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Why is the potential for disastrous debt there? Do you keep a budget?
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Feb 21, 2018 13:34
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If you've come to the conclusion that using a credit card makes you spend recklessly, even if it remains within your means, I don't think it's a terrible idea to stop using a credit card. It's definitely not mathematically the right thing to do, but personal finance isn't just math. If you're going to do that though, definitely have a backup account, probably at a different bank, that has enough cash in it so you could survive while your primary account doesn't work. Before you do that, would setting your credit card to autopay the full statement balance every month be enough motivation to make sure you don't overspend?
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Feb 21, 2018 13:35
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Or a CC with a limit equal to or less than your budget?
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Feb 21, 2018 13:56
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I actually don't overspend. I keep a budget and have been paying the card off every month for the three+ years I've had it, with the exception of one month late last year where we had some unexpected expenses. It's more the principle. I have lots of non-cc debt that I'm getting fired up about snowballing. I actually despise the idea of borrowing money, and my major goal is to never do it again. Getting rid of the cc seems like a logical first step since it's too easy to think of it as an emergency fund. But ONLY if it's practical to get rid of it, which doesn't seem to be the case.
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Feb 21, 2018 16:16
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Spatulater bro! posted:I actually don't overspend. I keep a budget and have been paying the card off every month for the three+ years I've had it, with the exception of one month late last year where we had some unexpected expenses. If you have the self control not to overspend on it the upsides greatly outweigh the downsides. Try and remap it in your brain from borrowing money to the bank being your insurance policy instead of self insuring. I've been on the merchant side of a "whoops our billing system had a bug which ran your card 28 times last night" and you get a shocking number of people talking about bounced mortgage checks.
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Feb 21, 2018 16:41
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H110Hawk posted:If you have the self control not to overspend on it the upsides greatly outweigh the downsides. Try and remap it in your brain from borrowing money to the bank being your insurance policy instead of self insuring. I've been on the merchant side of a "whoops our billing system had a bug which ran your card 28 times last night" and you get a shocking number of people talking about bounced mortgage checks. I like this logic. Okay I'm convinced.
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Feb 21, 2018 19:10
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Vivian Darkbloom posted:Hello BFC chatthread, I have a personal tutoring business where I teach math to students in the Portland area. It's pretty fun actually though driving around all day stinks. Anyway, I had some business cards printed up which has made giving contact details to clients easier, but I'm looking for bulletin boards and other places I can stick them up around town. I've tried some college libraries/bookstores and coffee shops, but few places seem willing to let me advertise a private thing there. Any ideas on cheap advertising opportunities? Well, I threw some money into the AdWords slot machine -- got 166 unique visitors but no one called me. It's hard to reach people!
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Feb 21, 2018 22:06
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Word of mouth is going to do you better than any traditional advertising in that field IMO. I've known two people in the past ~10 years who have been successful enough at tutoring to go full time, and in both cases it was really slow and frustrating the first two years or so getting and keeping clients, but eventually they hit a tipping point where they worked their way up to pretty wealthy/connected clients who recommended the tutor to their wealthy/connected friends and it quickly snowballed to where they had more demand than time and were able to significantly raise their hourly rates. That was in the Boston and NYC areas, though. Don't know anything about what it's like in Portland. Also both of my acquaintances worked primarily with middle and high school students. You're selling your services to parents (they're the ones who have the money after all) more so than to students, plus every sizable college has its own free tutoring services so it's hard to convince college students they should pay you instead. Best thing you can do is make sure everyone you know knows you're an awesome math tutor!
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Feb 21, 2018 22:54
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Vivian Darkbloom posted:Well, I threw some money into the AdWords slot machine -- got 166 unique visitors but no one called me. It's hard to reach people!
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Feb 22, 2018 00:26
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Eric the Mauve posted:Word of mouth is going to do you better than any traditional advertising in that field IMO. I've known two people in the past ~10 years who have been successful enough at tutoring to go full time, and in both cases it was really slow and frustrating the first two years or so getting and keeping clients, but eventually they hit a tipping point where they worked their way up to pretty wealthy/connected clients who recommended the tutor to their wealthy/connected friends and it quickly snowballed to where they had more demand than time and were able to significantly raise their hourly rates. moana posted:Not a great time for it. Midterms and finals are good times to pick up clients. Tell your current kids you have some spots open if any of their friends need help with math, tell the parents as well. Consider boning up on SAT math and possibly other subjects to tutor the subject tests; this helps during the summer months. No doubt word of mouth is a good way of picking up more clients; I have about half my current gang from referrals between clients. I was really hoping that with AdWords I could pick up more clients on demand, though. I wish there was some good way to do more formal advertising but it's hard to imagine that I could afford anything worthwhile. I specifically made this ad to target statistics students, but maybe I should have made a special webpage for stats students instead of a crappy squarespace page about my tutoring in general. This is not really a career for me because it will never pay that well and there's always seasonal variation (though I do SAT/ACT, physics, a lot of different math levels, and such) so I plan to get a conventional job "soon", but that keeps getting pushed off because I do really enjoy tutoring. I mean there are a lot of organizations and businesses that can charge less than I do, but I think I do a better job in most cases. I could certainly be doing the business side better though. 
Vivian Darkbloom fucked around with this message at 08:46 on Feb 22, 2018 |
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Feb 22, 2018 08:39
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Did my taxes last night for 2016 and 2017, getting a pretty decent return because of over-withholding from switching jobs. Wasting it all on 
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Feb 23, 2018 18:25
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Vivian Darkbloom posted:This is not really a career for me because it will never pay that well and there's always seasonal variation
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Mar 3, 2018 23:48
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I remember a long time ago there was a small thread here talking about the financials of working as a driver for Lyft/Uber. Archives now I'm sure. From what I remember most posters were down on the idea either because the driver is leveraging the value of their vehicle in the process or due to the insurance liabilities involved. I'm currently considering it while I wait for my next gig to start and was curious if the consensus was still largely the same. For reference for vehicle value - my car has much lower mileage than average for its year/make/model. According to blue book if I put 10000 miles on it I'd lose about $350 and 30000 about $1100. Also a link to Uber's policy regarding insurance while 'on the clock' so to speak: https://www.uber.com/drive/insurance/ If I remember right the issue with insurance was as much your private insurance arguing that you were working as Uber arguing you weren't though so I'm not sure how much that matters.
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Mar 4, 2018 00:09
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According to a study that's just been published by MIT (I haven't read it and have only seen some headlines about it and read an NPR article), the average profit for an Uber/Lyft driver is $3.37/hr, and 30% of drivers actually lose money. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/02/590168381/uber-lyft-drivers-earning-a-median-profit-of-3-37-per-hour-study-says I can't say I've looked into it too much, and others may have more positive things to say.
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Mar 4, 2018 00:54
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Arkangelus posted:I remember a long time ago there was a small thread here talking about the financials of working as a driver for Lyft/Uber. Archives now I'm sure. At all times, and reconfirmed recently, most Uber drivers are trading vehicle depreciation for less than minimum wage. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...ests/389230002/
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Mar 4, 2018 00:55
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Motronic posted:At all times, and reconfirmed recently, most Uber drivers are trading vehicle depreciation for less than minimum wage. As I recall the previous thread devolved into a string of 'yeah but's from OP trying to justify working as a driver. I certainly don't want to be that guy but... I wish that they'd published the full paper already. Based on my admittedly low level of understanding the inclusion of insurance in costs seems strange. Arguably at least a decent portion of the maintenance category shouldn't be included either. The research brief seems to be written more for the benefit of government analysis since regardless of whether the drivers are getting ripped off the companies are getting massive tax breaks. Are there any other studies or internet analyses you know of that include the data so I can conclusively put the idea to bed? Fake edit: I seriously don't want to be that guy, but if you'd humor me with one or two 'yeah but's I'd be grateful.
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Mar 4, 2018 02:04
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Arkangelus posted:Fake edit: I seriously don't want to be that guy, but if you'd humor me with one or two 'yeah but's I'd be grateful. It's not "data" per se, but: https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2017/11/22/mr-money-mustache-uber-driver/
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Mar 4, 2018 02:18
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balancedbias posted:It's not "data" per se, but: Useful either way, thanks!
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Mar 4, 2018 03:41
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Uber’s insurance only covers you for liability while you have a fare in the vehicle or something; it’s pretty narrow. Your personal vehicle insurance will drop you like a hot potato as soon as you mention Uber.
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Mar 4, 2018 14:00
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FrozenVent posted:Uber’s insurance only covers you for liability while you have a fare in the vehicle or something; it’s pretty narrow. I've pretty much already talked myself out of it but that no longer appears to be the case unless I'm misreading something here: https://www.uber.com/drive/insurance/
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Mar 4, 2018 20:24
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Arkangelus posted:I've pretty much already talked myself out of it but that no longer appears to be the case unless I'm misreading something here: while you are correct that uber covers for liability when signed in to the app now, limits are quite low
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Mar 4, 2018 20:45
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:while you are correct that uber covers for liability when signed in to the app now, limits are quite low And reads on that page like secondary insurance which only exists if you have primary coverage. Given all of majors now drop you or deny any claim while the Uber app is open those might not cover you. (looking at the "driving to a pickup" section.) Secondary to all of that your insurance is going to ding you for all the miles you drive regardless of how many are personal likely unless you have really good documentation showing when they are covering you. Like, odometer readings every time you change coverage.
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Mar 4, 2018 21:08
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Uber doesn’t cover damage to your car, either. Operating a business without insurance on your primary tool seems like a bad idea.
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Mar 4, 2018 21:10
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:while you are correct that uber covers for liability when signed in to the app now, limits are quite low FrozenVent posted:Uber doesn’t cover damage to your car, either. Operating a business without insurance on your primary tool seems like a bad idea. Seems like the answer to this would just to be legally parked unless you've already accepted a request. Obviously not ideal/somewhat inconvenient though. H110Hawk posted:And reads on that page like secondary insurance which only exists if you have primary coverage. Given all of majors now drop you or deny any claim while the Uber app is open those might not cover you. (looking at the "driving to a pickup" section.) I read this as they're not going to cover you for it unless you pay for it on your own insurance as well (IE if you only pay for liability they're not going to cover comprehensive for you). Since it's not written in legalese you very well may be correct though.
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Mar 4, 2018 22:38
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GEICO offers a rideshare policy that covers you and you can also get that $3 an hour you are making down to under a $1. Gig Economy!
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Mar 5, 2018 16:13
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FWIW I checked with my insurance when considering driving for Order Up. State Farm said that as long as 50% or less of your driving is for delivery it’s covered under your normal policy. I believe there’s usually a delivery rider you can get from any company, since delivery driving is a much older job. I’ve got no idea how driving for Order Up compares to Uber, but trips tend to be shorter and pay is based off of deliveries rather than miles.
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Mar 6, 2018 23:29
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22 Eargesplitten posted:I’ve got no idea how driving for Order Up compares to Uber Acting as a livery driver is pretty significantly different than delivering objects in terms of insurance risk. Food deliveries don't sue for medical costs after an accident.
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Mar 6, 2018 23:52
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That’s true. I meant more in terms of income. I used to deliver pizza, but not for long enough to see what it did to my maintenance costs, the paychecks and tips didn’t come at the same time (2/4 of my paychecks actually came after they store closed because the franchise owner was so disorganized), and obviously that was W2 rather than 1099. My wife is actually going to give it a shot, so I’ll hopefully know soon. Her car is a ‘99 ZX2 with 50k miles, so deprecation isn’t really a thing there.
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Mar 7, 2018 00:08
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Any way to reverse a Western Union transfer? No, this isn't a 'I thought he was a real prince from Nigeria' question. Friend has been offered payment in the UK from a customer in Africa by WU and is concerned that they might reverse the transaction once the goods are shipped. My understanding is that once WU transfer has been made, it is impossible to reverse it. However, as they would be paying into his bank a/c, I suppose technically WU could claw it back in the case of fraud? Unsurprisingly, all the detailed answers are aimed towards the first situation.
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Mar 12, 2018 12:22
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Don’t accept WU as payment for legitimate business. Just don’t.
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Mar 12, 2018 12:26
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spog posted:Any way to reverse a Western Union transfer? No, there isn't, no Western Union will not help you at all if you have been defrauded, no there is absolutely no reason to use Western Union for any reason other than personal money transfers to countries where banking is limited. Western Union and its affiliates have been sued and fined multiple times by regulators around the world for aiding and abetting fraud and recently settled with the Federal Trade Commission over their fraud friendly business practices.
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Mar 12, 2018 13:02
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FrozenVent posted:Don’t accept WU as payment for legitimate business. Just don’t. It's not his first choice, but the alternative is having a some relative/friend come out of the woodwork and pay them in cash Despite its reputation, it is a legitimate payment method - it's not like they are offering bitcoins. BEHOLD: MY CAPE posted:No, there isn't, no Western Union will not help you at all if you have been defrauded, no there is absolutely no reason to use Western Union for any reason other than personal money transfers to countries where banking is limited. Western Union and its affiliates have been sued and fined multiple times by regulators around the world for aiding and abetting fraud and recently settled with the Federal Trade Commission over their fraud friendly business practices. Agreed that it is silly for sending money, but this case is about receiving money and the whole deal is legit and not shady. The concern is that is whether it's like Paypal where all can go through fine and then 3 weeks later, the buyer says 'oh no, it was damaged, please refund my money Paypal' and your a/c gets debited without any recourse.
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Mar 12, 2018 13:34
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The moment someone says Western Union, the deal is no longer legit and not shady, sorry. Having Western Union anywhere in his business accounts is just a giant red blinking neon that says “AUDIT ME!” That being said, no, they can’t reverse the transaction, hence the shadiness. What the other guy may do is either: A) have a third party pay under false pretense, in which case congrats on receiving the proceeds of fraud; B) transfer more than the agreed amount and ask the receiver to transfer the money back or give it to a friend or whatever, in which case congrats on being an accessory to money laundering; C) a combination of the above. If the deal pays enough that he’s willing to overlook the stigma of a WU payment, it should pay enough to use a legit wire transfer from a legit bank to a legit bank.
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Mar 12, 2018 14:05
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spog posted:Any way to reverse a Western Union transfer? This is dumb as hell, your friend should be ashamed, and both of you should know better than to take Western God drat Union for purchase payments. Their entire business model is designed around P2P non-commercial payments and monetary instruments, and has little to no system in place to mediate disputes over goods or services. Of course your friend is going to get burned, I look forward to your update where you tell everyone this buyer sent your friend extra money to ship faster but it turned out the funds were completely fraudulent the whole time. For gently caress's sake this is a terrible idea you've cooked up, back the gently caress out before you end up having to explain this dumbass story to the police as they try to stifle laughter about y'all missing every red flag in the book.
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Mar 12, 2018 14:18
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FAUXTON posted:This is dumb as hell It's one of few things that are almost as dumb as Bitcoin.
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Mar 12, 2018 15:34
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Adulthood is just a series of increasingly expensive days, but I got a new single-day high score for expenditure today.
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Mar 13, 2018 16:35
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wow so exciting
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Mar 13, 2018 17:08
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potatoducks posted:wow so exciting Don't b a dick EAT FASTER!!!!!! posted:Adulthood is just a series of increasingly expensive days, but I got a new single-day high score for expenditure today. House? Car? Horse wedding??
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Mar 13, 2018 17:18
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2017 under-withholding. Certainly the day "we bought a house" was a longer and higher commitment of total payment, but this is the most I've ever written checks for in a day.
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Mar 13, 2018 17:24
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:Don't b a dick Not at all man. I hope you were as enthralled by that as I was.
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Mar 13, 2018 17:38
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