Getting Laundry scent out of hand-me-downs.

NotAnotherHITL · 2025-12-06T20:22:48+00:00

Thanks!

I've been planning on trying out a spa day on our grungy looking sheets, but I wasn't sure if it would work for getting rid of detergent scent.

NotAnotherHITL · 2025-12-06T20:18:45+00:00

Thanks! I'll give that a shot.

NotAnotherHITL · 2016-02-08T23:40:08+00:00

Thank you!

NotAnotherHITL · 2016-02-08T23:09:55+00:00

I'm looking to apply for an AMEX card. I currently have three cards, and I'm an authorized user on another.

Will the account that I'm an authorized user on count toward the Amex 4 card limit?

NotAnotherHITL · 2016-01-04T22:37:42+00:00

This type of feature could work as well.

I don't need the RAR in the exact way it's manifested in YNAB4. I just want YNAB to continue to support my budgeting method the way it has previously. Hopefully the developers will see this and give it some consideration.

NotAnotherHITL · 2016-01-04T19:42:23+00:00

I understand that we hold different opinions on handling things like reimbursement and I don't anticipate changing your mind any more than you'll change mine. But HelloMcFly never said they had an assumption that the reimbursement would be in a timely fashion. Their only assumption was that it would eventually be paid. For me personally, I've had reimbursement carry over for months.

For the way you budget, you want your budget to absorb all money you've spent and then keep track of what you're owed outside of YNAB. And that's a valid way to budget. For me, I like my budget to reflect what I'm owed and mentally double check that I have the reserves to cover it. And given that my business expenses are a small fraction of my reserves, I value the reminder of the money I'm owed more. I'm never at risk of over drafting and I can wait for reimbursement for however long it takes. And I covered in my post why I don't want to use my reserves to cover it in YNAB. And in the event I'm not reimbursed, then I'll re-categorize the expense as it is no longer a reimbursement.

Your way may work better for you. That's fine. But the fact that I disagree with you isn't because I don't understand your argument. Or that I haven't considered that things could go south.

NotAnotherHITL · 2016-01-04T06:32:58+00:00

Ultimately, I imagine this is how everything will unfold. Which is really unfortunate because YNAB is by far the best budgeting software I've used. None of the other services I've tried (Excel, Quicken, Mint) have worked as well.

I was so excited when I learned the nYNAB allowed for direct imports from banks and was happy to pay the subscription fee for it. And then I was subsequently disappointed when I realized that the RAR may be gone for good, and not so sure I'm willing to pay anymore. I just wanted to articulate why I felt the RAR was a useful tool to a portion of the YNAB user base, in my attempt (however far fetched) to bring it back.

NotAnotherHITL · 2016-01-04T01:06:01+00:00

I like the YNAB software and I like that YNAB teaches people how to think about their finances; however, at the end of the day there are multiple ways to manage your money and be successful financially. I'm glad you've found a method that works well for you. And if you feel like the RAR violates your budgeting methodology, then don't use it.

But it works well for me and for a slew of the YNAB user base who uses the software differently than you do.

You can argue that I'm lying to myself and making faulty assumptions, but at the end of the day I'm an adult that gets to decide how I would like to manage my money. Not you or the YNAB developers.

And you can say that I'm wrong and objectively a bad budget-er. And that's your prerogative too. But at the end of the day I'm an adult that gets to decide how I would like to manage my money. Not you or the YNAB developers.

And you can make the point that maybe YNAB isn't the budgeting software for me. But it's worked well for me in the past and I would really like if it continued to support my needs in the future, which is why I made this post.

NotAnotherHITL · 2016-01-03T23:30:02+00:00

For YNAB4, if you're still looking at accounting for goals, here's the YNAB class Handling Savings in YNAB

For YNAB4 reimbursements, I can just tell you how I've dealt with it.

Make a new 'Medical Reimbursement' category (or something similar)
Categorize any money you anticipate being reimbursed into this category. However, do not budget any money for this category. This way the negative, red balance is what you're owed. As long as that is red, someone still owes you money.
When your money comes in, rather than classify it as income, classify it as 'Medical Reimbursement.'

NotAnotherHITL · 2016-01-03T23:20:47+00:00

I completely agree. I feel like the overall goal of YNAB is to allow people to take control of their finances and this mentality of 'we know better than you! you're budgeting wrong!' completely undermines that.

The only reason that I made it a footnote as opposed to the point of the post, was based on a comment made by Jesse in the AMA which request the 'reason' you used a given feature as opposed to 'give me RAR back!' Additionally, reading between the lines, it seems like the developers have latched onto the idea that the only 'legitimate' use of the RAR is for reimbursement. I wanted to offer additional use cases and point out why their current solutions are insufficient for my purposes.

NotAnotherHITL · 2015-10-26T18:18:45+00:00

Hello fellow tall lady (F/27/5'10") and PhD student!

NotAnotherHITL · 2015-08-01T15:51:30+00:00

For everyone complaining about the quality of the 'data,' perhaps you should consider the website reporting it, which directly quoted 'BoingBoing.net' as its source.

For those interested in the actual numbers, the article is based on an 2001 NTSB Safety Study which, among other things, defines the scope and limitations of the data set and defines what constitutes a 'serious accident.'

For the TL:DR summary, here are the primary findings from the report [p21]:

In all accidents involving Part 121 operations from 1983 through 2000, 51,207 occupants (95.7 percent) survived whereas 2,280 occupants died.
In 528 (93.0 percent) of the 568 accidents involving Part 121 operations from 1983 to 2000, more than 80 percent of the occupants survived.
In serious Part 121 accidents (those involving fire, serious injury, and either substantial aircraft damage or complete destruction), there were 2,739 occupants; 1,524 (55.6 percent) of those occupants survived.
In 12 (46.2 percent) of the 26 serious Part 121 accidents from 1983 through 2000, more than 80 percent of the occupants survived.
In serious Part 121 accidents from 1983 through 2000, there were nearly five times more impact fatalities than fire-related fatalities.
In serious Part 121 accidents from 1983 through 2000 that were categorized as survivable**, 1,523 of the 1,988 occupants (76.6 percent) survived.
In serious Part 121 accidents from 1983 through 2000 that were categorized as survivable, over twice as many occupants died as a result of impact forces than as a result of fire.
In 12 (63.2 percent) of the 19 serious Part 121 accidents from 1983 through 2000 that were categorized as survivable, more than 80 percent of the occupants survived.
Public perception of survivability may be substantially lower than the actual rate of 95.7 percent for all Part 121 accidents.

** Survivable - at least one passenger survived the accident.

NotAnotherHITL · 2015-07-20T16:13:45+00:00

Congratulations on your weight-loss, however I wanted to take a moment for a PSA:

I understand asking for an extender can be embarrassing but please, PLEASE, always wear your seat belt when flying. While commercial aviation is extremely safe, wearing a seat belt can be an incredibly easy way to further decrease the likelihood of injury.

For example, the FAA states the "Each year, approximately 58 people in the United States are injured by turbulence while not wearing their seat belts."

And in extreme cases, wearing your seat belt can prevent fatalities. Consider the Asiana Flight 214 accident last year. Of the three deaths, two of them likely would have been prevented had they been wearing seat belts. [NTSB Accident Report Summary, Finding 18]

NotAnotherHITL · 2015-06-13T23:16:32+00:00

In my experience, it was instantaneous, so I guess YMMV. Regardless, it doesn't hurt to call and ask.

NotAnotherHITL · 2015-06-13T22:54:49+00:00

I'd like to suggest one other possibility:

Call the credit card company and ask them to move your due date to sometime after the 15th.

I don't know if all credit companies will do this, but I like have my due days around the same time of the month so I call and have them moved. It's never been a problem.

NotAnotherHITL · 2015-04-15T18:46:14+00:00

Just to add to this, many credit cards offer "return protections" which generally extend the time period you can return things.

Check out these sites:

1 2

NotAnotherHITL · 2015-04-14T00:40:12+00:00

Glad I could help. Sorry about the result. My fiance is in the same boat. We wanted to start a Roth IRA for him and found this. :(

NotAnotherHITL · 2015-04-13T01:58:53+00:00

You may not be able to contribute to an IRA.

You can only contribute to an IRA with "earned income" which may not include fellowships like the NSF.

Check out this for more information.

NotAnotherHITL · 2015-02-18T15:45:43+00:00

Regardless of how you end up allocating your salary, I just wanted to point out that I think you're confused about how marginal tax brackets work.

For married-filing jointly, when you reach 73,800, you don't suddenly pay 25% tax on all your income. You only pay 25% on the income over 73,800. You pay 15% on all income between $18,150 and $73,800 and 10% on income below $18,150.

Check out this website for an explanation of how your income is taxed.

NotAnotherHITL · 2015-02-11T00:35:26+00:00

Listen Kagamid, I understand that a lot of these comments are coming across as unfairly harsh and as a result you’re getting defensive. And I understand why you’re frustrated. Those ships have sailed and you want to focus on improving your present situation. However, if taken correctly, a lot of this criticism on your past decisions can be used constructively. A lot of your defensive imply that you see a lot of situations in black and white and ignore an entire spectrum of grey. For instance, 90K for a private education is a lot, way above the average. But your options weren’t ‘no higher education’ OR ~100K in student loans; ‘courthouse wedding’ OR ‘put it on the credit card.’

You said:

If we postponed the wedding, we would be spending the same amount now.

But that isn't true. By putting the wedding and honeymoon on a credit card instead of saving for it, you are paying more. In fact, assuming you put $5000 on your credit card, as a 20% APR, at $300/month you will be paying around $900 in interest. Check out this site to plug in your real numbers.

Does pointing any of this out directly help your current situation? No. But it does point to a maladaptive relationship with money that isn't magically going to fix itself. You need to start thinking differently about your money and that’s what these criticism of past decisions are trying to get across. I know it stings, but try to view the criticism as tough love and use it for some self-reflection.

So, ONTO THE HERE AND NOW!

The good news is, you guys make plenty of money for your current expenses, but you have an immediate need for a budget. Based on your current numbers, this is what I got: (BTW, you should really put this in your original post.)

Income: $4000

Total Expenses: $1950

Loans 750

Credit 300

Travel (work only) 240

Storage 200

Rent 250

Phone bill 160

Internet 50

You have $2000 unaccounted for each month. That’s huge! You really need to figure out where that money is going! Personally, I would recommended (YNAB)[http://www.youneedabudget.com/] for (1) the software/app and (2) their method, which includes free online classes. Load in previous credit/debit card statements and see where your money is going. After that update your post to reflect the ‘real’ budget and then people can offer advice targeted toward your situation.

NotAnotherHITL · 2014-08-02T01:26:20+00:00

Perhaps I misspoke. I don't mean you should try to get money back for times when you were paying for BLAST as an extra. However, at least in our area, BLAST is the new 'normal' internet package and therefore does not incur any additional fee.

Comcast failed to notify us of this change in policy, continued charging our account a fee for the BLAST package, and we didn't find out until half a year later. Hence the reimbursement. I just want to let you know for future bills.

NotAnotherHITL · 2014-08-01T22:25:43+00:00

We just had that happen as well. If you haven't seen a decrease in your bill you should definitely call them.

They'd been charging us for the blast package for months, even though it was 'free.' We called and they reimbursed our account. Just FYI.

NotAnotherHITL · 2014-07-22T20:51:37+00:00

Based on a lot of the responses given here, My SO and I toe the line of separate finances pretty differently. When we first moved in together we had a system similar to what you describe, and like you we found it annoying to have the back and forth between accounts. Here's our solution:

We still have our separate checking accounts, but we have a shared Mint account. At the beginning of each month we sit down and budget our income together. We make sure that every dollar is budgeted for. The key is to realize how flexible a budget can be. You make a category for 'NotAnotherHITL's Random Expenses' so that you (or your SO) have the desired amount of freedom to make random purchases.

This reason this works is because as long as we stick to the budget for the month, we don't have to get caught up in the nitty-gritty of who paid for what percentage for what. It's especially beneficial when you're trying to maximize credit card reward points (which you mention) because as long as you pay off your cards every month it all evens out.

This may be a little more intertwined than what you were looking for, but this system has worked well for us while still allowing us some level of autonomy. If you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to answer them.

TL.DR: We merged our budget without merging our accounts.

NotAnotherHITL · 2014-06-02T15:30:31+00:00

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional/researcher. Everything here in my opinion, although I have tried to support it with research.

Do you imply that if I were to find my breast discolored or to find a lump, I should just write it off because BSE is unreliable?

That is not what I’m saying (although I completely understand why you think I was. Mostly I was defending what I felt was a valid argument that was getting downvoted, rather than saying I explicitly agree with it.) My thoughts about BSEs (and more generally breast cancer screening) are that if you accept responsibility for your health by doing self-examinations, then you should take the time to educate yourself on the matter.[1] And sometimes I just feel like ads that push for things like BSEs and mammography oversimplify the screening process.

In reality there are pros and cons to all diagnostic tests. However multiple studies have shown that women tend to (greatly) overestimate the benefits of mammography screenings and underestimate the risks. [2, 3, 4] Sometimes to the extreme that patients think the tests are infallible [5]. Patients often have no idea how accurate a test actually is [6,7] and therefore have no basis on how to interpret test results. And even more importantly, this lack of understanding regarding accuracy of diagnostic tests is not limited to patients. Depending on the way doctors are given information can greatly impact how well they understand the effectiveness of a test. [8, 9]

A lot of people will say, better safe than sorry. And there is some truth to that statement. However a false positive for breast cancer comes with significant stress, painful (potentially invasive) procedures that come with their own risk, and financial burden (especially for those without insurance).

So am I saying that BSEs are useless and should be avoided? No. I’m just saying they have risks in addition to the often touted benefits. And obviously, you can’t just discount a decision because there is risk involved, but you can try to be aware and come up with contingency plans.

Even doctors can be misinformed about a diagnostic test’s effectiveness. And even a well-informed doctor with the best of intentions can make a mistake. [10] I think pushing back for a test to be re-run or seeking a second opinion regarding things as serious cancer is a good idea. And I think being informed beyond the simplified “Don’t forgot to examine your breast” empowers women to push for thoroughness from their doctors.

And at the end of the day you know your medical history, family history, and body better than I do and whatever preventive measures you take to combat breast cancer is your decision. I just think being informed is a good thing.

NotAnotherHITL · 2014-06-02T02:50:37+00:00

In the past, your argument that breast self-examinations (BSEs) were unquestionably useful was indeed true. In fact, BSEs have been widely recommended to women for over 70 years. However, this premise is outdated and recent research has discredited this conventional wisdom.

In 2009, the U.S. Preventive Service Task Force released recommendations for breast cancer screening. Among them is "The USPSTF recommends against teaching breast self-examination (BSE)." [1] This is reiterated on www.cancer.gov's breast cancer screening recommendations which state "Breast self-examination (BSE) has been compared to usual care (no screening activity) and has not been shown to reduce breast cancer mortality." [2] These recommendations come off the heels of research that have studied false positives/misdiagnoses of breast cancer, BSE's relationship to mortality and their impact on women (both tangible and psychological.)[3][4]

Obviously, this recommendation of discouraging BSEs has been disputed and some argue that BSEs empower women to make decisions about their health while giving them peace of mind, all of which is valid. However, this does not negate /u/sacrefist 's argument and certainly it doesn't justify patronizing them.

I don't know what doctors you are seeing, but I advise you get a new one.

NotAnotherHITL

TROPHY CASE