I got my exemptions pretty well figured out again this year, ended up with a very small refund. Until TurboTax informed me that I can have an additional $7500 first-time homebuyer credit! Unfortunately it also says that I have to pay it back over future tax returns. Still, not a bad deal getting an interest free loan from the gov't (especially ( Read more... )

Work has been insane lately. On Friday we had a celebration (potluck lunch) for the "end of the beginning" of the school year, but my team is still very much in the middle of a crunch time with deadlines approaching. Things should settle down a little bit in a couple of weeks ( Read more... )

Comcast has a screwy pricing structure where you pay MORE for just internet service than if you get internet + cable TV. I called today to find out about transferring my service from the apartment to the house and they say there is a $20 transfer fee per service. What that means for me is $20 for the internet and $20 for the TV service that I ( Read more... )

So it's starting to look like this trial run at work may turn into a permanent promotion for me. Everyone is pretty happy with my work, of course it isn't happening by accident -- I've been putting in MAD hours in the office and in the evenings. I'm starting to feel more in-control of the situation, though ( Read more... )

So, Costco had a deal for 3 months of credit monitoring service for $7.50 (two free months) -- I jumped on it because I want to get my stuff ready and find out how big of a mortgage I would qualify for. It turns out that the 0% financing on some of my furniture is affecting my score quite a bit! I went ahead and scheduled the payment for Thursday ( Read more... )

I've been saving change for several months, now. Rather than deal out exact change when buying something, I always round up to the next dollar and the put the change away. I took it to the CoinStar machine and I had almost $50! Of course, they charge you a fee of 8.9% if you cash it out, but the fee is waived if you transfer it to a gift card. ( Read more... )

I just filed my taxes. It went very well, I think. I'm very ambivalent towards the system of withholdings and refunds, but I think I did pretty well this year. I took an additional exemption to reduce the amount withheld and ended up with a very small refund ($116).

http://finance.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=FFFFX

won won waaaaaaaaah

I wish I hadn't looked!

I tried the canned octopus last night. I expected it to be gelatinous and slimey, like spaghetti-tentacles in a snot gravy -- but in fact it was in fleshy (somewhat chewy) chunks. It was rather tasty! Mister Tickles licked on a couple of chunks for a while, but did not eat them (probably too chewy ( Read more... )

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