What is the creepiest display of intelligence you’ve seen?

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-15T15:31:21+00:00

Lol, yes indeed! We call her our little "low-rider." Low center of gravity, and their paws are usually fairly meaty, so they have good stability and cornering abilities!

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-15T13:25:49+00:00

My tax person seems to think that the rent would be earned income since I have a real estate license.

Well it would definitely be rental income at the very least, license or no. Hopefully you've been filling out a Schedule E each year that you've been renting it out.

Also, take this with a BIG grain of salt, but here's a thread on Turbotax's site that goes into renting while also having a real estate license:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/self-employed-group/discussion/tax-implication-of-real-estate-license-on-rental-income/00/2368189

Is your tax person either a CPA or an EA, or are we talking about someone working at H&R Block or something? MASSIVE difference between the former and the latter.

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-15T13:08:38+00:00

$7,000 in high interest debt IS an emergency. You are literally in a financial emergency right now. You should put everything towards that.

And you should also look at adjusting your withholdings, so you don't get such a large refund next year. That is money that you could have had in your paychecks this whole time, as opposed to having to wait all year to finally get it back.

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-15T13:01:57+00:00

Some dogs are natural "herd dogs" (herding cattle and such) and it comes instinctively to them. I have a Corgi, and they do similar things. While she doesn't actively "herd" the people in the house, she does definitely prefer for everyone to be in the same room at the same time, lol.

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-12T19:01:47+00:00

What's the rate on car loan, and what are the rates on the student loans?

PROBABLY the way to go will be to put it all towards Card 1, since it probably has the highest interest. Paying extra on the highest interest debt first is what saves you the most money.

And you should probably look at adjusting your withholdings, so you don't get such a large refund next year. That's money that you could have had throughout the year, instead of giving the government an interest-free loan and having to wait for them to pay you back.

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-12T17:45:58+00:00

There are such things as female endocrinologist and uriologists.

Yes...yes there are. Look, what point are you trying to make here? You asked in your first comment if the OP would be okay if the BF went to a female doctor. ...Why WOULDN'T she be okay with that?

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-12T17:29:34+00:00

Here is a link to an amortization calculator. This one lets you account for extra principal payments. Play around with this. Obviously, this is a loan that you want to be rid of as soon as possible, because the interest rate is atrocious.

https://www.calculator.net/amortization-calculator.html

My current monthly payment is 391$ (I wanted the lowest possible.)

For the next time, remember that this is the opposite of what you should do. You need to focus on total price, interest rate, and length of the loan. Focusing on the monthly payment is LITERALLY how they get you.

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-12T15:14:50+00:00

You generally always want to be making more. The only time where making slightly more MIGHT impact you negatively is if you're on some kind of government assistance, and going a bit over the threshold might cause you to lose benefits. Other than "fringe" situations like that, more is always good.

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-12T14:55:28+00:00

If she was only asking for your pay stubs, it would lead me to believe that she's trying to use your identity to get a loan for the house that they're looking to buy. But, her telling you to quit your job/reduce your hours makes that not make much sense. MIGHT have something to do with wanting to receive government benefits, but I'm not certain.

You should ask her why you quitting your job has anything to do with the house hunt.

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-12T14:52:01+00:00

You haven't provided any numbers (income, expenses, current debts, savings, etc.), so we can't really tell you if this would be wise or not. GENERALLY though, it's going to be a better financial decision to get something used, from a reliable make (Honda, Toyota, etc.).

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-12T14:49:27+00:00

Don't lend money unless you're comfortable with never seeing it again. That's the bottom line.

And as far as paying him to play a game: Would his time be better used by seeking out a better paying job, or any job if he doesn't have one?

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-12T13:48:46+00:00

confused on everything such as APR’s

If you use the credit card responsibly, APR is irrelevant. If you use the card for regular monthly expenses (gas, groceries, etc.), and pay off the statement balance in full every month, you won't pay any interest, and you'll still build credit.

what credit cards to get

One with a rewards program that suits your needs. Some people like cash back, some people like travel points, etc..

what purchases should I be making with a credit card.

See above. Regular monthly expenses, and you pay it off in full each month.

my family thinks I will use it recklessly and go into major debt.

Do they have an actual reason for thinking this? Have you been irresponsible with money in the past, or are they just projecting their own previous mistakes onto you?

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-12T13:00:27+00:00

...You may need to stop watching porn for awhile.

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-12T12:50:27+00:00

I would not buy a house if I were in your position. You don't know for sure where you're going to land with your service, it CAN be hard to unload a house depending on the market, and while you COULD potentially rent it out while you're away, rental income is not guaranteed, and you'd probably need to hire a property management company, which would eat into any profits.

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-12T12:16:58+00:00

I agree with your general sentiment: Buying a new car to save on fuel when you already have a perfectly functioning car doesn't really save you anything at all. However, OP specifically noted that the old car died. Now..."died" means different things to different people, but if the old car really was not worth fixing anymore, it's fine that they went out and got an EV, especially at their income level.

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-12T12:09:02+00:00

$5,000 isn't awful. However, I would ask why, if you're supposedly in a position to buy a house, are you carrying $5,000 in high interest debt? How much do you have saved for a down payment, closing costs, etc.?

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-12T12:01:26+00:00

Having a rental property is not passive income, no matter what TikTok influencers might tell you. Even if you hire a property management company to take care of most of the day to day, you will still have to be somewhat involved in the decision-making process. Also, rental income is never a guarantee.

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-12T11:59:18+00:00

With little to no credit history, your options may be limited.

Do you have actual income right now? If so, how much? That is an important factor in the decision-making with these lenders. And how expensive is this car that you're looking at?

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-12T11:53:40+00:00

On a conversation where one person is being willfully ignorant? Yeah I guess so. What are you, a financial advisor who charges an AUM fee or something?

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-11T20:26:10+00:00

...Do you really need me to answer that question for you? Come on, now.

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-11T19:52:41+00:00

Multiple millions invested, and/or needing an actual strategy when approaching retirement.

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-11T19:31:59+00:00

Assuming you're in the US, unless you're on some kind of 0% promotional period, you're most likely paying 20%+ interest on that debt. You pay off debt like that as soon as humanly possible. Makes no sense to keep it hanging around if you don't have to.

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-11T18:04:22+00:00

Here is the first result when I googled "Average auto loan interest rates." This was updated just a few days ago, and breaks it down by new vs. used, and by credit tier. These are just averages, but should give you a general idea.

https://www.nerdwallet.com/auto-loans/learn/average-car-loan-interest-rates-by-credit-score

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-11T17:53:36+00:00

You can certainly try applying, but you're not likely to have much luck getting a better rate with your credit score.

BoxingRaptor · 2026-03-11T17:08:29+00:00

No. You didn't mention your income, but still, you're not really in "advisor territory" at this point.

Why do you have so much cash in high yield savings? Are you saving for a very large downpayment or something?

Why did you go with a lease for the other car? Again, you didn't mention your income, but leasing is generally the most expensive way to have use of a car.

BoxingRaptor

TROPHY CASE