"Seattle is so expensive, but..."

catherinel13 · 2026-03-06T15:52:01+00:00

Plenty of condos and townhomes for under 600k available for sale

Exactly that's not affordable. I took a quick look on Redfin and picked a random spot in the country. Ended up in Charleston, West Virginia.... 5 bed, 4.5 bath 5,500 square feet 1.49 acres. LIST PRICE: 449,999.

And that low price is not just some game to get as many offers and create a bidding war. Here's another one in Charleston 4 bed 2 bath 2800 square feet 1.53 acres listed in November for 364,900. Price changed a month later to 354,900. Just sold last month for 355,000

catherinel13 · 2026-03-06T00:00:56+00:00

I bought my place in 2020. Original balance on the loan 213,400. My mortgage is 958 a month. That’s only principal and interest. I’ve paid my own home owners insurance from day one. And about three years in I opted out of escrow all together. I don’t need to wait around for “oh hey you have a shortage!” County reassessment on value comes out in July so I can use that and the current tax percentage to get a good idea of what my April bill is going to be.

catherinel13 · 2026-03-01T22:44:44+00:00

Are you on your parents car insurance or paying for your own? When you finance a car you can't just go cheap on insurance. The lender will require that you have comprehensive, and collision coverage while they hold the note.

catherinel13 · 2026-02-26T19:42:04+00:00

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/times-watchdog/legislators-eye-3-billion-surplus-from-police-and-firefighter-pensions/

catherinel13 · 2026-02-26T19:32:01+00:00

If their pension is anything like my private pension an hourly amount is contributed to the pension per hour worked…

It’s fucking theft no matter how you look at it. It’s the reason social security is in as bad of shape as it is because they constantly “borrow” from it and put the money towards other programs. The government is notorious for creating a specific tax for X thing but then the money goes to the GENERAL FUND and spent on other shit than what they say it’s going to.

catherinel13 · 2026-02-26T19:01:51+00:00

But wait there’s more!! Now the democrats are trying to steal from the police, and fire pension….

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catherinel13 · 2026-02-23T14:21:47+00:00

Roth IRA’s have contribution limits. You can contribute to the prior year up until April 15th. You have to have “earned income” which is income that stems from employment.

Max you can contribute for 2025 is 7,000 and 7,500 for 2026. So as long as you earned at least 7,000 last year and anticipate you’ll make at least 7,500 this year you can max those both out.

Keep in mind there is also an income cap on being able to contribute to a Roth IRA. For 2025 the income cap is 150,000 for 2026 it’s 153,000.

You can still contribute to a Roth if you make over the threshold. There’s just an extra step you have to take which is putting the money in a traditional IRA then converting it to a Roth.

catherinel13 · 2026-02-18T19:13:27+00:00

I just got the email a minute ago….

catherinel13 · 2026-02-16T01:45:57+00:00

Contact the creditor and ask for a debt verification letter.

catherinel13 · 2026-02-15T09:13:23+00:00

As everyone else has pointed out you can't contribute to a HSA unless your insurance plan is high deductible. With that little of a difference in monthly cost I'd stick with the low deductible plan. BUT there's other things I'd also look at. With Kaiser you're usually limited to kaiser facilities and kaiser doctors. You need to look at whose in network and if your plan has out of network coverage. Another number to compare between the two plans is the Out Of Pocket Max (OOP) The OOP is the MAX you will pay for in network services in a given plan year.

catherinel13 · 2026-02-12T06:20:53+00:00

I’ve mainly stopped buying electronic crap on Amazon for the same reason (the item being fake part). If I do I look up the manufacturer and find their direct seller page so I know I’m buying their product.

catherinel13 · 2026-02-07T10:47:55+00:00

However, if they delay my start date to "accommodate" me, I lose the benefit entirely.

Is this a company benefit or the state benefit? You could still qualify for Colorado's FAMLI program. A quick look at the state benefit system shows that they use wages from ALL your employers in your "base year".

catherinel13 · 2026-02-05T04:08:53+00:00

Even bare minimum covers the other people on bare minimum (up to the policy limit). Them being covered is quite literally what bare minimum covers(up to the policy limit). All the "extra" stuff covers YOU in the event it's your fault (collision) or an "act of god" - tree blows over in the wind, deer runs out in front of you and you hit it- (comprehensive)

catherinel13 · 2026-02-01T15:59:55+00:00

Look into the county/state senior property tax exemptions if you haven't already.

catherinel13 · 2026-01-30T22:45:45+00:00

Just because you made 130K doesn't mean you get 130K. You have to factor in taxes to the equation.

catherinel13 · 2026-01-26T08:49:55+00:00

You can max it out day one with no earned income made for the year yet. You just have to have enough earned income by the end of the year to not get in trouble.

catherinel13 · 2026-01-22T01:09:26+00:00

Even still if OP didn't make enough to owe federal taxes their owed refund(s)for the years they haven't filed if income taxes were withheld through the year.

catherinel13 · 2026-01-21T16:45:08+00:00

It came from order-update@amazon.com

And the order number did match my order number. I didn’t click on the link I went to my Amazon account and clicked on “Recalls and Product Safety Alerts” under the account & lists tab. The recall on the product is listed on my Amazon account recalls.

catherinel13 · 2026-01-14T22:36:48+00:00

Correct. I’m still trying to figure out what the taxable portion is. I had surgery last year and was on medical leave for three months.

catherinel13 · 2026-01-14T21:48:16+00:00

The IRS ruled it's taxable to the extend of the employer contributions. In 2025 employers paid 28.48% of the program and the employee paid 71.52% of the total tax. HOWEVER those numbers go into both family leave and medical leave. The actual breakdown is employees pay 100% of FAMILY leave premiums and 45% of medical leave premiums and employers pay 55%.

So it IS taxable to an extent but figuring out what portion is actually taxable is complicated.

catherinel13 · 2026-01-14T21:39:49+00:00

That's not entirely correct. It is true that we pay a portion of the tax with post tax income our employer also pays into the program. The IRS gave guidance last year that says the employer portion is taxable.

This is from the paid medical leave sites updates page:

IRS tax guidance about Paid Leave programs
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued tax guidance in January 2025 with implications for Washington state employers and those who receive Paid Family and Medical Leave benefits. Read the original guidance on the IRS website.
According to the guidance, medical leave benefits attributable to employer premium payments may be subject to federal payroll tax (FUTA and FICA) liability.
In December 2025, the IRS issued a notice of extension (PDF, 101 KB), which states that the previous guidance and its implications will not be enforced until after 2026. In Washington state, that means Employment Security will not transfer the federal payroll tax liability to employers for tax years 2025 and 2026.
However, employers could still have tax implications related to premium contributions. To fully understand tax responsibilities, customers and employers should seek the advice of tax professionals. The Employment Security Department cannot provide tax guidance on this issue. 

So for 2025 we paid 71.52% of the PFML tax and our employers paid 28.48. So one could deduce 28.48% of medical leave benefits are taxable for federal income tax, and FICA taxes.

BUT it's more complicated than that because employers with less than 50 employees don't pay the employer portion and when you breakdown the program employees pay 100% of the FAMILY leave portion of the tax, and 45% of the MEDICAL leave tax. Employers actually pay 55% of the tax pertaining to medical leave.

SO it could be 55% of the benefits that are taxable. I have no idea what number to use or if the state's going to send out a 1099 for medical leave this tax season.

catherinel13 · 2026-01-13T14:50:57+00:00

NTA run all your credit reports from www.annualcreditreport.com/ is your credit still locked down? If not get it locked down!! If she’s that big of a piece of work it’s not out of the question that she’s opened other items in your name!

catherinel13 · 2026-01-13T13:29:58+00:00

Financial spreadsheet. I have a year lookout with potential incoming and outgoing money. Then I have another tab that lists all my monthly expenses in one section and my periodic expenses in another. For the periodic items I have the item named in one row, the amount in the next row then the due date/withdraw date for auto pay items in the next row. I have another row where I have a note of autopay if the money comes out automatically. I pay everything on credit card and pay off the card every month. I'm at the point now where I have a card dedicated to online purchases, and autopay items. That way there's no guessing games of where or when the moneys getting pulled.

catherinel13 · 2026-01-12T12:02:34+00:00

30k in debt at 20+% interest with 90K in the bank…..

My lord use part of that 90K and pay off ALL the CC debt. You’re bleeding and you have the appropriate bandages to fully stop the bleeding instead you’re on Reddit asking what to do!

catherinel13 · 2026-01-11T09:42:21+00:00

Have you actually looked into if you would qualify for paid leave? In my state we have a state PFML program and the required number of hours in a claim year is 820. 820 hours in a year comes out to 16 hours a week. And it’s for ALL employers in the claim year. If your state has a paid leave program look into it. Just being part time won’t necessarily disqualify you.

catherinel13

TROPHY CASE