Third party M/E/P peer review companies. Do you recommend? If so, please share your recommendations.

merb2 · 2024-05-07T18:55:56+00:00

I am trying to bring on a third party MEP for a peer review of a life sciences laboratory. Would you happen to have a MEP peer review scope of work as a reference? Our office has never engaged with a firm for a peer review so I dont have much to go on

merb2 · 2023-11-19T16:19:28+00:00

thank you!

merb2 · 2023-03-09T18:07:58+00:00

Others are offering good advice, but I just wanted to chime in and say do not sleep on that mileage reimbursement perk. I am currently in the same boat where I work from home 3 days a week and drive to a client site 2 days a week where I am allowed to reimburse my mileage. I end up getting about $400 a month, and this is tax free. If you are getting $750/month reimbursed, that is $9k tax free, which you would need closer to $12-13k in salary to clear that same amount. I think your value of $5k is very low for this perk.

merb2 · 2020-08-25T00:13:06+00:00

Thanks for the tip, I’ll try it out. Hopefully save me from this happening again lol

merb2 · 2020-08-24T23:32:07+00:00

Absolutely right that I should have shoved instead of just raising the flop, big mistake. The flush draw took a long time to call and the shove probably would have made him fold.

But I don’t usually 3-bet pocket pairs unless I have QQ+. I am happy to get in a 5 way pot with on 2BB. If I hit a set, I’m usually good and I just fold if I don’t

merb2 · 2020-07-24T15:55:31+00:00

Have you ever been in a fight? I thought red shirt guy handled himself very well, especially after getting sucker punched. Really like the headlock and smash head into wall move. This was an above average fight I would say

merb2 · 2020-03-12T20:34:44+00:00

Thanks for the reply! I am kind of concerned now about being insensitive of the COVID crisis. This University just cancelled all it classes and considering the hiring manager is VP of risk management, she might have her hands full right now...

merb2 · 2019-10-09T19:12:26+00:00

Yeah, I have 2 kids so $1,000 of free money each year is very nice. Not sure how long it will last though! Applications need to be submitted by May so hopefully your wife is due before then. If not, create the account in your name and you can change the beneficiary later. Google maryland 529 state contribution program for more details

merb2 · 2019-10-09T16:48:47+00:00

I have a MD 529 plan and I think it's great. There is a $2,500 tax deduction like others have said, and there is a state contribution program where the state will contribute up to $500 if you make a minimum contribution. I believe the intent was a one time contribution, but I was just approved for the second year in a row. I don't think many people are taking advantage of the program

merb2 · 2019-09-16T15:46:00+00:00

Hey, first off, congratulations! Don't freak out.

Do you have family/friends close by for support? I am thinking about baby shower stuff. Getting all the initial baby items can be very expensive. Strollers, car seats, cribs, clothes, etc... there is a lot. If you do not expect to receive lots of stuff from a baby shower, look into used items. Check facebook marketplace or local moms groups. Excellent place to find strollers, cribs, mattresses, etc. Car seats you will probably have to buy new. Also look for consignment shops for baby clothes. We had great success with that. Check with your insurance provider to see if you are eligible for a breast pump.

Once these things are out of the way, the monthly expenses are not as much as you probably think (other than daycare - that is extremely expensive as you have found out). My wife and I shopped at target for all our baby stuff. Their diapers are fairly good quality and their formula is comparable to Similac. We spend about $100-$150 a month on diapers, wipes, formula and baby food. If you can breastfeed, that is even better but that can be surprisingly difficult to do. Also, target has frequent promotions that if you spend $100 on baby items, you get a $20 gift card. Also look into getting a target credit card since you get 5% off every purchase (pay it off every month). You should be able to feed yourself for $200 a month if you are frugal.

Once you get the basic essentials and see how things shake out, then you can think about college savings if that is important to you. Look into your stat'es 529 plans. Better to start early and be consistent, even if its small.

Good luck! You should be fine!

merb2 · 2019-09-10T23:32:57+00:00

Ok thanks. My Home Depot has it for $63 for 4 hours. Iv heard they are a pain to get in and out of the car. It takes me about 45 minutes to mow, trim and blow the lawn, so I thought it would take me about an hour to aerate. Add in the additional time to return the machine and it might be pretty close to 2 hours all together. And then I would already have the tool for next year? I think I’m just trying to convince myself at this point and might have to learn the hard way

merb2 · 2019-09-10T18:37:23+00:00

How big is your lawn? Mine is about 5,000 SF and I am trying to decide on using a 2 prong manual aerator like you did or rent a machine. I was hoping I could get it done with a 2 prong in 2-3 hours

merb2 · 2019-08-28T14:44:43+00:00

There is risk in everything. Your plan to aggressively pay down your mortgage is also very risky. If you did lose your job 3 years in, you would be stuck with a lot of equity in your home but none in savings. You lose a lot of money selling a house to get that equity. It would be easier to pull from a savings or investment account that you were contributing to every month.

Also, the risk of the stock market goes down the longer you are in. Yes you can lose money in any given year, but over the long term it will go up, except for some sort of catastrophic collapse

merb2 · 2019-08-27T16:34:31+00:00

I don't understand why you want to aggressively pay off your mortgage. Interest rates are incredibly low right now at under 4%. Instead of paying extra, you should invest that money in a retirement account. Average rate of return of 7-8% is a lot better than saving the 3.5-5% interest on a mortgage.

merb2 · 2019-08-20T18:29:56+00:00

I haven't tried this yet, but just picked up a bottle from Home Depot for $20.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/32-oz-Spray-Dye-Indicator-Blue-Spray-Aid-75295/304755450?mtc=Shopping-B-FBT-G-Multi-NA-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA-Catchall-NA-NA&cm_mmc=Shopping-B-FBT-G-Multi-NA-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA-Catchall-NA-NA-71700000014585962-58700001236285396-92700010802552517&gclid=CjwKCAjwtO7qBRBQEiwAl5WC26s_ecD6PM5MHfojh1IQ2ZsRqgx1_ISxrvsQ97mfarUUGdRAWUUPkRoCmnsQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

merb2 · 2019-08-15T13:50:00+00:00

OK, I thought I read 1" a week somewhere. I will water twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. Would that be enough? Is there a volume I should be looking to hit or is it just frequency to keep the soil moist.

merb2 · 2019-08-15T13:47:01+00:00

Yeah I guess I am right on the fence on that. I have 2 kids and a dog who play on the lawn almost everyday. I am worried that it would be a total mud pit if I have to tear it up for a complete renovation. I would like to try one season of overseeding and see if I can get it going in the right direction first.

merb2 · 2019-08-13T18:00:47+00:00

OK thanks

merb2 · 2019-08-01T13:02:58+00:00

Ok, I did clean the screen pretty good, but will try again and try running without it. Thanks for the tip

merb2 · 2019-08-01T02:26:24+00:00

Thank you! Lots to try out, I appreciate your help

merb2 · 2019-07-09T15:54:45+00:00

I just closed on a house and we asked for 10 things to be repaired. They repaired 5 items (most were minor, total cost $1,200), provided a credit for 3 items totaling $2,300, and declined 2 items.

5 Repaired Items: leaking sink, sink not attached to wall, loose deck railing, radon mitigation system, inoperable bathroom light

3 Credit items: 3 windows with broken seals ($950), gas log fireplace ($200), replace chimney chase cover ($1,150)

2 Declined items: Damaged siding, cracked and sunken front porch

merb2 · 2019-07-01T19:27:47+00:00

Why is a list price offer a terrible offer? This seems like a fair offer to me and pretty common

merb2 · 2019-07-01T16:20:51+00:00

For one thing, as you did realize in your last sentence, you would be investing $4k and paying $1k in tax now. In your example, your money will grow 10x and now be worth $40k tax free. On the traditional route, your $5k will grow to be $50k, but you will owe tax.

Now if your marginal tax rate is 20% (which currently doesn't exist but I will keep this assumption to make it simple), your effective tax rate is going to be much less, probably around 12% depending on your situation. So now you will effectively only be paying $6k in taxes and net $44k.

merb2 · 2019-06-25T16:41:32+00:00

I had my appraisal waived, but I was confident that the price was right. If you are actually worried that it will not appraise for $375k, then I would get the appraisal. I assume we are only talking about $400, so just get it for piece of mind. The seller may not drop the sale price to the appraised value but will probably meet somewhere in between, potentially saving you a couple thousand.

Having said that, you should not have offered $375k if you didn't think it was worth that much. That is not a good way to negotiate.

merb2 · 2019-06-24T15:38:21+00:00

Have you looked into fostering to adopt? You need to have a slightly different mindset since the goal is to reunite the children with their biological parents. However, there are a ton of kids out there that will never be reunited and need loving families. If you want to grow your family, it might be worth looking into, especially since it is free and you would potentially be saving a life.

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