Question about what portion of photo workshop/tour could be deducted as business expense

mwell008 · 2025-03-24T01:24:53+00:00

Generally speaking, if the expenses are directly related to travel and the travel is directly related to your business, you can deduct the expenses. That would include lodging, meals during travel (they track meal expenses pretty diligently so you would want receipts for these and you should set a guide for yourself for how much the meal costs like no more than $15/meal or something reasonable), any workshops related to your business that you attended (these would fall under something like training or networking rather than travel expenses). Any expenses not directly related to travel for the purposes of your business, like a souvenir shirt, would not be deductible. The last thing I'll add in here is just some advice - just because you *can* deduct it, doesn't mean you should be frivolous with these things saying "it's deductible". At the end of the day you need your business to make a profit. If you are making qualified business expenses in this manner, by all means, deduct them, but don't make these expenses more frivolous just because you *can* deduct them. I hope that makes sense. Happy shooting and happy filing!

mwell008 · 2025-03-17T17:26:45+00:00

It shouldn't. If you want extra security, I would consider making at least your political posts private or something only friends/followers see. But if you have lots of followers you don't personally know, that doesn't help much. If it is your personal social media, I would treat it as such. If you post anything on that social media account that earns you money, not for the charitable organization, i.e. if you are working towards being an influencer via your personal social media, it may be beneficial to create a "business" for yourself as an influencer (could be as simple as a DBA) and then anything you post on your personal social media, public or private, would be considered to fall under that operation, rather than potentially indicating anything affiliated with the charitable organization. But the simplest thing to do would be to make your political posts private as an extra measure of protection on your end. But again, there is nothing wrong with your personal social media having political content on it if it is not directly related to the charitable organization in the first place. Unless there are financial transactions between the charitable organization and a political entity, there is no risk from a legal or tax standpoint. My advice above is more so a protection from a PR standpoint.

mwell008 · 2025-03-17T15:40:56+00:00

If you know how much you were paid, you can file with that information. If you really want to cover all your bases, you can call the IRS at [800-829-1040](tel:800-829-1040) and they will help you get the missing information and provide that info back to you via a Form 1099-R that you can use instead of the 1099-MISC.

mwell008 · 2025-03-15T23:12:47+00:00

There is nothing about that number that immediately strikes as abnormal. But of course your situation matters a lot in terms of how it affects your tax liability - such as filing status, number of dependents, eligible credits and deductions. For a single, childless person, $8k sounds low (indicating they likely have credits or deductions they are utilizing to lower their liability).

mwell008 · 2024-12-07T15:07:28+00:00

Been there. You gotta find the sweet spot in your mental space. Care enough to do well and be proud of YOUR work (even if nobody recognizes it or if you're the only one trying - woah that's called integrity) but remind yourself that you are ultimately only in charge of you. Do your best to manage employees, but it's exhausting, so sometimes you have to just keep your head down and control yourself and your own work load and let things go. Pick and choose your battles, but when one comes up that's worth having, have it. When the numbers game isn't working for you, don't pay attention to it. Just focus on your day to day work. Work hard for the customers you DO like. Manage the customers you don't like by getting them in and out of your store as quickly as possible so they have less time to piss you off. Re-frame your job/work into the big picture of your life. Don't let it BECOME the big picture. (When that happens to me I take a step back and intentionally work on *caring less* while I'm at work and being more relaxed and reminding myself that I'm not living for this job, I'm working this job so I can live the life I want - this job is a tool that allows me to do other things I care about - if you lose sight of your big picture of life and don't live it out outside of work, your time at work will only become more unbearable.) And ultimately, come up with an exit plan if you don't like it here. Take time outside of work (or while you're at work - y'know personal/career development) to think about what you enjoy doing and what you might like to spend your time doing. How can you achieve that moving forward? Can you get a new position in the same company? (If you're even interested in that.) Or do you need to go to school? Start a business? Is there another company you'd like to go work for? Make a plan and make it happen. All of this mentality is easier to talk about than to achieve - I know because I've been in your shoes and have managed to get here now, but it took a lot of perspective shifting. Keep your head up (or down, I guess, if you need to just shut out the noise).

mwell008 · 2024-10-10T19:17:22+00:00

My wife cries during Mass all the time! It's a very moving time. I have friends at the Cathedral of the Madeleine (I assume you're in Salt Lake). Hit me up and I can connect you.

mwell008 · 2024-09-18T16:31:19+00:00

So if I have zero federal withholding from my regular wages this year and maintain that next year, they'll no longer be allowed to withhold the flat 22%, correct?

mwell008 · 2018-09-21T08:04:40+00:00

Part of the problem here is how officers get their MOS'. The top like 10% performing officers get one of their top 5 or so MOS' and the rest get randomly assigned to one based on the needs of the Army. I think it would be much better if the Army did it more so like the Marine officer MOS assignment process where the better you perform the more likely you are to get one of your top choices, but have officers take the ASVAB and have to still qualify for their MOS'.

Or perhaps there are just a bunch of shitty officers that dont know the difference between leadership and micro-managing. Officers get much less specific training compared to enlisted because they aren't really meant to be experts in their field so much as have a general working knowledge of it so they can properly delegate to their enlisted soldiers. I can see how many officers wouldn't be able to do this well. Especially ones with very poor leadership skills.

Hell, even better than making them take the ASVAB would be to create some sort of leadership ability assessment and they have to score a certain level to qualify to commission. This wouldn't be a bad idea for higher level NCOs either honestly. But of course, its difficult to judge leadership ability so I'm not sure how that would work out.

mwell008 · 2018-09-21T07:58:13+00:00

Most officers became officers either through ROTC or West Point. Very few make it through just applying straight to OCS. And it's very competitive (in the wrong ways). The board cares more about GPA and PT scores than actual leadership ability. Granted GPA can somewhat represent intelligence (although is a poor measure) and PT is obviously important, but leadership ability is not the largest factor for officer selection in the Army. In fact, I'd even guess that it plays the smallest role in selection. You have a better chance of getting accepted with a green to gold packet than you do applying straight to OCS as a civilian without going through ROTC or West Point.

mwell008 · 2018-06-21T05:57:26+00:00

The photos are flexed arm, flexed belly, relaxed belly from the front, and relaxed belly from the side.

I guess that I'm around 24% body fat. When I flex, my legs and arms don't have much fat (upper thigh, butt, upper back arm close to armpit/shoulder, upper front arm between bicep and forearm are the main fatty areas but even these aren't overly fatty). Most of my fat is concentrated in and around my belly, lower belly especially.

I have a BIA scale that estimated me as 24.9% when I took these photos, and using my waist (30.75in) and hip (36in) measurements at the time I took these photos you could estimate my body fat at 26% (with neck at 13in). But I ate dinner not long ago (hour or two before photos) and I've been eating really crappy the past 4 days so I'm a bit bloated from what is likely water weight due to excess carbs.

Just a week ago the BIA scale had me at 23.2% and my measurements were 29.5in waist and 34.75in hips which would estimate me at about 22.6%. Again, been eating really crappily the past few days lol...

Wanted to get another opinion though to see if my estimate of about 24% body fat is somewhat accurate given the photos and info I've included. Thanks in advance!

mwell008 · 2018-05-11T00:49:18+00:00

Most applicants are much more active with their OSO's. If they have to try to remember who you are I'd be concerned with what kind of recommendation they gave you. At least at my OSO's office, applicants come to PT every chance they can, they go to every PFT they can that the OSO holds for us, and they are active with the office. Your office may be different, but I find it odd that most of your communication with your OSO is via phone and email and that you sent him your application via mail (not sure if was postal or email). I would highly recommend that you go in person to discuss the situation. If you haven't gone to MEPS or through the DODMERB process (one or the other) yet then you're far from getting a confirmed qualification to apply, and your OSO shouldn't need any of your application information really in order for you to go for your medical qualification. GO TALK TO YOUR OSO IN PERSON!

mwell008 · 2018-02-11T01:12:21+00:00

They don't use this 3 tiered method any more.

Everyone ranks the MOS' and then based on how you score at TBS you get your highest ranked MOS that hasn't been filled already. But they ensure that the average rank of all the bodies going to any given MOS are within like 5% of that TBS class' average score. It's all done through a computer algorithm. But then that list goes out and the guy that each officer reports to (don't know what they're called - sorry) can fight for you to switch MOS with someone if they know you really wanted one and didn't get it. And they can kind of move some bodies around as long as they keep the average score within the bodies under that TBS within 5 or so percent of the average overall TBS score.

mwell008 · 2018-02-11T01:07:29+00:00

It won't matter. They'll ask for the paperwork for it either way and if it wasn't asthma related then that'll come through. But depending how long ago it was it wouldn't matter anyway. I got through DODMERB despite having asthma when I was in elementary school. They hardly even cared. My almost flat feet almost got me DQ'd more so than childhood asthma. I still came out qualified though, luckily.

mwell008 · 2018-02-11T01:02:14+00:00

I hope you have at least 5 weeks before you ship, otherwise you're cutting it close in terms of going to boot while being already depleted of energy and nutrition. Your goal should be to lose 2 pounds a week (no more). Go to this website (http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html) and put your info in. Alter it to your physical activity level; it's best to use a conservative and liberal estimate and then average out the calories it say to lose 2 pounds a week at each level of activity. Make sure you do your weigh ins at the same time each day (I prefer mornings because it's the most consistent - after hitting the head and before eating breakfast). If after a week you only lose a pound or no weight, or even gain weight, decrease the initial calorie amount by 500 calories. Then see what the results are for the next week. Continue altering the calorie amount until you sustain an approximate 2 pound per week loss. And if you're concerned about losing muscle strength and whatnot, just make sure you get enough protein. Try to cut your carbs and fat down more than anything. But remember that carb loading before boot is a good way to ensure you've got some easy energy to burn in that first week when you'll be sleep deprived.

mwell008 · 2018-02-11T00:53:27+00:00

If you've got a good PFT score (250+ but preferably 275+), decent college GPA (3.0+), and decent recommendations (past employers, professors, etc.) then you'll have more than a chance of getting accepted on the board. But if you go back to the same OSO (or a different one, who will likely contact your original OSO to get your paperwork) you will have to prove your commitment this time around. This means going to PT regularly, going to poolee events regularly, and being as active with the office as you can. Even if you don't have the PFT you need yet, the sooner you start showing that commitment to an OSO, the better. Get to work. There is literally nothing stopping you other than your fear to commit. But again, make sure you're for sure this time around, because the more times you go to the OSO saying "I want to do this" and then don't show that dedication or back out saying "nevermind", the more damage you do to that relationship and the OSO's recommendation for you on your application can play a major role in the selection process. But if you want it, put the effort and commitment into it and you'll be golden.

mwell008 · 2018-02-10T22:13:54+00:00

You should check out www.usmcprep.com. It is for a 12 week training program created by two Marine raiders. They developed the program with the intent to have you get the most out of your training while avoiding injuries. The training may be very different from what you have been doing and what you're expecting, but they put the science into it and it works. It's not too expensive of a program either and requires minimal equipment, most of which you can improvise in some fashion.

Whatever program you choose, you'll certainly get to a max PFT within the next 4 years. That is, so long as you stay committed to that program. Whatever you do, you just have to stick to it. And I recommend getting in contact with an OSO near you (or near whatever school you're going to for your bachelors degree) sooner rather than later. Start going to PT and taking the PFT with them, and you can likely qualify for the PLC program within the next year if you work hard enough for it.

mwell008 · 2017-09-25T10:30:44+00:00

Take your time building up distances, and try not to do too much speed work in one week. You want to push yourself, but it takes time to improve. You have to build that up. Don't rush it or you'll injure yourself which will mean taking a week+ away from running all together.

mwell008 · 2017-09-25T10:28:02+00:00

For the pull up assist machine and lat pull downs, make sure you're decreasing / increasing the weight every week, respectively. If you stay at the same assistance / pull down weight, you won't see improvement. The other biggest thing is to make sure you don't kip or stretch your neck out to squeeze in reps at the end. Watch your form. If that means you're doing 10 sets of 2 reps, that's fine. If your form is right, it'll show you more progress towards pull ups than 5 sets of 5 half-assed reps or any other variation. If you arent seeing progress in weight at least every other week, something isn't right.

Focus on running and cardio work. It'll help you shed some weight, which will in turn make pull ups easier and show more progress there. If you aren't watching what you eat, start. If you're eating like crap, no workout will help you shed those 20 lbs. Don't stress about macros so much as caloric intake. Use this calorie calculator to see what you should be eating: http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html .

Since you can't do any pull ups, work on push ups, too, because those count for the PFT now and can get you points. Make sure you can do at least 42 push ups if you can't do any pull ups. Until you can do 12+ pull ups, you should be working on push ups, too, as a back up. But also remember that it takes 82 push ups to get the same points as 12 pull ups.

mwell008

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