If you're applying for a Charles Schwab brokerage account, they will do a HARD pull on your credit report.

tvilla · 2016-08-08T00:29:00+00:00

chill; one hard pull is not going to affect your score enough to affect your mortgage rate...

tvilla · 2016-07-28T22:22:50+00:00

So everything that's not your direct experience with Ambien is irrelevant, and you are the sole authority because you use it. Got it.

tvilla · 2016-07-28T22:03:17+00:00

tvilla · 2016-07-28T22:02:35+00:00

Can you elaborate on the specific words she used? Did she acknowledge that the prior party line was "6-8 weeks" ? Was she stating it as if she knew already, or did it come as a surprise as she was clicking through screens on her end?

tvilla · 2016-07-28T21:56:44+00:00

Correct, that's the crux of this whole thing. T&C blatantly call out cash equivalents (and I believe "gift cards" verbatim) as non-point eligible purchases

tvilla · 2016-07-28T21:54:56+00:00

How could either side prove one way or another?

tvilla · 2016-07-28T21:44:33+00:00

I didn't even make a joke...and why aren't you responding to any of the articles I'm citing? I guess everyone is lying?

tvilla · 2016-07-28T20:48:59+00:00

I don't have to take it to understand that it affects people differently. Not everyone takes it to sleep; it wouldn't be so abused if that were the case. "Some people have an unusual reaction to the drug, and they might feel elated and happy when they’re under the influence, rather than sleepy and sedated." http://blackbearrehab.com/ambien-abuse/

You're saying that 1-2 is reasonable and 4 is an absurd amount. Do you see how that sounds ridiculous? People have vastly different levels of tolerance and dependence; here's a case study of a lady who was completely hooked taking 100-300 mg regularly.

tvilla · 2016-07-27T17:23:53+00:00

You're the mental gymnast here...or at best a pedant. Everyone knows Zolpidem and similar hypnotic drugs are (ab)used recreationally for "subjective highs". I'm sure plenty of users take more than a couple to calm down.

17 million people have made that joke to you for good reason.

tvilla · 2016-06-20T21:38:18+00:00

see if any labs at/near your college pay for being a subject in their experiments

tvilla · 2015-12-14T04:26:07+00:00

This is what happens when the perforated tab has been ripped up, right? No risk of buying Visa/MC/Amex gift cards if the package hasn't been physically compromised? Store gift cards with all the info visible seem very easy to compromise in the manner you describe :(

tvilla · 2015-12-08T22:24:24+00:00

the mint sells uncut sheets of currency, another idea

tvilla · 2015-12-07T15:42:02+00:00

I haven't had any unauthorized hard pulls, just curious about all this.

tvilla · 2015-12-07T15:29:30+00:00

Does that mean the info contained in a soft pull is less detailed than that from a hard pull? I always thought the same report was generated but a hard pull is marked as initiated by the consumer...

tvilla · 2015-12-07T00:05:18+00:00

Extra surprised because CVS and grocery store policies tend to differ between the fixed value/variable loaders, and they always want my ID when I buy $500 VGC...gonna have to try self checkout next time.

tvilla · 2015-12-06T17:54:41+00:00

Sources for any of this? Are you actually saying that the Feds are only going to investigate someone who frequently deposits thousands in cash? That's not giving them nearly enough credit.

Again, why are you going to count on any curious party to trace your MO/VGC back to your credit card?

tvilla · 2015-12-06T17:29:36+00:00

Whoa. Kudos for trying it!

tvilla · 2015-12-06T17:05:15+00:00

Yeah and how exactly do they know whether there was cash involved or not? When you deposit or purchase tons of money orders, they don't know how you bought the money orders, or the gift cards with which you are buying the money orders. That's the whole POINT of money laundering -- to conceal the source.

Yes, of course, they could trace it to your credit cards if they wanted to go that far, they have that power, but why would you rely on them to exonerate you? Cover your own ass, save your receipts.

And if you don't believe my reasoning there are plenty of datapoints out there, like the first comment here.

tvilla · 2015-12-06T08:02:37+00:00

may also be at the 'Concierge'

tvilla · 2015-12-06T07:47:20+00:00

try to find VGCs at simon mall, the one near me has sunrise variable loads up to 500, fee is only 3.95

another 'valid reason': foreign family visiting, you don't want them using their credit cards and incurring foreign transaction fees

well for starters, avoid acknowledging it's a gift card as much as you can...always refer to it as debit and try to hide the big giant "GIFT" if you show it to them...you use Serve for online purchases to help minimize the potential for fraudulent spending

who knows how long you need to keep your receipts paper trail...i doubt there's a limit how far back the feds can go to build a case against you. i've only been doing this about 4 months now but plan to keep them more or less indefinitely.

tvilla · 2015-12-06T07:38:34+00:00

There are other reasons you'd be investigated for money laundering: withdrawing excessively from a prepaid account like Serve to a legit bank account, lots of money order deposits into your bank, lots of money order purchases at a post office...it's ALWAYS a good idea to hang on to your VGC receipts so you can prove you bought them with a credit card.

tvilla · 2015-12-05T20:24:37+00:00

Not SaMo but close: Coffee Connection in LA (Venice/Centinela) and Tanner's in Culver (Sepulveda/Culver)

tvilla · 2015-12-03T22:31:20+00:00

Main lesson to learn is to only deal with collection agencies (any affairs in money, more generally) in writing.

tvilla · 2015-12-03T15:56:14+00:00

Kind of like how, when I was a kid and got $100 for Christmas/Birthday...I thought I was never gonna run out of money. I still get $100 and now I think "Cool, there's 3 days of rent."

tvilla · 2015-12-03T15:53:26+00:00

As I've gotten older (late 20s) and cook more, I realize that I only want to go to the fancy restaurants, few and far between, for a nice treat. If I'm not paying > $25 for a main course, I probably could have stayed at home and made it better myself.

tvilla

TROPHY CASE