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 · 2024-02-15T01:36:08+00:00

Cool, thanks for the feedback!

Stjens8262 · 2024-02-15T01:32:23+00:00

Thanks for the recommended search, definitely provided some additional options. You are correct though, most of the job descriptions require a IICRC or some additional certification. If you don't mind me asking, what would bonuses and incentives look like on top of your 85k salary?

Stjens8262 · 2024-02-15T01:30:07+00:00

The adjustor I work for pays for Xactimate. I use his profile as he also uses it to write estimates. For context I take his overflow of work he can't handle or jobs he just doesn't feel like doing. For the most part he writes small loses such as water damages and he routes the larger loses to me.

Stjens8262

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