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Medigap or Advantage ?
Replies: 43
Views: 3516

Medigap or Advantage ?

My wife is turning 65 in 3 months and is about to enroll in Medicare. We are struggling, and arguing as to which will be better for her. A Medicare Advantage or a Medigap plan. She is in fine health and only goes to the Dr. for annual checkups. Her dental needs are routing cleanings, etc. She has an approximate $27,000 balance in an HSA account. Sooooo, she likes the 0.00 premiums of an Advantage plan, plus 2 of her doctors are in the plan. I like the idea of a high deductible "G" Medigap plan using her HSA for the deductibles. Plus, since this is her 1st time, I also like that she can enroll in a plan without any underwriting considerations What would be your recommendation and are there any sites I could visit that would help wi...
by Hexdump
Tue Feb 02, 2021 8:41 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: HSA and Medicare
Replies: 5
Views: 665

Re: HSA and Medicare

Modified, that is very interesting and we will look at it vs the regular Plan G or N.
by Hexdump
Mon Feb 01, 2021 9:35 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: HSA and Medicare
Replies: 5
Views: 665

Re: HSA and Medicare

HueyLD wrote: Mon Feb 01, 2021 9:16 am Per IRS Pub 969:

“ Insurance premiums. You can’t treat insurance premiums as qualified medical expenses unless the premiums are for any of the following.

Medicare and other health care coverage if you were 65 or older (other than premiums for a Medicare supplemental policy, such as Medigap).
And I think this seems to say yes.
Do you agree ?
by Hexdump
Mon Feb 01, 2021 9:10 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: HSA and Medicare
Replies: 5
Views: 665

HSA and Medicare

My wife turns 65 this year and becomes eligible for Medicare. She also has a sizable balance in her HSA account. From my readings of the rules, I understand that she can no longer contribute to the HSA but can use the funds to pay for such things as her Medicare Part B premium which in 2021 is 148.50 .
Am I correct in my understanding ?

Thanks
by Hexdump
Mon Mar 09, 2020 1:32 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: IRA contribution
Replies: 4
Views: 384

Re: IRA contribution

Thank you. It is earned income as she does receive a traditional looking W2. Gross, fica, withholding, etc.
by Hexdump
Mon Mar 09, 2020 10:12 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: IRA contribution
Replies: 4
Views: 384

IRA contribution

My wife is collecting social security and she also worked for Early Voting in 2020.
Can she use some of her 2020 earnings as a contribution to 2019 ?

thanks
by Hexdump
Tue May 07, 2019 6:32 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Spousal SSA payment too early ?
Replies: 13
Views: 1598

Re: Spousal SSA payment too early ?

Your wife did well to take start her Social Security benefits early, even though that led to a monthly benefit reduction. Here's the logic. Because you are so much older than her (your age 80 versus her age of almost 63), the sad actuarial odds are that you will be dying well before her and she will then switch to your benefit as her Survivor benefit. From the data you posted, it wouldn't matter how long she delayed her own benefit, yours will always be the Survivor benefit. In such situations the mathematics will direct the much younger and lower earning spouse to claim Social Security benefits as soon as possible. As others have already posted, because she was born after Jan. 1, 1954 she would never have had the option of a restricted Sp...
by Hexdump
Sat May 04, 2019 6:13 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Spousal SSA payment too early ?
Replies: 13
Views: 1598

Re: Spousal SSA payment too early ?

Hmmm, SSA, does not show her PIA since she is already claiming however her last statement shows $1081 at 66 and 4 months, and $1505 at age 70.
I have already claimed my benefits.
I am 80 years old and it sounds like the loophole has been closed.

thanks again
by Hexdump
Sat May 04, 2019 8:21 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Spousal SSA payment too early ?
Replies: 13
Views: 1598

Spousal SSA payment too early ?

All of my wifes buddies are telling her that she should have postponed her social security payment. I used the online calculator at
https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/
and it said to take it as soon as possible.

Here are the details
Wifes birthday = 5/30/1956
1st SSA payment to her 8/18/2018, $1017
My SSA payment = $1962

She is saying to leave hers alone so as to get a bigger payment later, instead she can take 1/2 of mine, = $1972//2 = $986

I am gonna try and figure it out myself but I would also like an opinion from y'all while I try and run the numbers. I understand that we would have to pay back all of her payments.

Thanks
by Hexdump
Tue Nov 27, 2018 9:56 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: LastPass Questions
Replies: 27
Views: 2833

Re: LastPass Questions

powermega wrote: Mon Nov 26, 2018 2:29 pm DW and I use LastPass Premium and share all of our logins. Works well for us.
Same here
by Hexdump
Sun Jan 28, 2018 5:52 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Early social security strategy ?
Replies: 3
Views: 683

Re: Early social security strategy ?

Yeah, it looks like it was stopped.
by Hexdump
Sun Jan 28, 2018 5:43 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Early social security strategy ?
Replies: 3
Views: 683

Early social security strategy ?

This will be for my wife. I read this strategy last week and wanted to double check with y'all.
She is to take her benefits asap, 62+, and invest it. Then when she turns 70, pay it back, keep the interest, and refile for benefits at the 70 year old rate.

There are a lot of things to consider, but if all goes well, on the surface it seems like it would be a good deal.
Considerations:
Taxes
Taxes
Untimely death by wife or me.
Heirs
Other ?

Thanks
by Hexdump
Sun Jan 28, 2018 5:31 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: New tax rates vs early Social Security ?
Replies: 4
Views: 1155

Re: New tax rates vs early Social Security ?

I recall that it was a paid service and after a few hours of searching, I found it at Maximize My Social Security. Or something close.

Thank you for these suggestions, I will give them a try.
by Hexdump
Fri Jan 26, 2018 4:27 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: New tax rates vs early Social Security ?
Replies: 4
Views: 1155

New tax rates vs early Social Security ?

With the new tax rates in effect, do you think that they will affect an early Social Security decision ?
There was a very good site that I believe I was referred to, from Bogleheads. Unfortunately it was so long ago that I have forgotten the link. In any respect it recommended that my wife take her SS as soon as she was eligible which will be in 4 months.
I want to go do the numbers again to see how they look now but I can't find the link.
Any ideas or clues ?

Thanks
by Hexdump
Wed Dec 20, 2017 7:00 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best crash course in Spanish?
Replies: 32
Views: 5990

Re: Best crash course in Spanish?

I was using Italki for a while and recommend it. My instructor wss a Colombian lady, about 25 who spoke flawless English.
I asked her how she got so proficient and she suggested something beyond the traditional methods posted here.
She said to talk to yourself at various times during the day. See yourself in the mirror, comment on something, hair, nose, tie, etc.
It's kinda fun as well.
Going to the refrigerator for bread, say it in Spanish.
Etc.

Good luck
by Hexdump
Wed Jun 07, 2017 12:32 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Help me choose an EXPENSIVE* red wine for a gift
Replies: 69
Views: 19466

Re: Help me choose an EXPENSIVE* red wine for a gift

Just noticed this thread and thought that I would chime in.
The best I have ever had was Brunello.
Some where around $75.00
by Hexdump
Wed Jul 20, 2016 4:00 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: LED lights or bulbs
Replies: 21
Views: 3494

LED lights or bulbs

I need to replace the front porch lamp which was heavily damaged in a nasty wind. The lamp has receptacles for 5 bulbs and I had been putting LED, candelabra style bulbs in it. However every time we have an outage, at least 1 or sometimes 4, of the LED bulbs will get blown out. I asked my electrician friend about this and his recommendation was to buy a better quality bulb. Typically I had been spending about $5.00/bulb and he suggested that the quality was significantly better with a $10.00 - $15.00 bulb. Since I am going to replace the lamp anyway I thought that I would get a LED lamp and forego the LED bulbs. Somehow it seems to me that having a larger (controller/firmware/???) to handle 5 bulbs would be a better option than the controll...
by Hexdump
Fri Jun 17, 2016 1:16 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Aetna Home Medical Assessment
Replies: 11
Views: 5940

Aetna Home Medical Assessment

My wife just recently enrolled in a private medical insurance plan with Aetna and she had a strange call today.
Aetna wants to come to our house and do a health assessment of her for some reason and along with this they will give her a $100.00 Amazon gift card.
Has anyone experienced anything like this ?
The only reason that we can think of is that potentially Aetna might discontinue her coverage based upon something that they find.
Very curious.

Thanks for the advice.
by Hexdump
Mon Feb 01, 2016 8:33 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Medigap plan F hi-ded ?
Replies: 3
Views: 795

Medigap plan F hi-ded ?

I have plan G now and have just gotten 2 rate increases within 6 months.
I am consideing going to plan F hi deductable but I am unclear what the charges would be that I would have to pay.
From my last medigap notice, these are the numbers shown.
Submitted expenses : 191.03
Eligible expenses : 106.80
Medicare payments : 83.73
Remaining expenses : 106.80
% paid 20
Total benefit amount : 21.36

I also read that the deductable for 2016 was approx $2,100 so which of those number above would apply against the deductable. I don't know yet what the premium would be and will find out more later today.
My 1st guess would be the 106.80.

Thanks,
by Hexdump
Wed Nov 04, 2015 6:34 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Low-cost and low-maintenance hobbies?
Replies: 69
Views: 11257

Re: Low-cost and low-maintenance hobbies?

warowits wrote:Pick up a musical instrument. A three hundred dollar guitar and the Internet can keep you busy for decades.
I did something similar by buying an inexpensive keyboard for less that $100.00 and I think a book called a fake book. The name might be wrong but anyway, it has the melody so you have to learn to read those notes, but the accompanying chords are indicated as C, G, F#, etc.
It's amazing what you can do.
by Hexdump
Fri Oct 02, 2015 8:56 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Dental savings discount plans for implants?
Replies: 16
Views: 3038

Re: Dental savings discount plans for implants?

I just finished having one done at mu regular dentist and it was about $6,500.00 and took about 9 months. Before I had it done I talked to my sister-in-law who had retired frem a dentist office. She told me that for all of the implants that their office had to repair or that were troublesome, they were done by a "One Day" dentist. Additionally, another friend with no insurance had to have 10 teeth pulled. I told him about the dental schools and he went to the University of Texas dental school and he was very pleased. Price was about $150/tooth. I also told him that extractions were simple compared to implants so if he was considering an implant, and he is, to consider that. I dont know if I would trust their experience for an impl...
by Hexdump
Mon Sep 28, 2015 6:29 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cooling pillow ?
Replies: 7
Views: 1537

Re: Cooling pillow ?

Toons wrote:FYI
Cooling Pillow :happy
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S8OUCVW?psc=1
I actually bought this and it is in the mail. The buckwheat pillow sounds good and I will wait and see how the pad works.
by Hexdump
Sat Sep 26, 2015 8:38 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cooling pillow ?
Replies: 7
Views: 1537

Cooling pillow ?

Has anyone bought a cooling pillow that will last the night ?
I need 2 of them and most reviews saw that they warm up pretty fast.
Back sleepers here.

Thanks
by Hexdump
Tue Sep 22, 2015 5:56 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Are you upgrading to ios 9? When?
Replies: 42
Views: 6379

Re: Are you upgrading to ios 9? When?

I did 4 devices about a week ago.
IPhone 5s
Iphone 6s+
Ipad Air
IPad II

All have been well except the IPad II
The IPad II has been locking up and crashing a lot. By a lot, I mean about 6 times in a week. Always seems to be one app, the Magic Puzzles JigSaw app. I thought that it was a space used issue but I have about 2.5gb free.
Maybe I should reinstall the app but I wonder if I will lose my progress and awards.
by Hexdump
Sat Sep 12, 2015 11:10 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Prius owners and rest of Bogleheads
Replies: 44
Views: 7065

Re: Prius owners and rest of Bogleheads

trebordet wrote:

Hybrids are a great solution if you drive a lot of city miles.
Not true. Despite the EPA estimates, hwy driving delivers better MPG.
In the real world we get better mpg on the highway in our Prius than in the city.
Agree.
Very interesting as we are shopping for a super economical city driving car. I had been under the impression that hybrids were better for city driving yet according to others here, that is not so.
Hmmm, back to the drawing boards.
by Hexdump
Wed Sep 09, 2015 6:17 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Features for a new toilet
Replies: 33
Views: 5818

Re: Features for a new toilet

wilked wrote:I agree with the others, get a Toto
Ditto+++
I just put one in about a month ago and it is a blessing. I got the ADA compliant version as it makes it easier to get up when your knees begin to go bad. Additionally, I used to regularly plug the old one up but this one has yet to have that problem. Elongated seat.
by Hexdump
Mon Aug 31, 2015 6:33 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What are Costco's best deals?
Replies: 346
Views: 88291

Re: What are Costco's best deals?

Hey,no business is perfect and sometimes there are problems.I will just leave it at when you consider everything Costco offers from food to electronics,there is no other store that is their equal.I have some bad produce as well and I returned it as well as many other things....they have the best return policy as well which adds to why they are numero uno.Full disclosure...I do not work there :D Couldn't agree more. It is a great company, with an awesome business model, and they treat everyone well (customers, their employees, huge donations to organizations like mine, etc.). That being said, you have to really figure out if it is best for your situation; if cost is a primary factor, it isn't always the cheapest per unit and the quantities ...
by Hexdump
Sat Aug 29, 2015 8:42 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Recommendations for steam mop
Replies: 18
Views: 3302

Re: Recommendations for steam mop

For those with engineered or laminate floors, do you use these type of steamers on the floor ?
I was always reluctant to do it as it just seems that wood and water dont mix.
by Hexdump
Fri Aug 07, 2015 6:29 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: "A different kind of retirement calculator"
Replies: 32
Views: 6035

Re: "A different kind of retirement calculator"

Postby Taylor Larimore

So what happened? We simply withdrew what we needed and kept an eye on our portfolio balance. Most years our balance went up and we spent the money on vacations, luxuries and charity. When our balance went down we tightened our belt and economized.

This is what most people do and it works.
Hi Taylor.
I am curious in that, with our budget we expect the balance to go down a bit each year. We have no $$$ that we plan to leave to anyone. So our plan is to run out of money, the day that we die. That is a bit flippant but we do expect the balance to decreas by a manageable amount.
Did that philosoph figure into your calculations ?

Best regards,
George
by Hexdump
Fri Aug 07, 2015 6:09 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: iPad - usefulness?
Replies: 53
Views: 7093

Re: iPad - usefulness?

Mostly the Kindle reading app. Plus email and web braowsing.
It was given to me 5 years ago and I love it though it has space li itations.
I have recently gotten to like audio books and pod casts and they take a ton of space. Whenspace starts getting cramped, the IPad really slows down.

Another thing that I really like about it is to be able to share contacts and shopping lists with my wife IPad/IPhone and my IPhone.
Mayhaps the android versions can do this but I have not checked it out nor do I think it would be so seamless.
by Hexdump
Fri Aug 07, 2015 6:02 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What's Your Monthly Food/Groceries Spending? My is through the roof?
Replies: 201
Views: 24753

Re: What's Your Monthly Food/Groceries Spending? My is through the roof?

Sounds high to me.
We are a retired couple living in Houston and budget $500.00 per month which we rarely exceed.
We do not buy organics as they are a lot more expensive.
The grocery spending also includes anything that can be bought from a supermarket, like cosmetics, paper products, cat food, etc.so there is more than groceries in the $500.00.
by Hexdump
Fri Aug 07, 2015 5:56 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: New PC - Buy Office or use free alternatives
Replies: 49
Views: 7210

Re: New PC - Buy Office or use free alternatives

We switched about 8 months ago from Windows 7 and Vista to Linux. With it came Libre office and I have not had to worry about incompatibilities. I have had no problems at all opening or saving-as any file. Admittedly, I am not a power user and the most stress that I have put on the xcel equivalent was with other spreadsheets, some of which I got here, that had a few macros scattered about. Never a problem. Re Outlook, I at first switched to Thunderbird and it was an easy switch. I have since switched to an INet mail system, Fastmail, so as to avoid ATT.NET. The only thing that I had trouble with was running TurboTax under a Windows emulator. I especially like not having to worry so much about virus. I would heartily recommend that you switch.
by Hexdump
Tue Aug 04, 2015 6:48 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Seniors must have items
Replies: 17
Views: 3298

Re: Seniors must have items

The best and most useful gift I got at 70 was an IPad, principally used as a Kindle book reader.
One thing that I bought for myself that my wife also uses is an extra, extra, long shoe-putting-on-thing.
I dont know what it is called but its the thing that goes in the back of your shoe and allows your heel to slide in.
This one is about 3 feet long.
by Hexdump
Sat Jul 25, 2015 8:25 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Any IPad users, I am looking for a new IPad device
Replies: 7
Views: 2062

Re: Any IPad users, I am looking for a new IPad device

Well, I talked to the Leef people to see what they recommend and they basically said to either delete some files , go ICloud, or get a new device.
The IPad2 connector is the problem. 3n pins or somesuch.
They have nothing that can connect to it, have no plans to make one, nor know of anyone that has something like I need.
Pshaw.

I am going to give the Icloud option a try.
by Hexdump
Fri Jul 24, 2015 9:31 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Any IPad users, I am looking for a new IPad device
Replies: 7
Views: 2062

Re: Any IPad users, I am looking for a new IPad device

Thank you freeman that looks like it and I also found this.
http://www.leefco.com/ibridge

More study needed.
by Hexdump
Fri Jul 24, 2015 7:27 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Any IPad users, I am looking for a new IPad device
Replies: 7
Views: 2062

Any IPad users, I am looking for a new IPad device

or IPhone device.
I saw this on the Bing News home page about 3 days ago and it fascinated me and I had thought that I would be able to find it later.
Well, nuts, I cannot find it.
It was on either the Products or Science/Technology section.

It looked to be about 4" long and looked like a cable that wrapped back onto itself into a USB looking device.
What it was that has me intrigued was a direct attachable expansion storage device and a charger built into one.

My IPad 2 sorely needs more storage and this looked ideal.
I think it is a pretty new device as the article said something about pricing was not available.

Any ideas on what it is ?

PS It was not a wifi device.
by Hexdump
Sun Jul 19, 2015 10:43 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Medical insurance policies ? ACA or the market ?
Replies: 28
Views: 3427

Medical insurance policies ? ACA or the market ?

My wife and I were having this discussion and I am a bit confused myself.

She is 60 and her COBRA plan is about to expire so we are shopping for a replacement.
She said that she could buy an "Obamacare policy".
What I said was that the policy that she would buy under the ACA would be the same as she could buy on the private market, we live in Texas, that the differences being that the govt. would reimburse some policy holders a portion or all of their premiums.
Her Aetna HD/HSA bronze policy with a $6,300 deductible is the same coverage as for an AAC qualified person.

Am I wrong ?
by Hexdump
Thu Jul 16, 2015 8:02 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Xfinity vs ATT
Replies: 9
Views: 1881

Re: Xfinity vs ATT

The biggest thorn is the blasted email abcdef@att.net. I'm amazed you're still using email tied to an ISP. Switch and be done with it. We have switched to a .com email however there are a few sites that use the .att email as a signon id. The worst example is the Apple store for IPad and IPhone purchases. I have stopped using it but I still have items that I have purchased under the .ATT id and I don't think that it is possible to merge it into the .com account. Hmmm, I have not tried to change the email associated with those accounts to the .com but still keep the .att login credentials. I will try that. Also, the speeds that we are now getting from ATT are adequate. I am complaining about the cost increase. I probably can get faster for l...
by Hexdump
Tue Jul 14, 2015 7:06 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Xfinity vs ATT
Replies: 9
Views: 1881

Xfinity vs ATT

We have ATT now and our discounts just expired. Our plan is the 18gb, and the list price is about $62.00, Max Plus. We had been getting it for $31.00 but I dont think that I will get those discounts again. I think that I can talk them down to about $40.00. Xfinity has a 25GB plan for $61.00 discounted to approx $ 40.00 for one year. Has anyone made the switch to Xfinity and how are the actual download speeds vs what they advertized ? If I am able to get ATT (18gb) for $40 vs Xfinity (25gb) for $41.00, should I stay with ATT ? Is the extra 7gb worth it ? Our speed with Att normally runs at about 16gb, a test I just did from a wireless IPad showed 16.47 I had also read ( I think ) that Xfinity has docsis 3 modems/routers. Will that make a dif...
by Hexdump
Sun Jul 12, 2015 8:41 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Learning Spanish
Replies: 62
Views: 14741

Re: Learning Spanish

Aprender español es fácil. Good conversation, good recommendations. Aqui estan mis dos centavos (here are my two cents). My recommendation is to practice, practice, practice at home, at work, and start "thinking" in Spanish. Oh by the way, don't be ashamed to ask the Spanish speaking person [I am using basic Spanish here, the same used in Latin America] "como se dice ______" ( how do you say ___ _ [insert the word here] to get the correct pronunciation. For example, the Spanish speaking person will be glad to tell you " se dice papas, no se dice papos " (if you called the potatoes papos, which is a normal thing to do). This I know - most [educated] Spanish speakers are reluctant to correct non-Spanish speakers...
by Hexdump
Sat Jul 04, 2015 9:30 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Learning Spanish
Replies: 62
Views: 14741

Re: Learning Spanish

I am in somewhat the same spot. I have been looking around for conversational Spanish courses and bought and am stydying this one. http://www.spanish-is-easy.com/?inf_contact_key=5f081bb447766db464068df5c867e7c7f7d2db69e8372dcd19b79ee26ba9b12a His download course is the best one that I have found so far and I seem to remember that it cost $67.00. It consists of 25 audio lessons and written exercises. I don't know why but I have learned more from this course than any others. For the audio lessons, he will say the Spanish for a word/phrase/sentence then have you repeat it and then his native speaking assistant will also speak it. I will give Duolingo another try as I seem to remember that it kept asking me for $$$. It's also good to know abou...
by Hexdump
Wed Jul 01, 2015 5:07 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Best Cell Plan?
Replies: 45
Views: 21542

Re: Best Cell Plan?

WhyNotUs wrote:Have a BBQ and invite a variety of friends over. ask them if you can use their phone and call your phone to leave a message with some blah blah and the name of their service, number of bars, level of data. That should give you site specific info for a variety of providers.
What a great idea !
by Hexdump
Wed Jun 24, 2015 5:11 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Money arguments with spouse and how did you resolve
Replies: 72
Views: 14840

Re: Money arguments with spouse and how did you resolve

I usually start with " How do we fit this into the budget ? IE, where do we get this money ? If she insists that we not worry about it, I point out that, me being 17 years older, she is the one that will have to back to work when she turns 80.
If she still insists, I can still say no.

I like the idea of separate accounts though it was difficult to manage on big ticket, joint expenses, like vacations.

How do you handle things like this wxl31 ?
by Hexdump
Mon Jun 22, 2015 7:14 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Need to replace refrigerator, buying advice?
Replies: 7
Views: 1791

Re: Need to replace refrigerator, buying advice?

We replaced our side by side about 6 months ago with a Samsung french door style. The side by side, though it seemed to be efficient, was not. The french door (Sliding freezer drawer at the bottom) is really great.
It's a Samsung and, after much agonizing we bought it online.
The process was effortless and it has worked a charm since then. It has no external water nor ice maker.
by Hexdump
Sun May 17, 2015 6:10 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cellular/wifi traveling to Scotland
Replies: 14
Views: 4754

Re: Cellular/wifi traveling to Scotland

Along these same lines, DW is heading to So. Korea for a few weeks and was asking the same question.
I had, as a 1st thought, that it would be possible to buy a throw-away phone at or near the Seoul airport for use in country.
Do you see anything seriously wrong with this approach and at the time I did not know about the reduced cost ATT plan.
by Hexdump
Fri Apr 03, 2015 9:32 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What are you up YTD? [Year To Date]
Replies: 5249
Views: 899685

Re: What are you up YTD?

1st quarter return was 1.44%

100 % Wellesley
by Hexdump
Thu Mar 26, 2015 5:08 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: TurboTax Deluxe
Replies: 20
Views: 3633

Re: TurboTax Deluxe

I too bought the "free" version through Vanguard then was surprised to see that they charge a fee for electronic filing. I am a bit late in the game with our taxes but I will certainly look elsewhere next year. I hate their games. Was it the Fed or state it wanted you to pay for? I filed Fed for free but it wanted 19.95 to do the state. I used a 49 cent stamp. It was the Fed e-file. Texas has no state tax. This I do not understand at all. It clearly states "5 federal efiles included" , I just went back into vanguard/TT to look. Did you call TT to ask about it? And now as I recall what I did, I think that I did it to myself. I started my return using the Vanguard version then switched to the online version for some forgo...
by Hexdump
Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:11 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Traveling WiFi
Replies: 17
Views: 3475

Re: Traveling WiFi

It's possible that your cable or phone supplier has hot spots around the country. For example, my phone provider (AT&T) and my cable supplier (Bright House Network) both have hundreds of thousands of free access sites around the country. That's interesting Mel and was something that I vaguely knew about but never looked at seriously. It looks like I will be located slightly out of the range of 2 of the ATT sites. Which leads me to my next question. Are there devices that can extend the range on the "listener" side, preferably one that is able to support 4 connections ? Oops, what I have been reading talk about using an external, USB wifi and I can't use those on my IPad and IPhones. So, I am looking for devices specific to Ap...
by Hexdump
Mon Mar 23, 2015 7:46 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: TurboTax Deluxe
Replies: 20
Views: 3633

Re: TurboTax Deluxe

partner wrote:
Hexdump wrote:I too bought the "free" version through Vanguard then was surprised to see that they charge a fee for electronic filing.
I am a bit late in the game with our taxes but I will certainly look elsewhere next year. I hate their games.
Was it the Fed or state it wanted you to pay for?
I filed Fed for free but it wanted 19.95 to do the state. I used a 49 cent stamp.
It was the Fed e-file. Texas has no state tax.