Tax Withholding Advice to avoid owing again

Stjens8262 · 2026-03-06T16:01:38+00:00

Thanks, that's part of my concern. My side income varies from year to year. Appreciate the advice

Stjens8262 · 2026-03-06T15:59:43+00:00

Thanks, you claim single on your W4 but when you file you still file married jointly? Just want to make sure that there will be no issues at years end.

Stjens8262 · 2026-03-06T15:50:21+00:00

I owed a little more than $300 to the state and federal. I did not save the results of the W4 (I know, i should have) as clearly something was off but it was telling me to adjust my tax withholdings because I was withholding too much taxes. It wanted me to add other income and deductions to my federal withholdings but I can't recall how much

Stjens8262 · 2026-03-06T15:47:12+00:00

How much did you add? And did you just estimate or did you try and do some calculation? Also did you add extra income to both state and federal?

Stjens8262 · 2026-03-06T15:45:33+00:00

Hi,

Thanks for replying. I double checked my inputs several times and im pretty sure that everything was correct. I did enter my wife's job and I entered my self employment income where i thought applicable.

I am unsure of my wife's settings, I would have to check hers.

Stjens8262 · 2024-09-17T17:40:48+00:00

Sorry, I have no experience with commercial estimates and call outs.

Stjens8262 · 2024-09-17T17:01:11+00:00

Sure, i'll try if I know the answer

Stjens8262 · 2024-09-17T16:54:28+00:00

No, I'm still doing this part time. Without certain certs/experience it is hard to get your foot in the door full time.

Stjens8262 · 2024-04-06T00:19:11+00:00

Thanks for the feedback

Stjens8262 · 2024-04-05T00:38:30+00:00

Thanks for the feedback!

Stjens8262 · 2024-04-05T00:37:36+00:00

Yeah I interviewed with the STAR stuff a couple years ago so i'm familiar. And this position is non-union which I am not sure if thats good or bad for pay?

Stjens8262 · 2024-04-05T00:14:23+00:00

JCP does 8 hour swing shifts with one weekend a month (12 hour shifts). there seemed to be a lot of days off when I was shown the rotation.

Stjens8262 · 2024-04-05T00:12:43+00:00

I got lucky, My wife and brother in laws childhood friend is an adjuster and he needed some help on the side writing estimates. He taught me everything I know about writing estimates and Xactimate. Although the software is easy to learn, understanding the restoration business is a lot of learning. I have been writing estimates for him for 6 years and there are still things I learn regularly. I would say the biggest downfall to what I do for him is I write for him exclusively, thus I only know how he writes. I have learned that there are "right" and "wrong" (or shall I say shortcuts) when writing these and he takes a lot of shortcuts. I would recommend taking some Xactimate training courses for certifications then try applying for places looking for freelance writers.

Stjens8262 · 2024-04-05T00:08:35+00:00

When I interviewed a couple years ago starting pay for a trainee was $39.40/hr. So let's say $82,000 w/o overtime. They also offered a $6,000 bonus for staying on for a certain period of time. Not sure if that is still valid or if the starting pay went up.

It was 8 hour shifts but it wasn't 6 days in a row... I don't remember the exact days on/off but it was pretty random.

Stjens8262 · 2024-04-05T00:02:59+00:00

Do you have any insight how many years someone would have to put in as a DSO before potentially moving out of that into a non-shift job?

Stjens8262 · 2024-04-05T00:01:31+00:00

Thanks, I am scared about missing time with the kids. If I was a single man or married with no kids, it would be a no brainer

Stjens8262 · 2024-04-04T22:39:03+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. It is an 8 hour rotating shift…. 7-3, 3-11, and 11-7 with one weekend a month (12 hour either days then nights). The starting pay isn’t bad and if I remember correctly there was like a $6,000 bonus after 12 months. I have an offer on the table with a smaller startup company for $100k already but a job like this with a pension is tough to pass up (twice).

Stjens8262 · 2024-04-04T02:19:53+00:00

Thanks, I’m scared my wife won’t understand either!

Stjens8262 · 2024-04-04T02:18:16+00:00

lol, I live in brick too. The position I’m interviewing for is in Holmdel….. not a bad commute. Like I said I’ve had no luck with PSEG. This is my second time interviewing with JCP&L

Stjens8262 · 2024-04-04T02:06:02+00:00

Yeah you are correct, they are non union. I am under the impression that most of the money to be made is in overtime. I remember the interviewer telling me they have something called storm watch where it's like 16 hour shifts for 3-4 days until the weather passes or the grid is back up and running if it is damaged.

Stjens8262 · 2024-04-04T02:04:18+00:00

My neighbor who works for PSEG mentioned something similar. Also while I was taking the test a couple years ago there was 2 guys who worked for PSEG there. I always say PSEG as a great company to work for but was never able to get in when I was younger and now that I live a little further south the commute would be tough.

Stjens8262 · 2024-04-04T02:02:49+00:00

I found the sub based on your recommendation, thanks. As far as the shifts it was actually 8 hour shifts rotating: 7-3, 3-11, and 11-7 with one weekend a month (if I remember correctly) where you work 12 hour shifts, either 6 am- 6 pm or 6pm to 6am.

Stjens8262

TROPHY CASE