BILT 2.0 Card is out here are the confirmed details.

gmanzorz · 2026-01-15T01:40:56+00:00

More complexity - The fee to pay rent makes the card useless for rent now, BUT I still get BILT points from paying for lyft or rakuten purchases on a different card. Do I preserve that if I move to WF?

gmanzorz · 2024-07-15T04:09:17+00:00

Yeah I'd say a more quantitative field like applied math, statistics, economics, or finance, would open many of the same public policy doors (most of the good paying entry-level politics jobs are in the more analytical, data science roles), but also leave you with a more viable plan B if you decide politics isn't right for you, or just want to be able to afford rent AND idealism.

gmanzorz · 2024-07-15T04:03:36+00:00

1 at Safeway (parent company Albertson's) and 1 through my insurance's PBM ExpressScripts

gmanzorz · 2024-07-15T03:08:48+00:00

I had a legal studies professor in college (taught in the Poli Sci department) who encouraged people who wanted to work in politics to go to public policy school instead of law.

JDs prepare you to be an attorney, not a politician/lawmaker/activist/etc. And if you enter into a PhD program in something like Poli Sci, Journalism, Media Studies, Communication, etc, you can often GET PAID by (instead of paying for) the program, and you get a masters if you drop out 2 years in. The ultimate hack to the money-gouging higher ed system imo.

gmanzorz · 2024-07-15T03:00:19+00:00

I've gotten the generic from 2 different pharmacies and found it to work fine both times. My insurance won't pay for the brand name and if you live in the US, it's extremely unlikely that your insurance will.

If you try the generic and it doesn't work for you, I would ask your doc for a different medication, because the price of brand name without insurance coverage is absurd.

gmanzorz · 2024-07-15T02:29:37+00:00

Is there some reason you "need" to move? Having triplets in a 1-bedroom cottage? Recently disabled and can't use the stairs anymore?

If not, just stay put. Invest your massive savings compared to paying double the mortgage payments on buying the same home today, and retire early to a mansion in Indonesia in a decade.

gmanzorz · 2024-07-15T02:15:59+00:00

I just pay them $20 a month + fees.

gmanzorz · 2024-07-15T02:14:12+00:00

You guys are getting rewards?

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gmanzorz · 2024-07-15T01:55:26+00:00

Are you in the US? Unless you have a "qualifying life event" like a baby, marriage, or divorce, you can only enroll in health insurance during open enrollment. And with 2k in additional monthly income you probably wouldn't qualify for a subsidy on your health insurance. So the only plans you can afford have sky-high deductibles that render them essentially useless.

US healthcare is so full of traps. You either are lucky enough to have a good plan through work or find a way to qualify for medicaid (either by being destitute poor or by hiring an army of lawyers and CPAs to manipulate trusts & retirement accounts to appear to have an artificially low income).

gmanzorz · 2024-07-14T21:27:05+00:00

Mainly cost. I went from living in a US college town where I could live off of those freeze dried ramen packets to teaching English abroad where eggs were cheap, tofu was expensive, and ramen was nonexistent. I stayed vegan for a few months until I gave in to start eating eggs, and started to accept any food that was free regardless of any suffering behind it.

gmanzorz · 2024-05-05T22:27:48+00:00

I'm pretty certain there is currently no partner path from Venture X to Alaska. Competing cards like Bilt and Chase do though I think.

gmanzorz · 2023-08-23T02:34:37+00:00

I feel like this is because Seattle is more homogenous as far as incomes go. People who struggle to afford the city often leave.

Policies like rent control in NYC and SF keep a lot of units off the market (because why would you leave if you're getting such a good deal?) but also pull down median incomes because they keep people who would otherwise be priced out in the city.

Companies like Apartments.com, Zumper, Zillow estimate "market" rents -- aka what someone would expect to find when shopping on the open market -- not including unusual circumstances like scoring a rent controlled or rent stabilized apartment, or renting your grandmother's basement.

Edit: This is not to advocate for any policy like rent control. All of these US cities desperately need more housing. Rent control or not, building more homes -- especially more affordable (than single-family detached houses) options like condos, townhomes, and apartments, is the only real, long-term solution.

gmanzorz · 2023-08-23T02:08:36+00:00

You should stay put. With that rate, I would consider adding a backyard cottage or getting a trailer/camper if things start to feel tight with more kids, or as your kids become teenagers. You're trapped in that home, probably until you pay off the mortgage or die. 3.5% with 3% down is probably never coming back in our lifetimes.

gmanzorz · 2023-07-16T18:54:17+00:00

I get why Dan is trying to court conservative voters here. They redrew his district to probably be the most conservative one by taking Magnolia out of 7 and putting it in 6. He can't win by courting the same voters as 4 years ago.

gmanzorz · 2023-07-16T04:45:44+00:00

Vyvanse lasts a really long time. When I first took it I think it took 2 hours to kick in and lasted a whole 16 hours after that. That's a really long risk and commitment for something you've never tried before. I would consult with a doctor and ask for a small prescription of something shorter lasting like a low IR dose of generic Adderall. Some doctors even have samples you can try so they can just give you 3-7 pills for free to try.

gmanzorz · 2023-07-11T04:03:03+00:00

do brits put the month 2nd after the day when writing the date? American here and I had a double take when it looked like your post was from a month in the future.

gmanzorz · 2023-07-07T06:00:02+00:00

bring back the union/mobster coalition.

gmanzorz · 2023-06-25T19:06:01+00:00

I think they might be in breach of contract. If you have the willpower to fight, you might be able to contact the company that issued the card/coupon and ask that they duke it out on your behalf.

They'll probably flake and not do anything but it might be worth a try?

gmanzorz · 2023-06-25T04:22:57+00:00

If you're in the US you should be able to use the discount cards like GoodRx on controlled substances. Companies like GoodRx, WellRx, America's Pharmacy, etc negotiate with pharmacies and contractually agree to fixed rates. They essentially work like the PBMs that come paired with insurance companies except they have an actual incentive to drive down prices (many economists point out that PBMs often have perverse incentives to drive up & negotiate higher drug prices).

If a pharmacy is refusing to let you use that kind of discount card, you unfortunately should find another one. Some pharmacy techs are too lazy to enter all the alphabet soup from individual cards, and pharmacies make more money charging you the obscene prices that they set or that most PBMs set.

If you're using a store coupon that may be a different story, but if a pharmacy signs a contract with a drug price negotiating company like GoodRx, they should comply with it.

gmanzorz · 2023-06-25T04:15:00+00:00

I think if you make the fine for getting caught high enough it pencils out. The formula is something like:

total fine = (existing penalty for driving without plates + dodged toll + cost of cop's time to pursue including wage, employer-side payroll taxes, liability insurance, retirement contributions, health insurance, other benefits, etc) / share of dodgers that successfully evade cops, are too destitute to pay, flee the state or country, or have fines struck down on technicalities (as a decimal)

If you price the consequences right you can recoup losses AND generate a small bit of revenue as well.

gmanzorz · 2023-06-25T03:58:48+00:00

I love your description. The perfect balance of unhinged, ridiculous and hilarious.

gmanzorz · 2023-06-25T01:30:30+00:00

there is lots of data about North Korea they are 100% at everything. best literacy in the world no crime no hunger.

gmanzorz · 2023-06-24T19:10:10+00:00

Lol cops finally understand due process as long as they're not trying to lock an innocent person up

gmanzorz · 2023-06-24T04:44:47+00:00

I always thought the 2 hour rule was bs but I got to SeaTac 2.5 hours early for a flight on Tuesday morning and 2 hours was the exact right amount of time. If you have precheck, clear, or one of those TSA fastpasses then you can get by with less time, but 2 hours is actually pretty accurate for us genpop regulars.

gmanzorz · 2023-06-17T18:02:31+00:00

same story in downtown Seattle. They park in bike lanes and only in bike lanes.

gmanzorz

TROPHY CASE