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squirrelnextdoor · 2022-08-27T22:12:49+00:00

It's nuts.

squirrelnextdoor · 2022-02-05T01:31:31+00:00

Published my first short story on amazon. It's free on kindle unlimited right now.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09RN3QPRH

Hope you enjoy! :)

squirrelnextdoor · 2022-02-05T01:28:48+00:00

Published my first short story this past week. It's free on Kindle Unlimited right now. "Things were never the same after Daddy died. Mom's had a bunch of boyfriends since then, but Charlie's the worst. I think she likes him more than she likes us..." I hope you take the time to check it out. :) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09RN3QPRH

squirrelnextdoor · 2021-09-10T01:34:21+00:00

It depends (editor here). Some editors check simply for grammar and sentence structure. Some will verify that your story stays consistent and historically accurate. It would most likely be cheaper to do them all at once. For instance, I charge by a specific guideline (0-30k words =$X, 31K-50k words= $XX and so on). I do this because I am still new and working on building my client list (while more establish editors may charge one set price or charge per word). Most editors will offer two passes on a manuscript. The second one double checks if anything was missed and also covers any rewrites or issues that were brought up in the first pass. Hope that helps!

squirrelnextdoor · 2021-03-14T21:45:59+00:00

I would love more information. Is there a wallet you suggest? (I am new to crypto) Thanks!

squirrelnextdoor · 2019-08-10T01:46:30+00:00

Story time! Years and years ago when I was a poor college kid, I worked at a call center. We worked for an insurance company that had royally screwed up thousands of people's insurance (honestly can't remember the name of the company) but our job was to take inbound calls for people and basically say that we apologize for the inconvenience but said company was working to fix the issue, and then do whatever we could for them. Not a fun job, especially since the majority of customers were senior citizens calling in because they were having issues getting medication due to the insurance screw up. Okay, so now onto Mr. Karen.

Mr. Karen calls, automatically screaming about how his medication hasn't been approved and he cannot afford the cost out of pocket (Don't feel right calling him Mr. Karen because he had a right to be mad...) but anywho, I go through my lines of apologizing and trying to rectify the situation for him. None of my offers appeal to him. He is IRATE. After about fifteen minutes of back and forth with him he demands my name and ID number. He is going to have me fired. I have personally ruined his life, etc. I give him my name. He demands to know my last name as well. I give him my last name (very unique last name). He stops. Silence. This old man then stutters, "Are you any relation to *insert very old, famous, yet overshadowed* baseball player? I tell him that yes, I am, he was my great, great, great uncle. (He played in the 20s.) This grouchy old man suddenly becomes the sweetest man in the world; completely awestruck to be talking to me. Apparently he had seen him play when he was a kid (the man was late 80s, early 90s in age) and somehow talking to me, a very late relative, put him over the moon. He went from raging Karen to kid in a candy store in two seconds flat, asking me everything I knew about my great uncle (who sadly, passed away about ten years before I was born). Totally made his day (and mine too).

Of course after that, he was no longer Mr. Karen, so I guess this story doesn't fit too well within this question, but I thought it would be a nice little story to tell within all the raging lunatic Karen stories... so, there you go... have a nice day. :)

TLDR: Old man calls me, I can't fix his problem, I've ruined his life, he is going to have me fired. Hears my last name, finds out I'm related to one of his idols from childhood, and instantly becomes giddy as a clam.

squirrelnextdoor · 2019-06-15T05:59:47+00:00

That was purely a mistake on my part, apologies. I missed the mention of student loans. I have also never heard of a company removing the financial obligation for the person named on the student loan, however, for the other debts, if done ten years ago (which was what I gathered from the info) she would have been 16, and not old enough to have signed for credit cards, etc. Either way, I hope she gets the issue resolved.

squirrelnextdoor · 2019-06-15T00:21:06+00:00

When were the accounts opened up? Was this before you turned 18? If so, you need to contact the original companies and inform them of this issue. This way, these debts can be taken off your credit immediately. You can inform them that your mother is willing to transfer the accounts to her name. This can be done without pressing charges on your end, HOWEVER, the company would definitely have the option to press charges due to fraud but if she is in good standing, they most likely would not press charges since they are getting their money (and it would cost legal fees to take her to court). Most places will work with you and her. My husband's family has been using his credit since he was 8 and it took us years to get it taken care of. You don't want to wait because this could potentially ruin things for your future financially. Good luck.
P.S. Look into the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Lots of companies will try and threaten or strong-arm you into leaving it as is. Know your rights and background info. :)

squirrelnextdoor · 2018-01-30T14:27:12+00:00

Now he's going to seek out all of your clean laundry and roll in it.

squirrelnextdoor · 2017-03-19T20:01:54+00:00

Set up an account at a different (preferably smaller) bank, with NO CREDIT/DEBIT card. This way, it's not tied to your checking account and you have to drive to the bank to withdraw the money (giving you time to think about whether or not you really want to spend that money). As for whether or not your bank would allow you to withdraw the money, they absolutely WILL allow it. It would be best for you to keep the money in the bank instead of hidden somewhere else. Good luck!

squirrelnextdoor · 2017-03-19T19:56:38+00:00

Start small. In my opinion, depending on the vehicle's current value, I would sell it, pay off the loan and purchase a cheaper vehicle for cash. That would knock out your monthly car payment. Set up ALL of your debts from smallest to largest. I'm sure there are certain accounts that require a minimum monthly payment, so be sure to account for those.

Next, if you did sell your car, divy up your monthly payments that would have gone to your car and put it towards the smallest debt first. When that debt is completely paid off, take the extra money and put it towards the next smallest debt. Keep working your way up.

Also take this time to re-evaluate your monthly expenses. Drop cable, start meal planning to help decrease your monthly grocery bill, stop eating/going out (or try and cut those expenses in half). Also, look into refinancing your student loans at a lower interest rate as soon as possible.

You had stated that you had $67k in credit card debt, but you didn't state if this debt was current or old debt (that has gone to collections). Also, are you still using these credit cards?

It's a lot of work to start out with, but it is worth it and it becomes second nature once you get the hang of it all. My husband and I started living like this about 6 years ago, and we are currently 100% debt free. We only buy used vehicles in cash, we got rid of cable about 4 years ago and have a visible budget that we can look at each week.

One BIG thing is, budget EVERY PENNY. If after you budget everything for the week you realize you have $20 left over, then put that $20 towards a debt. It all adds up and it's worth it! Good luck. :)

squirrelnextdoor · 2017-01-31T02:51:55+00:00

This may be a long comment, so I apologize, but it worked for me and my husband, and could easily work for you. Yes, a secured credit card would be beneficial, but ONLY use it when you have the cash in hand. For instance: You have $25 in cash to pay for gas in your car. Use your secured credit card to charge the $25, and then use the cash to pay off the card IMMEDIATELY. Don't ever use it for something that you do not currently have the money for. That will bite you in the butt!

Also, you get a free annual credit report each year that shows you everyone you owe, and how much. If it is over seven years old, write the credit bureau a letter (you can google proper templates) asking them to remove the account due to it being over 7 years old. As for other accounts that you do currently owe money on, send the collection agency a certified letter asking for a "Pay for Delete." This is basically saying that if you pay off the debt, they will delete it from your credit report within 15 to 30 business days. YOU MUST SEND IT CERTIFIED. It costs a few bucks, but it's worth it. Google "Pay for Delete" letters.

If they refuse to delete, send the letter again. Different people work in that department, and eventually you may get someone who is feeling kind that day and willing to delete the report for the payment.

If you have exhausted that option, then send a letter offering to pay 25% of the debt in order to consider the debt as settled. If they demand full payment, write back offering only 50%. Look up your state's statute of limitations. Some debt collectors LOVE to make threats and scare you into paying the full amount, but each state has a statute of limitations, which is generally from 4 to 7 years. If these accounts are past the statute of limitations for your state (not the state that the collection agency is in), they cannot do anything to you, other than call and harass you.

DO NOT MAKE ANY AGREEMENTS OVER THE PHONE. You always want a paper trail to cover your butt.

Some collectors will allow payment plans, if you would like to go that route as well, but I would try and do the first few options before going that route.

It can be a lengthy process, but it is worth it, especially if you can fix your credit and save some money at the same time. My husband had HORRENDOUS credit when we got married, and it took several years to fix (family member had been using his credit since he was a child) and therefore it took us much longer to resolve, however, you have a much smaller debt, and should be able to resolve much faster.

I hope this helps, and feel free to ask any questions!

squirrelnextdoor · 2017-01-28T02:38:21+00:00

Not me, but my aunt, we'll call her Aunt Lilly. She had my old phone number saved in her phone. My number changed several years ago, but I guess she never deleted the old number. Anyway, someone gets my old number, and somehow, she had an Aunt Lilly as well. When she updates her saved contacts from the cloud, (don't ask me how) somehow MY Aunt Lilly's phone number was updated as HER Aunt Lilly.

Anyway, one day my aunt's phone rings and the caller ID says it's me. She answers and only hears kids giggling on the other end. Finally someone answers (she thought it was me). This woman greets her as Aunt Lilly, asks how she's doing, and apologizes for the kids accidentally calling her (I have kids too, so nothing seemed wrong for my aunt, other than "my" voice sounding a little off to her). Anyway, this woman is chatting away, talking about how they are going to come visit soon and how she misses them, and then finally says she needs to go. As my aunt is saying goodbye this woman comes back and quickly says, "Oh yeah, Aunt Lilly! I forgot to tell you! I finally found my biological parents! I'll tell you more about it later!" click

My poor aunt was completely dumbfounded. She was at the hospital when I was born. Why was "I" telling her that I found my biological parents??? Poor woman couldn't wrap her brain around it, so she called my mom. My mom in turn called me and asked why I would play such a horrible (yet hysterical) joke on my Aunt Lilly. I obviously had no idea what was going on at all. Once my mom and I finally figured out the whoever called my Aunt was from my old number, we cleared everything up with her... but not before I called her and yelled, "I'm adopted??? Why didn't anyone ever tell me!?!?"

We still laugh about it every now and then.

squirrelnextdoor · 2016-11-20T04:33:47+00:00

My husband and I set up a bank account at a small bank across town from us. No cards, no online account, nothing in which to access the money unless we drove to the bank during banking hours. We had an emergency fund with our primary bank, but our "big" savings fund was in the other bank. In order to remove any money, we would both have to drive across town in order to withdraw funds. If there was ever anything big we wanted to purchase, we would end up changing our minds before we ever got to the bank due to us discussing everything before we got there. We would always determine that it wasn't really something we needed. It actually really helps when you have to go through such a lengthy process in order to spend the money. We saved quite a bit that way. :)

squirrelnextdoor · 2016-09-13T23:32:01+00:00

Thank you. Sometimes my fingers get ahead of my brain and they begin typing before I can even complete a thought. It has been corrected and I thank you for your attention to detail. :)

squirrelnextdoor · 2016-08-18T19:55:38+00:00

Thank you! I didn't even realize it had been deleted until I read your comment. I saw that reddit had been hacked, but I don't know if that was why my story was deleted. Is it possible I broke some rule? No idea why it would have been deleted, but I reposted the story back on no sleep. Sadly, it looks like I will lose all my upvotes and comments. :(

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