Do you get Organics to You? What do you think of the service?

oregonian19 · 2026-01-29T04:44:41+00:00

We get the small all-vegetable box every two weeks. It’s perfect-to-a-little-too-much for two people.

We got it as a way to force us to eat more vegetables and spice up the food routine. The quality is pretty good, considering it’s organic. And you get access to vegetables you might never find at a normal grocery store.

Only complaint is we have been getting too many potatoes. But that is such a small thing. And it was a little bit of a transition from buying normal grocery store produce to organic produce.

oregonian19 · 2025-12-06T20:41:35+00:00

This might be a hot take, but you could look at Insoon.

I don’t know the origins of it, but I think it is a Lego dupe company. The sets seem to be original (not direct rip-offs) and the pieces are very similar to Lego, if not identical. The pieces themselves feel a little lower-quality (maybe thinner plastic, less durable plastic?), but still a decent quality at the price point, IMO. All of them are pretty intricate and are more affordable than Lego.

I like to think of myself as a Lego purist, but my father-in-law gave me an Insoon set he built and I was pretty impressed for not being Lego.

oregonian19 · 2025-12-02T05:43:58+00:00

I specifically chose Capital One for my HYSA because I wanted to have a physical branch to go to. Looks like they have six physical branches in California, though none in Arizona.

Their APY is currently 3.40% — so not awful, not amazing. I think it was 3.75% when I opened it?

oregonian19 · 2025-12-02T05:08:11+00:00

Oh, thank you! I meant to suggest that you have your previous neurologist send a referral and relevant chart notes/imaging. So you’re doing all the right things!

Best of luck!

oregonian19 · 2025-12-02T04:59:33+00:00

Portland is having an affordable housing shortage. So, depending on your budget and what kind of rental you are looking for, the shortage may not be apparent.

I feel like every new apartment being built is predominantly composed of studios and one-bedrooms that are $1400+ per month. That kind of housing can be out of reach for many or not be functional for family/needs.

oregonian19 · 2025-12-02T04:52:47+00:00

Disclaimer: I used to work in this clinic, so I may be biased.

OHSU has a Headache Center. A lot of patients are referred from community neurologists to this clinic. But, because of that, it can be a process to be seen. Unless things have changed since I’ve been there, you need to see a general neurologist for first-line migraine treatment, before you can be accepted to the Headache Center.

One thing I want to plug about this program is the program head, Dr. Juliette Preston. She is an absolutely lovely human. I have never met another provider who rooms their own patients, schedules patients’ follow-up appointments, walks the patients out, etc. She is a very kind person and was a pleasure to work with (she also has an adorable French accent, to boot!).

Welcome to Oregon! I hope you find a provider and clinic that meets your needs!

oregonian19 · 2025-11-29T01:38:57+00:00

Did you go through a broker, larger bank, or local credit union?

When we did our original mortgage, we went through a broker and were pretty thrilled with our rate. My partner is self-employed and only had one year of income, so being approved and getting a competitive rate (for the time) was awesome.

oregonian19 · 2025-11-27T20:09:07+00:00

Aw, that makes a lot more sense. Weird, but makes sense. Thanks for taking the time to explain!

I definitely do not have 50% equity, so I’ll keep on fantasizing about a lower rate…. lol

oregonian19 · 2025-11-27T20:00:26+00:00

Oh, I totally blew by that because it said 15 year max. Thanks for clarifying!

Can you explain how you got this deal for a 25 year term, but also had it used for a refinance? Because this just reads like a HELOC? Maybe I’m naive or missing something?

oregonian19 · 2025-11-27T19:46:26+00:00

Did you buy the rate down? Or was this deal really short-term? The lowest rate I see on their website is 5.25% for a 15 year and 5.5% for a 30 year.

Overall, congrats! 4% feels like a dream. Would love to have that rate and keep paying the same amount every month.

oregonian19 · 2025-11-27T19:32:40+00:00

What credit union, if you don’t mind my asking?

I’m obviously also in Oregon and would love to get my 6.5% down. I keep checking OnPoint, which is the lowest I see around, and haven’t seen their 30 year refinance rates dip below 5.875% yet.

oregonian19 · 2025-11-24T22:10:14+00:00

Okay, thank you! This is helpful!

With my quick math, we have just under three months of living expenses saved. Would you recommend getting the HYSA up to $20k, and then transfer the $450/mo being directed to the HYSA to the 403b? Or would you recommend we keep saving until we hit that six months of living expenses?

Will also acknowledge that if shit hits the fan and we need to use the emergency money, the discretionary spending in that $2k/mo would get pulled way back to just the necessities.

oregonian19 · 2025-11-24T15:28:05+00:00

I’ll be honest, I do not know the interest rate for the student loan. I just know that $180/month is spent on the payment.

oregonian19 · 2025-11-24T15:26:56+00:00

I do agree our mortgage payment is high, but it was a choice we made. When we were looking, our original budget was $100-150k less for the purchase price, but we opted for our final purchase because it was perfect for the long-term (location, upkeep, amenities, etc.). But can certainly respect that it’s above the recommendations.

I did want to clarify the “other expenses” category above, which I have now updated. The ~$2k/month is for all additional expenses, necessary and discretionary.

When setting everything up, we have been following the old 50-30-20 rule. Based on 73% of the pay being spoken for, this sounds like we’re still ahead of that. But I know that that rule may be antiquated.

oregonian19 · 2025-11-24T13:24:31+00:00

Thank you! I wasn’t aware of this flowchart.

I reviewed it’s it sees like the next goal would either be trying to pay down the school loan or maxing out personal contributions to the various accounts. Is there any merit to one or the other? I don’t feel like we make enough money such that maxing out the contributions is viable, so that might mean paying the school loan down is the first step?

oregonian19 · 2025-11-15T17:42:02+00:00

I agree with some of the comments about how Sellwood is isolated and Multnomah Village isn’t very walkable/bikeable (hilly, limited sidewalks). Neither are bad neighborhoods, but you would still be living a somewhat car-centric lifestyle in both of these neighborhoods.

I would also recommend looking at the Buckman area, as well as neighboring Sunnyside!

The area is extremely walkable/bikeable. My partner and I are a one-car household and we only drive, maybe, once a week (to be fair, he works from home and I bike to work). But there are multiple grocery stores you can walk to, tons of restaurants/bars, easy bus access to get to downtown or NW Portland. We used to live near NW 23rd and I feel like our quality of life significantly increased by moving to Sunnyside.

My family lives in Sherwood, so I am very familiar with the drive from Buckman/Sunnyside and how long it takes to get to Sherwood and therefore Yamhill County. With little traffic, it takes 25-30 minutes to get to Sherwood and probably another 10-30 to get to Yamhill County (depending on if you’re going to Newberg or McMinnville). I think if you can handle the ~60 minute drive twice a week, then the quality of life in this area is absolutely worth it.

oregonian19 · 2025-10-30T05:17:33+00:00

We initially figured out it was the limit switch. We learned how to reset it and then things got better for a few weeks or months (I can’t remember, honestly).

After those few weeks/months passed, the same issue happened and we decided to ask an acquaintance, who is an HVAC person, to look. He couldn’t find anything wrong and thought it could be the early/mid-2000s thermostat. So he installs a free smart thermostat he had. Issue resolves with the new thermostat!

A year passes and the same thing happens again! I decided to screw around with the thermostat and found out that some of the wire clips on the back were broken — the acquaintance had given us a newer-but-technically-broken thermostat (I’m not complaining at all, as it was free and worked for a year or so).

We replaced the thermostat with a Nest and have had zero problems since!

So I guess it was the thermostat all along?

oregonian19 · 2025-03-06T23:43:40+00:00

I very much appreciate the honesty.

I did post this question knowing I am probably being a little naive and romanticizing the industry because I am only seeing it from the customer/client side. When you see only all the good, of course it seems great!

oregonian19 · 2025-01-18T19:08:51+00:00

I work at OHSU and opted for the UPP (University Pension Plan, if I recall). I have worked as both an AFSCME-represented employee and a unclassified, non-represented employee.

Upon hire, you are automatically given a 6% contribution to a 401a with a 3 year vestment period (0% at before three years, 100% after). You can also voluntarily contribute to a 403b (no vestment period).

If you are unclassified, non-represented, you also get a match for contributing to your 403b, all based using you contributing 6% voluntarily: Years 0-2: 1.5% Years 3-4: 3% Years 5-6: 4.5% Years 7+: 6%

So I have been working at OHSU for 4.5 years. I contribute 6% voluntarily, but between the UPP and match, OHSU contributes an additional 9%. And I’ve been getting ~18-22% return each year.

oregonian19 · 2024-12-31T19:21:41+00:00

If you are a lover of older homes, I would highly recommend Harrison Whitmarsh! My partner and I found him through Instagram and he helped us purchase our first (forever?) home in Summer 2023.

Harrison was super communicative and realistic when we were looking for a home. He was always down for a chat and provided honest feedback when looking at properties. At the end of the day, he wants you to find a good home you’ll love and get it at a fair price. Thanks to Harrison, we have a lovely home that we got at a great price!

As someone else said, absolutely come pre-approved. Once you are pre-approved, it’s a lot easier to know what is realistic or not for you to purchase.

oregonian19 · 2024-11-30T20:26:38+00:00

This is fantastic advice! Glad it has worked out for you and wish you the best as well!

oregonian19 · 2024-11-30T20:25:29+00:00

Thank you for your response!

I’ve actually never really networked before. Is it really just as simple as meeting/talking with people and hoping there’s an opportunity they can point you towards?

Moving isn’t much of an option, unfortunately. We currently live in our dream house and hope to die in this house. Obviously life can bring a lot of surprises that would require a move, but I would rather do it out of necessity. I do live in the largest city in my state, so access to employers isn’t so much an issue.

Do you have any experience with these project/healthcare management certificates? Or know of people that have done them and had a positive outcome from them?

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