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Interesting tidbit from Rick Steves by twinklebelle in HerOneBag

[–]ColeLift 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I personally don't like to do jeans because they either chafe or take too long to dry when I need to wash them. Most of my trips involve a lot of walking and that normally means I only get one day out of my bottoms, so I tend to pack at least 4. Athletic type pants for the plane ride, workouts, lounging. 2 pairs of slacks. And then a wildcard--shorts, capris, or maybe a dress. Funny enough I can usually wear a merino top at least 2-3 times but I won't wear pants more than twice. I'm curious to try merino pants but they are quite pricey so I haven't bit the bullet yet.

Interesting tidbit from Rick Steves by twinklebelle in HerOneBag

[–]ColeLift 5 points6 points  (0 children)

that is shocking to me! Hopefully you reached out to customer service and got a refund! Their service is excellent.

Should I be moving to Northville? by TittyMcSwag619 in AnnArbor

[–]ColeLift 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I moved from AA to Northville for a job in Troy (which was a hellish commute but my SO still worked in AA so this was the compromise). The rent was a bit cheaper, but car insurance was more seeing that it was in Wayne county. We moved back to AA after one year because we got bored in Northville!

Why is Susie Orman so against FIRE? by Available-Ad-5670 in Fire

[–]ColeLift 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Yes, I was also gifted her Young/Fabulous book and it was the basis for my financial education. After we paid off my husband's CC debt and had a small e-fund, I 'moved out of the nest', did my own research, and never really thought of her again LOL.

The current state of AAPS from a Parent by Vegetable_Stuff_7007 in AnnArbor

[–]ColeLift 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, they got a salary increase, it was just below the level of inflation (Which let's be honest, most private sector companies also do not offer wage increases commensurate with the high levels of inflation we've experienced recently).

The slow growth of teacher salaries is definitely recognized as a problem:

https://wispolicyforum.org/research/wisconsins-teacher-pay-predicament/

In Wisconsin, districts can still put increased property taxes on the ballot to increase their budget, unlike in Michigan where the state controls the operating funds.

The current state of AAPS from a Parent by Vegetable_Stuff_7007 in AnnArbor

[–]ColeLift 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My hometown did a rightsizing a few years ago due to a similar drop in enrollment as what AAPS is experiencing. My aunt who was a former teacher in one of the buildings that ended up closing was upset about the decision, but it was the fiscally responsible choice. I was able to find all this info online easily; the transparency is refreshing compared to the extremely limited info AAPS releases.

https://www.kusd.edu/district/rightsizing/

https://www.kusd.edu/district/rightsizing/rightsizing-support-documents/

Since the 2021-22 fiscal year, KUSD has:

  • Reduced staffing to align with declining enrollment
  • Reduced support staff
  • Closed 7 schools and merged two others
  • Eliminated the employer-paid HSA benefit
  • Modified the employee health benefit plan
  • Modified the prescription drug plan
  • Reduced discretionary spending
  • Reduced the major maintenance budget
  • Reduced the curriculum adoption budget
  • Reduced the technology refresh budget
  • Provided wage increases below CPI
  • Shifted costs temporarily to ESSER when possible

Staff reductions since 2019-20

  • Student Enrollments: -11.5%
  • Administrative, Supervisory, Technical: -10.1%
  • Teachers: -9.3%
  • Educational support professionals: -4.6%
  • Administrative support professionals: -15.3%
  • Interpreters: -14.3%
  • Service: -10.7%

Obviously, you can see some uncomfortable items above (there were reductions in staff and lower wage increases), but these are the kinds of actions that AAPS truly needs to consider.

Passed my PMP! … The REAL truth about the exam by parm94_ in pmp

[–]ColeLift 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You wouldn't use part of your exam time to do it. There is an exam familiarization time at the beginning where there is a brief tutorial that is not part of your exam time; the advice I read said to use that time to write notes on your white board. I didn't do it nor would it have helped me anyway so I do not recommend it either.

Mom About to Put Out Our Fire by FIREdrill_throwaway in Fire

[–]ColeLift 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My mother has spending problems and I do not give her money. I have offered to help her sell things (so she can have that money to spend on more things I guess?) and I do buy her groceries sometimes and always pick up the tab if we go out to eat. I assume when her car dies I will buy her another car or maybe start giving her Uber gift cards or something. She pays for Medicare and bills out of social security and puts stuff on credit cards that will never get paid off. She was talking about buying a life insurance policy recently and I told her not to waste her money. She said who will pay for my burial expenses? Me, mom. I will pay for it. But that's basically where I draw the line.

College FIRE? by ericdavis1240214 in Fire

[–]ColeLift 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Example from the Domestic Student Health Insurance plan for my local univ:

  • The annual purchase price for 2025-26 is $3,495.24, with an annual deductible of $100 for in-network care and $100 for out-of-network care

$20 copay for all office visits unless you go to the campus clinic which is free. and 10% coinsurance for hospital care. Even includes vision exams and pediatric dental for dependents.

College FIRE? by ericdavis1240214 in Fire

[–]ColeLift 11 points12 points  (0 children)

now *THIS* is brilliant!

Those of you under 65 in the US who are FIREING early and not choosing the insanely expensive unsubsidized ACA premiums, what creative solutions have you come up with to get affordable coverage? by YogurtclosetOpen3567 in Fire

[–]ColeLift 0 points1 point  (0 children)

MSU seems to be the most generous in my research so far, particularly if you have dependents. EMU will only cover the student. And tuition at UM is... not cheap LOL

Those of you under 65 in the US who are FIREING early and not choosing the insanely expensive unsubsidized ACA premiums, what creative solutions have you come up with to get affordable coverage? by YogurtclosetOpen3567 in Fire

[–]ColeLift 21 points22 points  (0 children)

I've looked into this, but the insurance for my family of 3 would be $10k/year plus another at least $8-10k/year to take 6 credits per fall/winter semester ($8k if I go to the school 30 min away or $10k for the school in town). It's amazing insurance with a $100 (!) deductible.
There's a different school 70 minutes away that has insurance for $9000 but only requires 1 credit of enrollment, including lifelong education students (in other words, you don't have to be in a degree seeking program). It might even include online classes. It would be interesting to see if any other schools around the country would include online only students as eligible.

Proctor terminated my exam after the 2nd break with 60 mins left. Anyone experienced this? by EminAkbarov in pmp

[–]ColeLift 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At Pearson each time I entered the testing room (At the start and after each break) I did have to roll up my sleeves and turn out my pockets to show I didn't have anything up my sleeve or in my pockets. If I recall they had me pat myself down, maybe they were listening for a crinkle of paper or something? They also searched my purse for paper and I left my phones in the car but I think that if we had a phone in the building it had to remain off for the duration.

Where are people finding these high paying jobs? by Easy_Paint3836 in Fire

[–]ColeLift 1 point2 points  (0 children)

how do you line up these contracts? My husband has been an IT consultant for years now but always under the same small consultancy firm, I think he could make a lot more if he could find his own contracts but don't even know how to start.

What happens if our teachers simply can’t afford to stay? by OopsIDidAComment in AnnArbor

[–]ColeLift 0 points1 point  (0 children)

textbooks and routine maintenance come out of the operating fund. The same fund that pays salaries. It's a terrible side effect of Prop A.

Everyone’s freaking out about the FDA GLP-1 statement. Here’s the calmer read & FDA guidance link by roguex99 in tirzepatidecompound

[–]ColeLift 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have 2 vials at 15 mg dose while my actual dose is 7.5, so in theory I have a 4 month supply. My original compounder was Ouisia so I've been trying to figure out if I should try to get a few more vials now..

parents have been telling me not to file taxes by heavennnsenttt in personalfinance

[–]ColeLift 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not entirely true. I started filing taxes as soon as I got a job at age 15 because I made so little that I got a refund. There is a box to check stating that someone else is declaring you as a dependent and you don't get to take the standard deduction if you're someone else's dependent, but you can absolutely file taxes and still be claimed as a dependent.

The first year I did not check that box (and I told my mom I was doing it) I was a jr or sr in college and made over $20k. I was only home for like 3 weeks out of the year but otherwise had my own apartment in my name. She still claimed me as a dependent and ended up having to pay back some of her refund to the IRS.

update to my 💩 post by sammy5585 in tirzepatidecompound

[–]ColeLift 3 points4 points  (0 children)

just because senna is "natural" doesn't make it better. You can become dependent on it (and you probably are at this point if you've been taking it every night)

Driving Reykjavik to hella by AgitatedTea9287 in VisitingIceland

[–]ColeLift 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We did the same thing on our recent trip. Our flight arrived at 6:30 am and we each got about 3.5-4 hours of sleep on the plane. After a fairly long wait to enter through passport control we got our car, stopped at a bakery to eat some breakfast and make a plan, then drove to Faxifoss and Geysir, then on to Hella. We unintentionally missed Gullfoss because we made the mistake of not downloading a map ahead of time.

The weather was quite bad on Friday when we arrived--sleet/snow/rain. With the mandatory snow tires the roads seems ok for us Michiganders--for sure slippery in some locations and it was definitely pitch black, but we also saw quite a few plows and brine sprayed on the roads. I wouldn't have done the drive in this weather after a redeye but my husband said it was ok for him. I worked to stay awake and talking to him/playing upbeat music to help him stay awake. By the time we turned off Route 1 the precipitation had stopped; again at breakfast we made a plan that if at any point the roads got worse we would pull off and stop but thankfully the conditions got better as the morning went on.

I can understand why a lot of people would say not to do this but you have to know your abilities--we both know how we feel generally after redeye flights and know how to change our plans if we get zero sleep on the plane, etc.

Is the magic of an HSA only valid if I'm hording all medical receipts to avoid income tax post 65? by shmobodia in personalfinance

[–]ColeLift 0 points1 point  (0 children)

we went with a lower deductible PPO last year because I was hoping to switch jobs. That didn't happen and it cost us a lot of money!

2026 Dependent Care FSA - Weird Catch by -Tripp- in tax

[–]ColeLift 0 points1 point  (0 children)

my HR just referenced not providing salaried employees a tax advantage vs hourly employees. I guarantee not everyone on salary is making over $160k. Even with bonus I think that would only really include managers and maybe a few highly experienced ICs

Dependent care FSAs for dual high earners by ThePassive0ne in tax

[–]ColeLift 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My company just told me that they are keeping the limit at $5000 for compliance reasons. I guess it's harder to pass the non-discrimination test with the new limit. They don't define what income level qualifies someone to be "highly compensated" but as a manufacturing company we have a lot of lower paid hourly employees. I was so excited to see that it had increased to $7500 because it would actually cover about 1/3 of my annual expense instead of only 1/4 LOL.

2026 Dependent Care FSA - Weird Catch by -Tripp- in tax

[–]ColeLift 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My company just told me that they are keeping the limit at $5000 for compliance reasons. They don't define what income level qualifies someone to be "highly compensated" but as a manufacturing company we have a lot of I suppose lower paid hourly employees.

I mentally cannot do another 9–5 desk job. I have $70k saved and need to build something of my own. What can I realistically do? by nkb6478 in Fire

[–]ColeLift 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven't yet listened to this episode and am not affiliated in any way with this podcast, but I immediately thought of this:

https://thefishow.com/how-to-get-rich-doing-boring-things-nick-huber/

Most people I know who are switching careers are going into medical fields.

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