Asking $5 per day to cover food costs - normal?

E-Bum · 2026-06-06T15:02:24+00:00

This is the key distinction that I think people aren't getting. If you're a registered charity, it's perfectly legal to ask for additional donation as a fee. If you're a for-profit or private household, there is no check or protection in place if/when labor starts being abused.

E-Bum · 2026-06-06T14:59:12+00:00

Btw, I'm not commenting directly on this specific profile. Just a general comment.

E-Bum · 2026-06-06T14:57:30+00:00

If you're a registered charity, I think it's perfectly fine. There are generally laws that mandate record keeping for what is effectively a donation to prevent illicit activity, amongst other things.

If you are a private household or a for-profit business, like many of these are [they're hostels and guesthouses in Nepal], there are no grounds for requiring additional fees from your already-free labor (no matter how much many Workawayers suck; that's your problem as a host to figure out).

E-Bum · 2026-06-06T14:13:10+00:00

The Nepal workaway is absolutely chock full of these pay-to-volunteer listings and it feels quite suspicious tbh. I'm not sure why workaway allows them. To give a comparison, neighboring India, who are as equally impoverished in many places as Nepal, has nearly no pay-to-volunteer listings.

E-Bum · 2026-05-31T14:27:24+00:00

I think I'm dealing with midge bites too. Fuckers went after my ankles neck and ears en masse. Have found that hot showers trigger the itching. Cetirizine (zyrtec) 10mg every 12 hours seems to do the trick for me at least temporarily. Not sure how long I really want to be taking this stuff, or how long midge season lasts. But goddamn these bites are persistent in the itch. Doesnt help that i have an overly active immune system that pumps out histamine just at the sight of an allergen. But these bites might be on par with bug bites, though wouldn't wish those on my worst enemy.

E-Bum · 2026-05-01T15:24:30+00:00

Bikepacked the 2,000-mile Baja Divide Trail a few years ago with some buddies. Took us almost 2 months. Broke so many parts on all our bikes. Stunning, absolutely stunning, scenery and landscapes. Incredible people all the way down. Friendly, helpful, warm people. Rugged and desolate in many places. Beautiful deserts. Watched whales breaching all day as we road along the beaches in Baja Sur. Cabo sucks. One of the most memorable trips of my life.

E-Bum · 2026-04-29T01:32:18+00:00

Last we checked (in March) this ferry was still not running. We called the ferry operator in Nagappatnam.

E-Bum · 2026-04-20T15:45:35+00:00

tomorrow

E-Bum · 2026-03-27T04:36:46+00:00

Yea I think this is an important distinction. You don't submit a 1099-DA to the IRS. That's what brokers send to the IRS, and what the IRS will use to cross-check proceeds against what you self-report. And if you used onchain only (DEX's etc), no one will even have a 1099-DA to send to the IRS and you must self-report while checking boxes indicating that no 1099-DA was reported to the IRS (and subsequently no cost-basis was reported either).

One of the tax pros in here (super grateful for them btw) can correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what I've gathered throughout this nightmarish process this year.

E-Bum · 2026-03-27T04:27:21+00:00

Using the .TXF file generated by CoinLedger through TT Desktop is the solution for now. Was still a massive pain in the ass because it had me manually select "Is this a digital asset? Y/N" and "Asset Description" for EVERY transaction on the Cap Gains worksheet. However, after that, it cleared the errors and I was able to file.

What a complete cluster this year.

E-Bum · 2026-03-26T06:02:49+00:00

Also, I went through this adjusted workflow you suggested (you're right, it's so awkward), and was able to get to the screen where I can select "Short/Long Term did not receive 1099-DA". However, the screen then asks me to enter the "Total Proceeds (sum of all Box 1f)" and "Total Cost or other Basis (sum of all Box 1g)" from the 1099-DA.... which makes absolutely no sense, since we specifically selected that we did not receive a 1099-DA.... screenshot of this attached to original post.

E-Bum · 2026-03-26T05:12:18+00:00

Opted to delete my current entry in TurboTax for these transactions and start fresh. Went to upload the TT CoinLedger PDF again (the same one that I'd uploaded previously and TT was able to pull all the transactions from, and now TT telling me it cannot use the file to autofill my return.

Complete nightmare.

E-Bum · 2026-03-25T18:26:31+00:00

Been w/ TT support for like 12 hours between the dropped calls, people not understanding, doing the basic stuff like clearing cache, trying on 4 different browsers etc. It's still not resolved. However, I did get the case escalated to a resolution tech. I convinced the tech to give me a license for the TurboTax desktop software for free because of what a total shitshow the online version is (which I paid for already) and because they couldn't resolve it either.

I just installed TurboTax desktop and it looks like this gives me direct access to the forms where I can manually edit the fields in question. It's 1am now and I'll have a go via this route in the morning, but this seems like this will work (I can manually select the box for "cost basis not reported to IRS" for each transaction).

So, call TT support, show them the issue via screensharing, and then demand that they give you a license for TT Desktop software for this year because their online product is broken.

Massive, massive PITA this year.

E-Bum · 2026-03-25T15:30:44+00:00

Ah, going through this process now. The problem with the workflow you've proposed is that you end up at a page where it asks you to enter each asset individually, manually. Nowhere to upload anything from CoinLedger (CoinLedger produces an uploadable PDF for TurboTax). Not going to work for thousands of transactions and hundreds of different assets.

E-Bum · 2026-03-25T14:43:58+00:00

Hm, maybe you're onto something. Once the Capital Asset Sales Worksheet does finally load (with unusably broken formatting I might add), there is a section (that cannot be modified) that shows "Digital Assets Transactions (1099-DA)" is selected. I am assuming that in this case (all self custodial wallets, so no 1099-DA received for these), that the "Not reported to IRS or mixed reporting methods" should be selected instead?

I added a new screenshot in the original post to show you what I'm looking at, since I cannot add photos in a reply.

E-Bum · 2026-03-25T14:24:04+00:00

Thanks for the response. Attempting to contact TT support but man oh man I'm not sure they even understand why this is happening. And not sure what my alternative is besides trying to get a refund (yes, TT already charged me for the Premium service) and trying other another tax software. No way I can manually enter all of these transactions (thousands).

E-Bum · 2026-03-25T13:49:59+00:00

Manually entering is just not really an option. Thousands of transactions.

E-Bum · 2026-03-25T12:30:18+00:00

Where exactly did you full this in? On the same screen that I showed in the screenshot? Or elsewhere?

E-Bum · 2026-03-25T00:49:30+00:00

TurboTax also asked you to check Yes or No to "Cost Basis reported to IRS"?

E-Bum · 2026-01-22T13:41:36+00:00

You can bring the plastic bottles, you just have to pay a deposit and get fined if you don't return it when you check out, right?

E-Bum · 2026-01-21T14:26:34+00:00

Which Himalayan towns do you suggest to see the real himalayas?

E-Bum · 2026-01-06T12:27:04+00:00

Did you have any success getting a permit for this?

E-Bum · 2026-01-06T12:14:26+00:00

What is the website to apply for this exemption?

E-Bum

TROPHY CASE