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How does irregular income relate to SNAP (food stamp) benefits? My partner (we're not married, but we live together and sometimes share food) will be going out for surgery in a couple weeks. He'll be getting paid lost wages that amount to I think 60% of his already-relatively-low income. He sells old gaming memorabilia online, sometimes directly, sometimes through eBay, and often overseas. He gets anywhere from $5 to $500 at a time, and it could be anywhere from once a week to once or less a month. He usually uses this to catch up on bills, because the income from his job alone doesn't cover them. I don't think he reports these sales as income for federal/state tax purposes, but I'm not sure. He already paid tax back when he bought the stuff several years ago, so I don't even know if that's a problem. Anyway, I'm assuming he would have to report these sales as income. Will the welfare office be privy to the exact amounts of money moving in and out of his checking account? Would they totally disqualify him and make him reapply if there's a week/month where he gets pushed over the line? Or is it like unemployment where you report your income and just don't get benefits for that week? If there is a better forum for this question, please let me know. I've never been on unemployment or food stamps, so I don't know anything.
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Sep 26, 2013 02:29
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Are you asking whether he is eligible or are you asking how to game the system? Just apply. Your state probably has a website devoted to it, and that's the advice they always give. Even if you're not sure, apply, and you may find out that you are eligible for other programs or assistance.
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Sep 26, 2013 05:17
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Who here uses those online savings account places? Are they worthwhile? I like my credit union but their savings rates are like 0.1%. I know rates aren't great right now but there's gotta be somewhere I can do a bit better than that to store my emergency fund. Any suggestions?
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Sep 26, 2013 23:59
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I've kept my emergency cash at ING (now CapitalOne) and HSBC Direct for years, like since they were paying 7% interest. Never had a negative experience as long as you keep the 3-4 day transfer times in mind. HSBC hasn't kept up rates lately, perhaps due to their ongoing scandals.
eddiewalker fucked around with this message at 00:14 on Sep 27, 2013 |
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Sep 27, 2013 00:12
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I use to use ING Direct until Cap1 bought them. They had the 2nd best rate at the time. Great customer service and etc, easy to use...I won't do biz with Cap1 though, so I moved my savings. SmartyPig is another well liked savings account, which had the best rate I could find in 2010. I'm sure it's gone down now. My CU offers 1.x% on checking balances up to $10k, so that's where I stick short term. As long as I spend to the budget vs the account all is good! My CU also offers 0.1% BS on my normal savings account. Gah!
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Sep 27, 2013 00:12
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I still use CapitalOne née ING Direct for my cash savings. Literally the only thing that has changed since CapitalOne took over is the color scheme of the website, so I haven't had a reason to jump ship yet. Savings rates have crashed across the board so they aren't all that far behind anyone else, at least not enough for me to care at this point. Plus there's really good integration between CapitalOne 360 and Sharebuilder if you have a brokerage or IRA account with them. My credit union is great and I love using them for checking and day to day stuff. They give ~4% interest but only on the first $1000, after that it's only 0.1%. So I only keep $1000 with them and move the rest to CapitalOne.
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Sep 27, 2013 00:23
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100 HOGS AGREE posted:Who here uses those online savings account places? Are they worthwhile? I like my credit union but their savings rates are like 0.1%. I know rates aren't great right now but there's gotta be somewhere I can do a bit better than that to store my emergency fund. Any suggestions?
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Sep 27, 2013 01:53
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I use Barclays online. One of the highest rates for savings accounts, and run by the real Barclays Bank.
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Sep 27, 2013 07:22
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I use Smartypig to save for large purchases. Right now we're saving 4 a larger house. What is nice is that it keeps us on track, and we can see our progress. It also takes a couple days to pull the money out, so we don't look at it as available funds. The interest rate is better than our credit union.
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Sep 27, 2013 11:37
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2012 was a bad year
slow crow fucked around with this message at 03:05 on Nov 10, 2013 |
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Sep 28, 2013 12:12
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Obamacare question (should we start a new thread for this? I don't know anything about it but maybe someone with expertise could start one): I was actually excited about the exchanges starting up in a few days, but then I realized I can't participate because I have employer-provided insurance. My insurance offered by work sucks is kind of terrible. My wife is also covered by my employer's plan, but they don't subsidize any of it - I pay 100% of her premiums through the employer plan. She is currently unemployed (graduate student). Is there some way for her to independently use the exchange to seek out better coverage than our terrible plan, even though technically she could get it from my employer and our "household" income (my income) I think puts us out of subsidy range?
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Sep 28, 2013 18:04
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slow crow posted:Please help me with a credit report question that I can't find a better place to ask about. It's pretty important to me. Step 1) Read the thread. Step 2) ??? Step 3) Profit. Hint: Step 2 does not involve optimizing your utilization to game your credit score.
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Sep 28, 2013 18:13
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2012 was a bad year
slow crow fucked around with this message at 03:04 on Nov 10, 2013 |
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Sep 28, 2013 18:55
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This is not a question about utilization. I just pulled up my Experian credit report and I don't have that issue, slow crow. I ask for credit limit increases all the time and have never noticed that happen. I would check into it.
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Sep 28, 2013 19:16
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2012 was a bad year
slow crow fucked around with this message at 03:04 on Nov 10, 2013 |
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Sep 28, 2013 19:20
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kaishek posted:Obamacare question (should we start a new thread for this? I don't know anything about it but maybe someone with expertise could start one): http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3540057
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Sep 28, 2013 19:42
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moana posted:This is not a question about utilization. Oddly, my Experian report does have that issue. There's a text comment with each account (that's had CLIs) like this: Credit limit $3,000 from 01/01 to 08/01, $5,000 from 08/01 to 12/05, $10,000 from 12/05 to 09/13 There's a separate one for high balances during each of those time periods too. That said, high balance isn't used in FICO, so you shouldn't be stressing out about it.
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Sep 29, 2013 18:57
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2012 was a bad year
slow crow fucked around with this message at 03:03 on Nov 10, 2013 |
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Sep 29, 2013 19:46
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Bisty Q. posted:Oddly, my Experian report does have that issue. There's a text comment with each account (that's had CLIs) like this:
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Sep 29, 2013 19:53
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slow crow posted:Unfortunately the score my lenders use does reflect the percent of revolving credit used. So I'll have to look into that. Did you change the type of card or product you had? The account should have stayed the same, but maybe if you went from a platinum card to a rewards card they made a new account for the new product? Might take a month for it to get straightened out. That's the only thing I can think of.
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Sep 30, 2013 22:01
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2012 was a bad year
slow crow fucked around with this message at 02:59 on Nov 10, 2013 |
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Oct 1, 2013 09:53
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Got the bonus. After taxes it comes to $1425. Roll that with my $500 monthly payment plus the $200 my family is reimbursing me for and I'm looking at $1400 left on credit debt. Might actually be credit card debt free by end of the year. Feels goood.
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Oct 2, 2013 16:32
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I'm finally starting to really look at where my money is sitting and where it should be going and I need a little help figuring things out. I've posted before about opening a Roth IRA and I'm currently in the process of doing that with Vanguard but now I'm looking at some other options. Currently I have all my money in a local bank that I'm getting absolute poo poo rates at. Breaks down like this: 13.5k getting .05% - Spending money. My paychecks (150/wk right now) from my part time job go here as I finish up college. 52.5k getting .23% - This is a joint account with my parents. Essentially the money is mine and I could convince them to move it. This will also be back up funding for my Roth IRA when I open it up. Checking account that I keep at around $500 with a combo of both accounts depending on my expenses. I have no debt and my expenses are next to nothing as I currently live at home but I am looking to move out fairly soon so I do have to take that in to consideration. I definitely want to move the 13.5k. I want a much better rate and I want an easier way to deposit my checks. This account isn't going to be dropping below 10k anytime soon so I'm wondering if theres a better alternative than just opening an online savings account? Someone above mentioned Barclays which I liked the idea of. There I'd be getting .9% and the best I could do with a CD is Ally at .94. For that extra .04% I think I'd rather just have a much more liquid account. There any upside to a CD I'm not understanding? As for the 52.5k, I'd have to discuss with my parents whether they want to move this money as well. I like my local bank and the staff there has always been super helpful but these rates just seem really bad. Would keeping a checking account with them have any downside if I ended up moving all of the money out of both savings accounts?
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Oct 3, 2013 10:17
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Here's a quickie dumb question: When do the returns of your 401k actually get added to your account? Is it a day to day thing, and the only time I should really be worried about it is when I withdraw? I noticed my year-to-date change is currently a little over 6%, but I know that it will fluctuate over time. I think I'm overthinking this.
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Oct 3, 2013 21:18
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The gains and losses of the securities in your 401k are unrealized until you sell them. The number that you see as total gain/loss is what your return would be if you sold and cashed out every position in the account right now (not accounting for taxes). There are no returns to be "added" to the account. That said, there are often dividends and capital distributions that get paid out on different schedules depending on the underlying security, however you are most likely (and should be) automatically reinvesting those distributions back into the security that paid them out, rather than receiving them as cash.
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Oct 3, 2013 21:28
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Thought people here would appreciate this blog post: Five Money Excuses That Held Me Back (and How I Overcame Them) http://lifehacker.com/five-money-excuses-that-held-me-back-and-how-i-overcam-1441083773
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Oct 4, 2013 14:24
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I defaulted on a credit card in 2007. On a separate entry on my report it shows that a collection agency bought the debt June of last year. Do I have to wait until 2018 for that to fall off or does it go away the same time as the original debt?
borodino fucked around with this message at 22:40 on Oct 4, 2013 |
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Oct 4, 2013 22:37
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borodino posted:I defaulted on a credit card in 2007. On a separate entry on my report it shows that a collection agency bought the debt June of last year. Do I have to wait until 2018 for that to fall off or does it go away the same time as the original debt? That's all original debt. That's not to say they might try to claim otherwise, but you're on solid ground with getting it off your credit report if you haven't touched it since you went into default.
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Oct 4, 2013 23:04
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aw yiss posted:There any upside to a CD I'm not understanding? aw yiss posted:Would keeping a checking account with them have any downside if I ended up moving all of the money out of both savings accounts? There's no single right way to organize money, but this works well for me: 1- Local checking/spending, like $2k for normal budgeted spending, rent, paycheck deposits etc. 2- Local savings account at same place, for small savings grabs and transfers to normalize #1 once a month. 3- Online savings account holding the larger block of savings at a better interest rate. This money just sits there earning interest and being an emergency fund, occasionally taking overflow from #2. Assuming the banks you're dealing with are all modernized, you should be able to electronically transfer between your local bank and the online bank relatively easily after you've done all the authenticating and setup needed. Just bear in mind the scale of your administrative efforts moving poo poo around, since at best you're talking about like an %0.8 gain in annual interest.
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Oct 4, 2013 23:25
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borodino posted:I defaulted on a credit card in 2007. On a separate entry on my report it shows that a collection agency bought the debt June of last year. Do I have to wait until 2018 for that to fall off or does it go away the same time as the original debt? It shouldn't be on your credit. But it still money you owe. Debt isn't forgiven after 7 years, and it is very common for this to happen. This is why I always tell people to pay their bad debts off, assuming they can afford to, instead of waiting for it to age off. As long as its unpaid, it is well within their right to sue you, to sell it again to another place that will try to report it, or to upload the wrong file even if you are successful in removing it. This is ancient debt, you should be able to settle this for 10 cents on the dollar. I can just about guarantee something will happen a month before you buy a house you don't take care of it. This might be one of those rare times a pay for delete letter is appropriate.
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Oct 4, 2013 23:57
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Zeta Taskforce posted:It shouldn't be on your credit. But it still money you owe. Debt isn't forgiven after 7 years, and it is very common for this to happen. This is why I always tell people to pay their bad debts off, assuming they can afford to, instead of waiting for it to age off. I actually already did settle it 4 or 5 days ago. I was just curious how it works when you have several entries for the same debt. edit: So I guess I want to know did me settling with the collection agency reset the clock or whatever and cause this thing to appear on my report for the next 7 years? borodino fucked around with this message at 00:42 on Oct 5, 2013 |
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Oct 5, 2013 00:37
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I'm not in a situation where it matters or anything, but I've heard a lot of people say you should not pay off old debt that's fallen off your credit, because it puts it back on your credit report when you pay it. This is completely false, right?
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Oct 5, 2013 00:51
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SlightlyMadman posted:I'm not in a situation where it matters or anything, but I've heard a lot of people say you should not pay off old debt that's fallen off your credit, because it puts it back on your credit report when you pay it. This is completely false, right? No, that's exactly correct. If something falls off your credit report due to age of the debt, you should make every effort to not pay or acknowledge it.
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Oct 5, 2013 01:33
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baquerd posted:No, that's exactly correct. If something falls off your credit report due to age of the debt, you should make every effort to not pay or acknowledge it. What about this? quote:Seven years after the original default date, all mentions of a debt -- no matter who has bought the debt or when -- have to come off your credit report, says Maxine Sweet, vice president of public education for credit bureau Experian. It seems like that advice is because some actions can reset the statute of limitations, not just to stop old debts from remaining on your report. Also do debts fall off automatically or do you have to file with the credit bureaus for that to occur?
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Oct 5, 2013 01:54
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Any thoughts on I-bonds? I can't think of any reasons not to slowly transfer my entire emergency savings to them since they protect against inflation by design and have better rates than the high yield online savings rates.
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Oct 5, 2013 04:43
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IAMKOREA posted:Any thoughts on I-bonds? I can't think of any reasons not to slowly transfer my entire emergency savings to them since they protect against inflation by design and have better rates than the high yield online savings rates. Minimum ownership period of one year to cash them in, for starters. Once a year is up, the interest penalty for cashing them in early makes the yield close to the same as a high interest account. Did I mention that the base rate on I bonds is 0%? Your entire return is tied to inflation. The point of an emergency fund is not to chase yield, it's to provide liquidity to prevent having to go into debt when crazy stuff happens. That said, when inflation picks up, interest rates will as well. The early 80s and late 70s had crazy inflation, but the us government also issued 30 year t bonds at 13%. The only way that you'll miss out on higher base rates is if you have your money locked up in a financial instrument that has cash out penalties.
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Oct 5, 2013 16:48
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borodino posted:I actually already did settle it 4 or 5 days ago. I was just curious how it works when you have several entries for the same debt. You were right to settle this debt. I don't know if this is the correct path if you are worried about the short term way this will report on your credit. But I believe to (finally) pay this debt removes a potential landmine out of your life. It might have never exploded. But not having financial landmines is part of managing money too. But like I said, there is no law that says you don't owe the money, no law that says they can't collect on it, no law that says they can't sue you. Also, collectors are scum, and individual collectors have been known to make tiny payments on old accounts to refresh them and keep them from dropping off. If you are buying a house and it shows up, what are you going to tell the bank when they ask if it is yours. Yes, but I don't know why it's still there because it's 10 years old... See if they like that answer. What you need to do now is make sure you have it in writing, that you save that letter the rest of your life, and because it was probably sold multiple times, make sure all other reporting versions of this debt are reporting accurately too.
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Oct 6, 2013 01:01
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Zeta Taskforce posted:But like I said, there is no law that says you don't owe the money, no law that says they can't collect on it, no law that says they can't sue you. I totally agree with the gist of your post, but I want to make one small correction to it, because I've heard you say this a couple of times. Once the 7 year statute expires, any lawsuits in progress or new lawsuits can and will be dismissed for being beyond the statute. All other collection activities can continue as usual though. Source: I was a credit card debt collector for 4 years.
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Oct 6, 2013 15:13
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Hello everyone yet again. I have a health insurance question. My husband is getting med boarded out of the military. Unless he can get medical retirement (which hopefully we will, but we are just starting the process) we will lose Tricare. I have health insurance through my job, but my pay sucks and so when he is out we want to move to another state. We were specifically looking at Florida. I teach, so I was looking at health benefits in one of the counties we are interested in. Their insurance plan is all based on co-insurance rather than copays. So my question is, how do you even predict these expenses? 30% at one physician could be way different than 30% at another. Moreover, the plan covers absolutely nothing if you are treated by someone out of network. So if you're in a car wreck and are taken to an out-of-network hospital by and out-of-network ambulance while unconscious and unable to decline the ambulance and/or direct them to a specific hospital, then you're on the hook for 100% of the cost. Or if you have a surgical procedure and someone in the operating room is out-of-network, like an anesthesiologist, you'd be responsible for their full bill too. So if I wind up with this employer (because this employer is located in the #1 location we want to move to), how could I protect myself? How would I be able to budget for something as vague as "30% coinsurance on office visit"? I am really kind of nervous to possibly be losing Tricare now. My husband will be able to be seen by the VA for his service connected stuff, but we will need to get him a plan of some kind for everything else (assuming we lose Tricare), and I figure there's going to be a gap of at least 6 months between his ETS date and when he can start making appointments at the VA. Thinking about all these possible expenses is making my head spin. 
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Oct 6, 2013 16:53
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You might want to check your state laws. In Texas, if you require emergency treatment the insurance company is required by law to treat wherever you go as in network.
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Oct 6, 2013 17:16
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