Bogleheads.org

rayout

High property taxes reduce home values and makes purchasing income properties more affordable. Makes cash flow properties more attractive. If you can swing the down payment and management issues for a duplex or 4 plex, I think that is the best route and the one I went down.

rayout

Walgreens house brand "Delish" Midnight Dark 70% is great. Higher cocoa butter usage for a creamier mouth feel and it tastes sweeter since it doesn't use as much cocoa solids which are more astringent.

rayout

Sorry you are getting low balled :( My 2005 Prius with 210k miles just got totalled when a driver hit it while it was parked. I just received my check for $5900 which included taxes which was quite a bit more than KBB for the car so I did not fight it. The at fault drivers insurer was Progressive. N...

rayout

Delish 70% midnight dark

It is a walgreens house brand. Higher cocoa butter content than most for a smooth mouth feel.

rayout

The best route is to go through a recruiter. They get paid to find a good fit. That is how I found my latest position as a civil engineer. PM me your contact info and I can get you connected with a few that have reached out to me.

Make sure your linkedin page is public and up to date.

rayout

I prepaid $110 for a one year membership starting last August, mostly to try out power lifting before I bought a dedicated at home set. I went 2 to 3 times a week but the snow, cold and New Year Resolutionists have dampened my enthusiasm so I am mostly doing bodyweight training at home. I'll definit...

rayout

Here's a tracking website for discounted REI gift cards: http://www.giftcardwiki.com/giftcards/REI

Looks like the peak discount is around 11%.

rayout

It's been a while but I recall a pretty good flask of Old Grand-Dad purchased as a gag gift for a St Patty's day breakfast from my corner liquor store

rayout

I buy my own synthetic oil and oem filters and have a local shop do the change. $10 to $15 for labor. $5 for the filter and $15 or so for the oil (buy when it is on sale). I don't see much of a savings to diy.

rayout

Comes and goes in waves for me. I have some nice affordable authentic ethnic restaurants in my area so I have been partaking every other day. For the most part however I do better eating what I make at home - both financially and nutritionally. It does end up being one of my upper spending categorie...

rayout

Shop around. I am paying $500 less now than when I first bought my house in 2011.

rayout

Best Buy will take any tube TV/monitor 32" or less. They charge a disposal fee but it is rebated in the form of a gift card. You can rent a U-Haul truck for $20 plus mileage. EDIT: Nevermind, console TVs are excluded as others have noted however you may be able to call them to schedule a pick up and...

rayout

Get some quotes from insurers.

I am in the north suburbs and pay $1K/year on a home with reconstruction value of ~$500K.

rayout

My pro forma is 12-15% after accounting for everything you noted and excluding appreciation if managed by a property management company (apartments). I am looking for 15%+ if I manage it myself (duplexes). However I do not look at the single family market, I am looking purely for cash flow to maximi...

rayout

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Typing_of_the_Dead

rayout

Don't more oily and thus "fishier" fish have the most Omega-3 content? Most mild fish are going to be on the lower end of the Omega-3 content spectrum. Although I can understand not everyone enjoys pickeled herring/mackrel as much as I do

rayout

Civil engineer here. I get an error 404 when accessing drop box. Will need to review videos or photos to review the damage and give any suggestions.

rayout

I carry $40 of cash with me and a back up $20 in the car. 90% of the time I pay with a card, there are a few small businesses that I go to that do not accept plastic for anything more than $X so I pay cash there.

rayout

I just have a basic routine of pull-ups (5 reps of 5, different grips positions), hangs, 50 squats, 50 push ups mixed with planks and other floor exercises that I try to do each day. Now that it is nice outside I will be adding some cardio work and long walks to build endurance for a mud run coming ...

rayout

I use it. Very easy to automate, I "direct deposit" $50 from my check account each month to qualify for the 6% rate.

rayout

If your goal is to maximize nutrient intake, consider adding organ meats and home made broth, both of which have extremely high nutrient densities.

rayout

1. Find what matters to you. Make time for it, schedule work around it, love it, enjoy it. 2. Get healthy. I do a quick bodyweight based workout each day, 50 push ups, 50 squats, 25 pull ups. Eat a clean diet. 3. Take some time to appreciate what you have and refocus on what your goals are. 4. Set r...

rayout

260K is pretty good. I bought my first car (1994 Civic) with 150K miles and it made it to 200K before I sold it with some nagging brake issues. I picked up a 2005 Prius with 155K miles to replace it. Put about 30K miles on it so far. Going to shoot for 250K before I change vehicles. I am not sure if...

rayout

Did you mark the box that states the child can be claimed as a dependent on another form? This may have something to do with it. TaxAct indicated the issues was that the total qualified education expenses was 0 since the grants/scholarships exceeded the qualified education expenses. My thought is t...

rayout

When you write "this year" I take that to mean 2015, so none of that is used for last year's tax return. There are many different kinds of education credits, so see Pub 970. If tuition is $20K per year and he paid only $10K in tuition last year and got $11K in tuition credits, then he didn't pay an...

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I am assisting a family member with their income taxes for the first time this year. Tuition for each of his children is ~$20K per year. I understand he has paid ~$10K for each of his two children for college this year. Only ~10K was reported as qualified education expenses in the 1098 T. The 1098 T...

rayout

Have you taken a look at a Prius C? Seems like it might be a good fit. Last years or used models seems to be slightly discounted now as sellers are facing reduced demand due to the lower gas prices. I cannot complain about the reliability of my 2005 Prius. I bought with around 150K miles a couple ye...

rayout

Walgreens' house brand makes a very good dark chocolate bar. "Delish" Midnight Dark - 70% cacao. ~$2/3.5 oz bar.

rayout

Before you go through any effort to replace the machine, first try adding borax to your load to help with the hard water. It's pretty cheap at my local Menards. My dishwasher cleans fine, but I do add it to my laundry: http://www.20muleteamlaundry.com/how-to ... detergent/

rayout

I went with this: http://iamnotaprogrammer.com/Ikea-Stand ... llars.html

Same benefits as SwampDonkey noted. Love it.

rayout

I guess you could say a little under 20% of gross but in reality my property is cash flow positive and the rental income more than covers the mortgage.

rayout

Shadowrun: Project Dragonfall is a tactical RPG with a gameplay system similar to the old isometric fallout games. Excellent storytelling and character development. I recommend it for those of you that enjoyed that game or Xcom.

rayout

I will owe about $1K each to the feds and IL.

rayout

https://www.savedaily.com/partners/acu/funds.asp?Type=30 Alliant's HSA includes Vanguard funds...not sure what other fees are associated with it though. I bank at Alliant but my HSA is at HSAbank. I was not aware that Alliant offered investments as part of their HSA until I read this thread and dug ...

rayout

Never found any value in a realtor. When I bought my home, I used a real estate lawyer who acted as my agent and refunded half his commission to me. I scheduled showings through the list agent. I was extremely happy with the experience. My "agent/lawyer" had no conflict of interest as he really didn...

rayout

I auto-transfer once a month. I set it up/adjust amounts at the beginning of each year.

rayout

Many thanks!

rayout

I automated my investments so I don't have to bother checking. I check periodically still but really only take action at the start of the year once my IRA contribution hits.

rayout

Some fun board games. Not necessarily classics now but I think they will be: Fun for all ages: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/40990/word-street Transitions into a drinking game when the kids are in college (featured in the WSJ today): http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/327/loopin-louie Another f...

rayout

Worth checking out the pinball hall of fame: http://www.pinballmuseum.org/

All earnings are donated!

rayout

http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/ Interesting take on the matter. She also notes that lard used in the old days was from pastured pork and had higher quantities of ALA omega 3 fatty acids so lard from pastured pigs might be another option if...

rayout

I felt the same way 6 years ago after I graduated making 50% less than my two good friends that went into IT while I instead worked for a small engineering firm. I focused on being the best employee I could be and worked as hard as possible to be better than my peers. I am now transitioning into a n...

rayout

Try city-data.com

Just checked and it had 2000 and 2009 race data for my town.

rayout

I recently made a similar decision on whether to leave my current firm for another and while the monetary compensation is orders of magnitude lower than your situation, I went with the new firm which offered the most personal and career growth.

rayout

I also live in the Chicago suburbs and recently came to the conclusion that our grocery bills are WAY too high. We primarily shop at Marianos, which I guess would be considered kinda middle of the road in terms of price. As I started to analyze things, I realized that I need to shop a little bit sm...

rayout

Bought and moved into a duplex a couple of years ago that has sufficient cashflow that I could pretty much survive frugally (i.e. no eating out) and make the mortgage assuming I had full occupancy (two roommates + 1 tenant). Pretty comfortable after that but that has not stopped me from trying to ac...

rayout

My problem is there is nothing I really enjoy that could translate into a career. Most of my time is spent reading and playing on the computer but things like programming don't interest me. I'd like to answer this question better but I just can't find the right words for it. If you have enough of a...

rayout

Chase quick pay is what I use. Can be annoying to set up for those who do not bank with Chase. I have two roommates, one prefers to use Chase Quick Pay (he banks with a local credit union), the other prefers to pay by check.

rayout

I used an inspector that charged $100 more than typical. He was recommended by a real estate lawyer and was worth every penny. I probably spent close to $2,000 on various inspections of rental properties with him before I made purchase. He was extremely well versed on the construction methods of hom...

rayout

My current residence is a duplex. I rent out the other side. I plan on paying off my mortgage at 3.625% as slowly as possible

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