Super General Advice (the thread for advice without making a thread)

oh yeah, TurboTax has their free file option for anyone who makes under a certain amount (which you certainly will). it's really easy, you just copy information from your w2 to the online form. with some companies, it'll even do it for you automatically with a little identification information.

 

The IRS has a system to file online free on their website now, which is a little more work, but is guaranteed not to try to trick you into entering all your info and then trying to trap you into paying a fee at the last step, which is a problem I had with tax-prep companies multiple times.

Also re: temp agencies, if you're the kind of person who's comfortable doing boring mindless paperwork-type tasks, you might want to keep an eye out for openings in stuff like data entry and mailroom. Minimal human interaction, minimal heavy lifting, probably doesn't have bizarre hours, and if you're really lucky sometimes those kinds of places offer more permanent positions to temps if they like them.

 

Thank you everyone ❤️

Hopeful update: my aunt is helping me get a job as a bus monitor at her school, which I REALLY HOPE I GET, obviously

And my sister hooked me up with a really nice tax guy who only charges like sixty dollars, and also lets you pet his multiple cats while he does the taxes

So things look better than before!

 

I'm so glad you were able to get help! A big factor in Job Stuff that I didn't want to mention in case it wasn't available to you at all really is connections, alas.

 

do you know if the IRS system is able to help walk one through freelance income reporting (invoice/direct deposit type payments so i have literally no forms involved), and/or foreign earned income? Alas, my tax situation is complicated enough that even though i make less than 40k a year turbotax refuses to charge me less than $100 to help me so I'm thinking about switching this year if i can without risking, like, fucking it up real bad

 

The IRS system doesn't have automated walking through things, unfortunately. I had to actually keep links to the tax form instructions open to do mine. I did find out in the process that I think Turbotax et al had been trying to make me do tax fraud every year, though.

 

guhhhhh. the instructions are so dense that most the time i can't get through like three steps without feeling like i've almost certainly made a mistake >.< i literally couldn't get through the 1040es and i'm guessing how much i owe the gov't quarterly because after I'd already gone through like 3 or 4 steps where i was only 75% sure I was correct in what I was supposed to do, it asked me to estimate my income tax withheld and i have NO clue how to do that at all and when i tried to fill out a different websites withholding estimate it seemed to tell me that i had enough being withheld in my regular jobs this year to make up for what i would be paying quarterly for freelance and aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

so i gave up, calculated 12% of my freelance income this year, and gave the government half of that (i only got a freelance gig that got me enough to have to report freelance income in august so there's only 2 quarters left so i???? assume????? that's what I'm supposed to do but i for the life of me could not figure out how to word 'how do you do quarterly freelance tax payments if you start mid-year' in a way that google understood and only got pages very broadly describing what quarterly payments even are) and i figure if i am overpaying them it'll come back in my return and i'd rather that than the fees that i also can't figure out how they work

 

I am perpetually in a state of simmering rage about US tax paperwork, because there is literally no reason for it to be like this, but every time someone tries to make it easier it gets blocked by the tax prep industry lobby.

Anyway all I know to do is maybe try asking at your local public library? That's the sort of thing where a librarian might know local resources to point you to or be able to help you find a print resource that sucks less.

 

Luckily, my best friend from childhood's mom is a retired tax person, so this year I'll probably push past the awkwardness and ask her for help

 

looks like they do self-employed which is my situation, even if I have to end up using their deluxe or pro support it looks like it'd be less than turbotax, which was charging me ~$120 the last few years. so. still an improvement!! thanks

 

So like. How do I stop the urge to date anyone who has been nice to me and easy to talk to over an extended period of time? Like I've done this song and dance before where I just wait it out, and my feelings fade into steady friendship (or separation) nearly every time but when I'm down in the trenches I want to be all romantical like burning. I don't wanna fuck this up just because someone I love is actually paying attention to me. Help???

 

Late here so you might already have gotten past this stage, but my way of handling it is honestly when it gets so bad it's distracting me from life, I just tell them I have a crush. I don't even ask the person out and I always specify that I am *not* seeking a relationship -- but just mentioning the occurrence usually resolves it faster, since they either (A) reciprocate some level of feelings and so we can move forward with that or (B) respectfully remind me that they do not reciprocate such emotions, and that typically reinforces for my brain to Stop Pining.

I do not have advice for the part where people are flustered and anxious about telling people they like them, alas. :(

 

Just Go For It (With Caveats) seems to be the best way to go here, thanks. I'm sure he'll understand

 

can anyone recommend me a good brand of office chair? my old gamer chair I dug out of the trash finally needs replacement. ideally I want to get one that's wide enough to sit cross legged and has removable arms

 

So I've been looking to buy a house for a while now. Yesterday something in my price range came up in the area I'm looking for, I sent an inquiry about it, and now I'm feeling anxious because I don't Know The Procedure for buying a house. Can anyone give me like, the very broad strokes step-by-step of how it happens? Or maybe a link to a useful blog? I'm pretty much totally ignorant and overwhelmed even figuring out where to start lol. I got pre-approved by my bank but that's it.

 

Do you have an agent who's helping you? That's your first step, since they'll know all your local rules and prepare the paperwork and things like that. When you or they find a listing you're interested in, they'll help arrange a tour. If you can, you'll want to look at about 4 or 5 places before you make a decision just to get a sense of your options. I didn't end up doing any haggling about the price for my place so I don't know how that goes, but when you make an offer, you do a bunch of paperwork and write a check for the first $1000 or something to prove you're serious (you get it back if the deal doesn't go through). You can put contingencies on the offer, like if you're not sure of your financing, and it's pretty standard to at least make it contingent on a home inspection. In that case, if the seller accepts your offer, you hire a guy (our agent gave us several suggestions) who goes over the building with a fine-tooth comb to see if, say, the roof is about to cave in or there's a crawl space full of black mold or something. If you still want to go forward, you make an appointment to sign the deal, talk to your bank to make sure you've got the payment set up, and then you all meet in some lawyer's office and everyone signs everything and you pay them a whole lot of money and get the deed and the keys.

 

Hi, just bought a house!

first (technically optional) step is finding a realtor. They have the ability to haggle down, find you good deals, get you what you think you need and things you don’t even know you need. Sellers will pay for their services at closing, so you don’t have to worry about paying them at the end of a sale. At the end of the day the realtor is there to make a sale so if you have concerns, you have every right to fire them and find a new agent.

Getting a pre-approval letter and eventually a loan is usually step two. Loan officers will do the behind the scenes work and get everything in order for you to make sure closing goes as smooth as possible. A hard credit check will happen, but you will be soft approved for the current rates for a while. If no sale happens in 120 days another credit check will happen (I assume, based on my contracts, we never got that unlucky). You’re already at this step, which is great!

Whatever loan you’re approved for: do not go for the highest amount possible. If you get an $800k loan because you have a neat credit score don’t look for those mansions. Find something in your actual range. Consider your debts and consider that (if you’re renting) your rent is your ceiling and your mortgage will be your floor. You will be house poor for quite a while after.

Whatever home you ultimately buy under whatever loan you are approved for, expect to have about 3% of the price of the home in upfront costs on top of the down payment cost. We were approved for an FHA loan, so our down payment was 3.5% but we had closing costs that jumped our final closing costs to around 7-8%. You will have different princes depending on different loans. Be aware it will be a couple tens of thousands of dollars.

Ask to tour your potential buy. My realtor actually sent fiancé and I several homes (in the near 100s based on the criteria we specified). We picked out and toured about 14 over a period of two months after hiring her a month prior.

After touring the home and being sure that’s the one you want, you put in an offer. If you’re working with a realtor, they might be able to help you negotiate price, and should be able to look up the condition of the home before you offer so you can give the seller an informed offer. If you’re buying a fixer upper, this is less important than buying a move-in stable home. Different loans have different sale conditions as well. A home won’t be sold with an FHA loan if it’s unsafe to inhabit.

If you and the seller come to an agreement, you can then put in various costs for inspections, to make sure you’re not walking into a nightmare. Testing for specific issues like does the house have sewer access, is there leaking of the roof and hidden water damage, things like that. Major issues and you may be able to re-negotiate your offer letter to ask for what are called concessions (costs the seller provides that does not put cash in your hand nor will it fix the issues you found but lowers the overall price you pay on the home).

This entire time your loan officer should be in the background getting things set up with the title company and making sure a transfer happens without a hitch.

A day or two before closing, ask for another tour. If the previous owners were living in the home during the first tour you need this to make sure no damage happened while they were moving out. If this was a house that was uninhabited during the first tour this step is optional.

Sign for your home, get your keys, congrats! You have a home.

All of this is a very tedious process, involves a lot of paperwork, and the unfortunate reality is you aren’t the only person looking at a house. You might not get the home you have your eye on, you might find the home you did want is too good to be true and there’s in-over-your-head issues you didn’t foresee coming up. The realtor is sort of there to throw houses at you for that exact reason, and guides you to what’s worth offering on and what might be too overpriced. We tried to offer on a home back in August and they refused to budge on price despite having an asbestos siding. This is a home we actually were willing to go above budget for, too, as it had nearly everything we wanted. We closed on a home at the end of September, that house is still on the market. Some people just are selling with the idea their home is worth more than it actually is.

 

Your answer is much better than mine, lol.

Anecdote on this subject: when I was looking at houses, there was one place we toured that the realtor told us was probably going to sell very quickly- we walked through the morning the listing went up, and it sold that afternoon. Meanwhile, another one we looked at still has a sale sign out front even though it's been on the market for more than two years now.

 

There was a home I toured that if we didn’t put an offer in that afternoon was going to close. We didn’t put an offer in because it was literally the first home we looked at.

my realtor told me that the best time to buy a house is five years ago. Everything in the market that was in my price range (350k in the area) is overpriced and the has all buyers no sellers because everybody is selling their (correctly priced) 800k homes to downsize for retirement, fighting with first time home owners, and those selling are trying to get more than the home is actually worth.

You’re going to find some real stinkers in your price range (assuming you pass on the home you have your eye on), just keep looking. The house we closed on was a fast sell from a lady who needed it gone because she has dementia and wanted to move in with her daughter ASAP. Luck of the draw meant not only did we get an “at value” house that had virtually no major issues and was move-in ready, we also haggled the price down $20k.