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Re: Jump in price in my electricity bill?

Subwoofer running in the living room? That's for strange attic noises :) In all seriousness, the first order of business is to compare the meter reading on the bill to the current reading on the meter. You need to make sure the bill was accurate. Rather than chase down what might be drawing power, ...
by Mudpuppy
Tue Jun 18, 2013 1:50 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Jump in price in my electricity bill?
Replies: 29
Views: 1511

Re: Wanting to spend money all of a sudden

I just want to know how you have retirement fully funded, but yet can't cut back on work?? The two don't jive. Either you have a lot of money which buys you financial freedom or you don't. Which one is it?? Like I was saying work is complicated. 95% of my business comes from 5 companies. I have bee...
by Mudpuppy
Tue Jun 18, 2013 1:18 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Wanting to spend money all of a sudden
Replies: 71
Views: 3985

Re: PSLF/IBR/AGI

My main question has to then with how can I further reduce my AGI? Get a job that has a 401k, 403b, 457, or TSP plan. You could then defer $17,500 and reduce you AGI by that amount. If you get one that offers a 401k or 403b and also offers a 457, you can defer $35,000. Contributions to a 457 do not...
by Mudpuppy
Mon Jun 17, 2013 7:35 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: PSLF/IBR/AGI [How to reduce Adjusted Gross Income?]
Replies: 6
Views: 427

Re: Yay, a windfall -- what now?

We bought a house with a low-down-payment FHA mortgage. At this point we owe about $330k on it, which thanks to the market drop is pretty close to what it's worth. Are you paying the FHA monthly mortgage insurance premium (MIP)? Did you pay the FHA upfront mortgage insurance (UPMIP or "funding...
by Mudpuppy
Mon Jun 17, 2013 7:26 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Yay, a windfall -- what now?
Replies: 10
Views: 1694

Re: Wanting to spend money all of a sudden

As to the hours of work I am self employed and work 7 days a week. Long term I am working on some ideas to get me more time off maybe hiring more help, etc but for now there is not much I can do about it. Work is complicated and pretty much all of our business comes from five clients and we can't r...
by Mudpuppy
Mon Jun 17, 2013 7:06 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Wanting to spend money all of a sudden
Replies: 71
Views: 3985

Re: What age did you reach 100K networth?

I don't' understand the argument that an advanced degree would push back your date at all. My wife and I both have MBAs and it only accelerated accumulation. There are smart ways to get an advanced degree. The time commitment to get an MBA is vastly different than the time commitment to get a Ph.D....
by Mudpuppy
Mon Jun 17, 2013 2:14 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What age did you reach 100K networth?
Replies: 166
Views: 10708

Re: What age did you reach 100K networth?

I think this poll would be more interesting if people posted their household income at the time their household net worth, including their home, hit $100k. Are bogleheads great savers or do they just have above average incomes? It would be interesting if people included how much of that could be at...
by Mudpuppy
Mon Jun 17, 2013 5:44 am
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What age did you reach 100K networth?
Replies: 166
Views: 10708

Re: Article about young americans not using credit cards

Banks understand this, and that's why they offer cashback credit cards, as bait, because the banks know that the vast majority of people who sign up will end up falling into the "A" category I'm a 20-something and I don't have a credit card for this reason. I know that the reason that cre...
by Mudpuppy
Mon Jun 17, 2013 1:31 am
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Article about young americans not using credit cards
Replies: 81
Views: 4592

Re: What Short Term $$$ Goals Have You Achieved?

By the end of the year, barring any unforeseen large expenses, I'll climb out of the red commas and into the 1-comma club. I'll still be horribly underwater on my home due to buying in 2007, but the rest of my assets will finally cancel out the 2-red-commas in the house line of the net-worth spread...
by Mudpuppy
Mon Jun 17, 2013 1:20 am
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What Short Term $$$ Goals Have You Achieved?
Replies: 13
Views: 1741

Re: Article about young americans not using credit cards

I think there is a category D: people who fool themselves into thinking that the bonuses from their credit cards are bigger than what they would save by paying cold hard cash. Plenty of research to back up that people spend 5-10% more on credit card purchases than they would with cash. Doubt that m...
by Mudpuppy
Sun Jun 16, 2013 2:16 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Article about young americans not using credit cards
Replies: 81
Views: 4592

Re: Pest control with concerns about baby

To Mudpuppy: From wikipedia: According to research published in Insectes Sociaux in 2009, it was discovered that ants from three Argentine ant supercolonies in America, Europe, and Japan, that were previously thought to be separate, were in fact most likely to be genetically related. The three colo...
by Mudpuppy
Sun Jun 16, 2013 1:16 am
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Pest control with concerns about baby
Replies: 12
Views: 768

Re: Article about young americans not using credit cards

It's difficult to rent a car or a hotel room without a credit or debit card. I would be hesitant to use the latter in those situations unless you use a dedicated account with very little in it and no overdraft. Haha, I do have a debit card--why should I not use a debit card to rent a car or hotel r...
by Mudpuppy
Sat Jun 15, 2013 10:16 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Article about young americans not using credit cards
Replies: 81
Views: 4592

Re: Bogleheads 2013 Hedgefund Contest

personally i'd rather see that as the contest benchmark rather than Vanguard Total Stock market (VTSMX) probably because I am beating VMNFX but not VTSMX! :) cheers, Ah, but it's not about winning. It's about having fun and showing just how often the law of averages has random stock selections end ...
by Mudpuppy
Sat Jun 15, 2013 9:56 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bogleheads 2013 Hedgefund Contest
Replies: 121
Views: 7686

Re: What Short Term $$$ Goals Have You Achieved?

By the end of the year, barring any unforeseen large expenses, I'll climb out of the red commas and into the 1-comma club. I'll still be horribly underwater on my home due to buying in 2007, but the rest of my assets will finally cancel out the 2-red-commas 6-red-figures in the house line of the net...
by Mudpuppy
Sat Jun 15, 2013 8:45 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What Short Term $$$ Goals Have You Achieved?
Replies: 13
Views: 1741

Re: Pest control with concerns about baby

I am very chemically sensitive, plus I have a lot of fish tanks, so I don't have any pest control chemicals sprayed inside. However, I have on occasion had a massive American roach ("water bug", but don't let that euphemism fool you, it's a roach) population explosion in the neighborhood. ...
by Mudpuppy
Sat Jun 15, 2013 7:12 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Pest control with concerns about baby
Replies: 12
Views: 768

Re: I think I need to change my car

Thank you all for these thoughtful suggestions. I took my Honda to another mechanic who is a member of my wife's church group and he has done work for me before. He said that the struts weren't too bad, only leaking. The radiator needs new hoses top and bottom and I agree that all this is to be exp...
by Mudpuppy
Sat Jun 15, 2013 6:42 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: I think I need to change my car
Replies: 25
Views: 1556

Re: Bogleheads 2013 Hedgefund Contest

Stil N D Nile is stil in d lead, but New Deal Hedgefund (BHCadet) is breathing down the D Nile brothers' necks. Who knew Best Buy would turn it around so dramatically? Well, who other than BHCadet.
by Mudpuppy
Wed Jun 05, 2013 12:42 am
 
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Bogleheads 2013 Hedgefund Contest
Replies: 121
Views: 7686

Re: Adult "child" moved back home - avoiding failure to laun

Glad to hear this is mostly resolved. I just wanted to point out a couple of things. I forgot to say that if you decide to have her work and take a few classes at the local community college, there is a way to be more involved with her grades and information. She just fills out a "FERPA" f...
by Mudpuppy
Mon Jun 03, 2013 3:26 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Adult "child" moved back home - avoiding failure to launch
Replies: 189
Views: 9372

Re: What to do with old computers and printers?

Three questions on Printers: 1. How do you know if your printer has a hard drive ? 2. If it does, how do you find it ? 3. How do you erase the hard drive ? Consumer-grade printers (e.g. the cheap ones) tend to have volatile memory for print queues, not hard drives. So unless you have an enterprise-...
by Mudpuppy
Mon May 27, 2013 7:21 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What to do with old computers and printers?
Replies: 28
Views: 1868

Re: Dr. Web security software

I'm sure you're trying to help and I appreciate it but you're making quite a few assumptions: Keep in mind that these "assumptions" I am making are derived from over 15 years of experience as an IT person, a system administrator and a security researcher. 1) How can Parallels and Dr. Web ...
by Mudpuppy
Sun May 26, 2013 12:22 am
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Dr. Web security software
Replies: 20
Views: 1042

Re: Dr. Web security software

Let me simplify this as much as I possibly can. In response to points 1 and 2: Parallels and Dr. Web are software companies. That you called them and they did not have your email in your system is irrelevant. It's like calling Microsoft because someone put your email in a Word document. There's noth...
by Mudpuppy
Sat May 25, 2013 6:56 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Dr. Web security software
Replies: 20
Views: 1042

Re: NYT article: Digital Keys to Financial Lives

I read this article in the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/25/your-money/forgotten-in-estate-planning-online-passwords.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&hpw. It covers estate planning issues now that we are in the internet age. Nothing particularly new or helpful. However I have a question. My que...
by Mudpuppy
Sat May 25, 2013 3:32 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: NYT article: Digital Keys to Financial Lives
Replies: 5
Views: 825

Re: Eliminate High Interest Student Loans or PMI?

My personal take: You know with absolutely certainty that the $8000 will eliminate the student loan. You are not guaranteed that prepaying $8000 on your mortgage will eliminate PMI. Being able to cancel PMI with prepayments depends on the type of mortgage you have. FHA mortgages will not cancel MIP ...
by Mudpuppy
Sat May 25, 2013 3:26 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Eliminate High Interest Student Loans or PMI?
Replies: 8
Views: 504

Re: Homeowner "Appliance" Insurance

The seller of this home paid for a similar policy which also covered the AC/heater unit and the duct work for said unit. It was mostly worthless. They only agreed to do a repair for one of the three calls made, when the controller for the AC/heater unit shorted out. For the other two calls, I got a ...
by Mudpuppy
Sat May 25, 2013 3:14 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Homeowner "Appliance" Insurance
Replies: 26
Views: 888

Re: California affordable care act rates for 2014 released

Kaiser has a large market share in CA but in other areas they are not competitive. In the MD/DC/VA area their rates are significantly higher than every other company, especially on family plans. Sure not true in the Boulder/Denver market. Kaiser is much cheaper than virtually all other carriers. Fo...
by Mudpuppy
Sat May 25, 2013 2:51 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: California affordable care act rates for 2014 released
Replies: 130
Views: 9007

Re: Dr. Web security software

Ooops--it was not something simple and benign like the wrong email address. It's exploit.drop.gs which is particularly nasty. Malware Bytes says it has been removed. I sure hope so. The only way I can think of that I might have gotten it was watching a Power Point presentation on my doctor's websit...
by Mudpuppy
Sat May 25, 2013 1:03 am
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Dr. Web security software
Replies: 20
Views: 1042

Re: reloaded [Forum and wiki were offline]

Look, I don't quite understand why there is so much defensive posturing on this. Nobody is saying people aren't capable or aren't appreciated. It's just that, in my view, usage has far outgrown it being ok to be hosted in the back room of a small business with consumer-class Internet connectivity. ...
by Mudpuppy
Fri May 24, 2013 12:02 am
 
Forum: Forum Issues and Administration
Topic: reloaded [Forum and wiki were offline]
Replies: 74
Views: 4874

Re: reloaded

I'm just not seeing where any suggestions/criticisms etc. are warranted based on a few minor incidents of downtime that have had no detrimental effects on anyone. When things go wrong, some people offer money and other people offer time and expertise. It's a pretty human reaction to issues such as ...
by Mudpuppy
Wed May 22, 2013 10:11 pm
 
Forum: Forum Issues and Administration
Topic: reloaded [Forum and wiki were offline]
Replies: 74
Views: 4874

Re: Great new Amazon delivery option

I'm surprised that the supermarkets haven't tried to do something. They would capture the entire sale, be able to include lottery tickets and other non-grocery (high profit) items they carry, and I think that could work if they targeted places like senior citizen complexes where you could deliver m...
by Mudpuppy
Wed May 22, 2013 12:11 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Great new Amazon delivery option
Replies: 29
Views: 3447

Re: Refusing to pay doctor bill, consequences

Interesting. My wife had done at rotation at the hospital as part her RN degree, so she knew that the FP serving covering OB was a poor service. We were in the area as visitors now for a weekend. She specifically told the FP resident to their face we wanted to be on the OB service. She was transfer...
by Mudpuppy
Sat May 18, 2013 3:02 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Refusing to pay doctor bill, consequences
Replies: 57
Views: 3434

Re: Great new Amazon delivery option

FYI, if you have something valuable being shipped that you don't want left at your door and there is no Locker service in your area, look at the UPS will-call option. Once you have the tracking number and UPS has picked up the package, you can log on to their website and ask that it be held at your ...
by Mudpuppy
Fri May 17, 2013 1:30 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Great new Amazon delivery option
Replies: 29
Views: 3447

Re: Credit report for homeowners insurance

Related hard pulls for auto, home, and student loans are considered to be just a single hard pull for purposes of the FICO score when they happen within 2-6 weeks of one another (time period varies by version of FICO algorithm), so people can shop around without getting a major ding in their score. ...
by Mudpuppy
Thu May 16, 2013 1:59 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Credit report for homeowners insurance
Replies: 4
Views: 317

Re: more great service from Treasury Direct!

EVERY time I log in to Treasury Direct it says that my computer is not registered and that it will email me a one-time passcode. EVERY time, I use the passcode, tell it to register my computer, and it does not issue any error messages or complaints. I can then log in again for some short period of ...
by Mudpuppy
Thu May 16, 2013 2:03 am
 
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: more great service from Treasury Direct!
Replies: 71
Views: 6533

Re: Vanguard E-Mail

As you recommend I never use a link in an e-mail to get my accounts. I would not have logged in or given any personal information if this one had requested it. As I said it was just a link to information. It came from an E-mail that has been mentioned previously on this board as being Vanguard and ...
by Mudpuppy
Wed May 15, 2013 2:54 am
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: I think I'm getting phished
Replies: 27
Views: 2578

Re: Credit card was hacked, next steps?

It's not really a hack when the number is skimmed. That's just a risk one always takes when swiping a card. Just keep an eye on the transactions and alert the company if it seems to be happening again and they don't catch it. Otherwise, don't sweat much about it.
by Mudpuppy
Wed May 15, 2013 2:43 am
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Credit card was hacked, next steps?
Replies: 4
Views: 463

Re: internet safety-- [Allowing web browser scripts to run]

NoScript is a whitelisting plugin. Anything you don't specify and which does not come on the very limited predefined whitelist (and by very limited, I mean the predefined whitelist really only lists a half dozen or so sites) will be blocked. You then have to decide if the site is safe enough to add ...
by Mudpuppy
Sun May 12, 2013 10:56 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: internet safety-- [Allowing web browser scripts to run]
Replies: 3
Views: 540

Re: Food Costs

Getting back to food costs - they are definitely up since I last posted, think we're averaging closer to $450-$500 a month these days. The biggest culprits - meat,chicken and fresh produce. Beef is starting to get a bit ridiculous and I'm starting to wonder if I want to spend the kind of money they...
by Mudpuppy
Fri May 10, 2013 1:13 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Food Costs
Replies: 153
Views: 9802

Re: Weekly Electricity Analysis

I'm still interested in if the OP's power company ever said how they derived the breakdown for each listed appliance/energy user. If it's just an arbitrary formula applied to an arbitrary concept of "typical", then there's really nothing to get from the report other than the total weekly u...
by Mudpuppy
Fri May 10, 2013 12:44 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Weekly Electricity Analysis
Replies: 38
Views: 1904

Re: electrical outlet splitters(?)

They are more useful in kitchens or near home entertainment centers, typically. And as wilpat says, GFCI protection is not affected, tho possibly harder to test/reset... Thanks everyone. I have a surge protector strip near my electronics. In the bathroom, I want to have a power failure light, a pho...
by Mudpuppy
Thu May 09, 2013 3:49 am
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: electrical outlet splitters(?)
Replies: 20
Views: 1525

Re: Weekly Electricity Analysis

Just curious, how does this weekly email determine the electrical usage of the appliances listed? If they are not smart appliances (and likely they are not), then the base usage and appliance usage is probably the "typical" usage for your area, which I have found to be anything but typical...
by Mudpuppy
Wed May 08, 2013 2:26 am
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Weekly Electricity Analysis
Replies: 38
Views: 1904

Re: What's the best dandelion killer?

I use a mix of a dandelion removal tool and spot treating with Weed B Gone, depending on how much time I have to deal with yard work. The removal tool won't work if you don't get the whole root (you'll know if you don't). If you use a removal tool, you might also want to sprinkle a little lawn seed ...
by Mudpuppy
Tue May 07, 2013 1:12 am
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What's the best dandelion killer?
Replies: 54
Views: 3160

Re: What about spendthrift Dad (filial support laws)?

d) the adult child has been estranged from the parent for decades and isn't even aware the parent is in a facility (and it doesn't even matter if there was a very valid reason for the estrangement due to behavior of the parent). I worry slightly about this situation, myself. My parents are spendthr...
by Mudpuppy
Mon May 06, 2013 11:47 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: What about spendthrift Dad (filial support laws)?
Replies: 81
Views: 4832

Re: Dining out : Special requests

A bigger issue I have is with weddings, etc. I usually call the restaurant/hotel and request a special meal. This USUALLY works and saves a lot of grief. I am always amused when everyone at the table asks, "how did you get that?" That reminds me of a personal food pet peeve. I have to tra...
by Mudpuppy
Mon May 06, 2013 11:30 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Dining out : Special requests
Replies: 52
Views: 2967

Re: Escrow or No Escrow?

Are you allowed to pay the homeowner/hazard insurance separate from the escrow account even if it's set up to pay from the escrow account? Does the excess money get refunded (with interest)? Having gone through this when the insurance payment sent by the escrow company got misplaced by Allstate unt...
by Mudpuppy
Mon May 06, 2013 4:29 am
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Escrow or No Escrow?
Replies: 26
Views: 1857

Re: Dining out : Special requests

Has it ever happened to anybody to make a request for a special dish preparation and have the request denied? If waiters always say 'yes,' and if the satisfaction of all possible requests is impossible, then some dishes are certain to deviate from the specifications. I've requested pasta primavera ...
by Mudpuppy
Mon May 06, 2013 2:18 am
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Dining out : Special requests
Replies: 52
Views: 2967

Re: Any way to highlight the original poster in a thread?

There was a mod for this for phpBB v2.x, but I don't know about the current version. Not that it matters, because the mods don't like to modify the forum, as LadyGeek already said. This is also something one could do on the client side using a user script program like Greasemonkey for Firefox or Tam...
by Mudpuppy
Sun May 05, 2013 9:19 pm
 
Forum: Forum Issues and Administration
Topic: Any way to highlight the original poster in a thread?
Replies: 10
Views: 877

Re: Dining out : Special requests

Now, I just have in the back my mind something might have been done to my food. I highly doubt that the chef did something to your food. That particular urban legend gets blown out of proportion because it rarely actually happens. Does it happen sometimes? Sure. Does it happen every time someone ma...
by Mudpuppy
Sun May 05, 2013 9:07 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Dining out : Special requests
Replies: 52
Views: 2967

Re: Dining out : Special requests

I think some folks are missing an important point. The customer is always right, period. When a customer wants food prepared differently or substitutions, then that's exactly what any decent restaurant should and can do without problem. Customers pay the money, so they should get whatever they ask ...
by Mudpuppy
Sun May 05, 2013 8:51 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Dining out : Special requests
Replies: 52
Views: 2967

Re: Escrow or No Escrow?

Here in CA, escrow accounts have to be given a minimum of 2% interest. Since that beats anything a regular savings account is offering, keeping an escrow account right now in CA would make more fiscal sense. Check your state laws to see if your state has anything similar before cancelling the escrow...
by Mudpuppy
Sun May 05, 2013 3:50 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Escrow or No Escrow?
Replies: 26
Views: 1857

Re: Dining out : Special requests

If there are dietary restrictions (or even just very strong dislikes) which would require extensive modifications to a menu item, call ahead and talk to the manager and/or chef to see if the restaurant will be willing to make accommodations. Make sure those accommodations are noted in your reservati...
by Mudpuppy
Sun May 05, 2013 3:46 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Dining out : Special requests
Replies: 52
Views: 2967
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