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Amazon Gift Cards? Not sure you can use prepaid cards for it though but I know it can do low and or odd dollar amounts many times.
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Dec 30, 2023 15:14
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Most pos systems will recognize the card has a partial amount and empty the card when you swipe it. Just use 1-2 at a time when you go grocery shopping.
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Dec 30, 2023 15:15
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Boris Galerkin posted:What’s the best easiest way to consolidate prepaid visa/mc gift cards? I got a few for Christmas in amounts of $25+. I just dump them on Amazon into my gift card balance. Have a 0.38 gift card? Use it to top off your credit balance there, assuming you shop from Amazon
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Dec 30, 2023 15:16
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Fezziwig posted:Most pos systems will recognize the card has a partial amount and empty the card when you swipe it. Just use 1-2 at a time when you go grocery shopping. Oh that solves the various small amount cards I have left if I can just use them in person. I never considered doing that since I’ve only ever used the cards online. Still would prefer loading them all onto a single card though if I can. I’ll look into Amazon gift cards. Medullah posted:I just dump them on Amazon into my gift card balance. Have a 0.38 gift card? Use it to top off your credit balance there, assuming you shop from Amazon I thought there would be like a minimum limit. I’ll look into this.
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Dec 30, 2023 15:19
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Amazon allows you to top up your virtual Amazon gift card balance for any amount, so I just buy a $.03 Amazon gift card. Even if you don't shop at Amazon, Amazon balance sells close to par with cash on SA Mart and elsewhere. EDIT: Oh, there's a whole new page here.. oops
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Dec 30, 2023 15:20
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You can use multiple payments at checkout. Just buy some candy.
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Dec 30, 2023 18:33
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Idk of this is still a thing, but some places need to know the exact amount left on the card. What I normally do is check the balance online beforehand and then write that amount on the card with a sharpie, just in case.
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Dec 30, 2023 18:56
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Amazon now has an actual workflow for this where before you had to jump through a bunch of dumb hoops. Any time I get a visa/mc/Amex gift card now I just immediately dump the whole balance into my Amazon balance and toss the card. (Once it's confirmed - takes about 10 minutes.) Screw trying to figure out those things on a POS system.
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Dec 30, 2023 18:59
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And I’m assuming there’s no way to do this with Venmo PayPal etc? Otherwise I’d assume you guys would be doing that instead of loading it into Amazon? I don’t think I can be bothered to check the balances on the few leftover cards I have so I’ll just put them in my bag and try to use them in person and hope their pos systems can pull whatever leftover funds are there automatically. But the ones I got for Christmas I’ll just load them into Amazon unless there’s a way to get it as cash into a bank account or Venmo etc. I’ll use Amazon credit eventually no problem.
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Dec 30, 2023 19:43
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Can anyone reccomend a good Android app for making a budget? Or at least keeping track of all my expenses in one place?
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Jan 6, 2024 01:53
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Boris Galerkin posted:And I’m assuming there’s no way to do this with Venmo PayPal etc? Otherwise I’d assume you guys would be doing that instead of loading it into Amazon? If you don't shop at Amazon, pick any other retailer that you do shop at and get in the habit of converting the Visa/MC gift cards into store gift cards as soon as you get them. But even if you've already bought a few things, lots of large retailers will let you buy whatever amount of a gift card you want, so if you have $42.69 on that card, you can buy a $42.69 Target card or whatever instead.
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Jan 6, 2024 03:16
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Hey BFC, I'm 31, had a really awful medical thing happen when I was 28, and long story short have $0 savings and sold my car because of it. I wasn't expecting to make it through, but I'm still alive, which is hella cool, but also very scary financially! I guess my question is: I'm not in a position to have big chunks of money at a time, what's the best way to start very very small all over again? Straight-up savings account? I have a solid credit history, but I have basically zero capital. Income: Between $800-$1,000 a month on average Expenses: $575 on rent, $40 -70 on utilities per month (internet, heat) I have $3k in student loan debt with 0% interest because I borrowed directly from my school and we worked something out, I also have about 4k in credit card debt I've been paying the minimums on every month (about $45). I make ends meet doing 3 different gig economy jobs, spent a lot of last year applying for local full-time jobs, but never got past the interview (my main field is entirely contract/gig-based, so full time job applications for me locally means applying outside my field). My specific field(s) rely on contract work so I've been pounding the pavement for more clients/hustling my rear end off/applying for funding and grants from pretty much everywhere. Right now, like 50%-90% of my monthly income comes from sales of stuff I've previously made. I am acutely aware I need to start making WAY MORE MONEY to stay alive, but while I work on that, what's the best thing to do here? I feel like I'm living the dril candles tweet IRL and I'm missing something super obvious that should be pointed out to me. It sucks real bad trying to re-do all this poo poo in your 30s. 
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Jan 6, 2024 03:26
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definitely check out and try to understand and execute the first flowchart in the OP. it’s good. early on in it, you’ll see a step about paying down high interest debt such as your credit cards. if you’re only bringing in <= $1000/mo before expenses that’s a difficult thing the flowchart does not address. that’s less than federal minimum wage. it sounds like you’ve been job hunting but goons might ask for more info there to figure out useful suggestions or feedback for you; potentially including a radical career change. we also have a resume megathread for detailed feedback on resumes. also an interviewing megathread. just being cash flow positive and trying to improve is half the battle though! you’ve got this! e: typo pmchem fucked around with this message at 03:56 on Jan 6, 2024 |
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Jan 6, 2024 03:40
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Are you on all of the patchwork of social services this country offers? I'm assuming you're in the USA. Food stamps (SNAP?) is the big one I can think of here. It sounds like you have the right attitude and mindset which is a great first step. Sometimes municipalities will have systems to help make sure that you're all signed up for everything. This is grim, but assuming you're fully in good health now, and depending on what you survived, blood banks are always in desperate need of platelets or other special "donations" which are paid. Looks like the red cross pays $50 just to see if you are eligible. Platelets especially have a shelf life of 5 days and cancer patients can go through multiple bags per week. It's selling your body but doing real good in the world as well.
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Jan 6, 2024 04:05
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Thanks for the responses!! I saved the flowchart and I'm hyped to have something to follow along with! I'll definitely check out the resume thread too - my main job experience is in game dev (8 years in mobile/AA) and comics publishing (9 years, 5 years agented), so I'm preeeeetty keen to see what my job skills can do outside of America's Most Layoff Intensive Industries, haha. Especially since I can technically still do both those things on my own on top of a full-time job outside the field! I also teach college to fill in the gaps, and now I'm healthy enough to start digging around for guest lecturer/adjunct positions again for the Fall semester! I am indeed in the USA! I'm on SNAP, internet assistance, state healthcare, and just applied for fuel assistance. Sadly I can't donate blood/platelets due to my medical condition (I'm the guy using your blood bank donations to stay alive, lmao), but I'm pretty ready to donate almost anything else for cash (spit? medical trials?).
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Jan 6, 2024 13:56
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Lieutenant Dan posted:I am indeed in the USA! I'm on SNAP, internet assistance, state healthcare, and just applied for fuel assistance. Cool. Electric / water /etc as well? This seems neato: https://www.benefits.gov/benefit-finder/prescreen If you are still getting blood/platelet bags to stay alive - are you disabled? Should you be considered disabled? Talk to your oncologist. SSDI could unlock even more benefits for you. Is there anything about your ongoing condition which limits your life in any way? If yes, talk to them about it. Taxes - if you're gigging it with your car are you deducting all of your expenses appropriately? I assume the standard deduction wipes out any tax liability regardless but just checking. Something to consider if/when you get fully employed again, this could help offset any taxes from whatever gig work you did up until that point.
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Jan 6, 2024 15:58
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BigRed0427 posted:Can anyone reccomend a good Android app for making a budget? Or at least keeping track of all my expenses in one place? This comes up from time to time on the Android Apps thread, if you wanna look/ask over there. https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3751764&pagenumber=329&perpage=40
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Jan 6, 2024 16:27
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H110Hawk posted:Cool. Electric / water /etc as well? Fuel assistance covers electric, and landlord covers water, so I'm set! I'm not regularly getting blood bags to stay alive, I have a benign tumor that can cause random severe bleeding so if I ever lose too much blood too fast all at once I need to check into the ER and get more put in. Aside from being more tired/having to check out of work once to twice a year re: tumor trouble I wouldn't say I qualify as disabled I think? Tax-wise, I actually don't have a car right now! I'm gigging it doing what I did before I got sick (freelance illustration, bias reviewing/basically being one of those screeners for bigotry in medical tests, and teaching college guest lectures wherever I can) - each year so far the standard deduction has been more than the individual one, I've been using FreeTaxUSA each year and inputting all my 1099's manually and letting the software figure out how to axe the freelance tax as much as it can.
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Jan 6, 2024 17:05
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Lieutenant Dan posted:Fuel assistance covers electric, and landlord covers water, so I'm set! I'm not regularly getting blood bags to stay alive, I have a benign tumor that can cause random severe bleeding so if I ever lose too much blood too fast all at once I need to check into the ER and get more put in. Aside from being more tired/having to check out of work once to twice a year re: tumor trouble I wouldn't say I qualify as disabled I think? Sounds like you have it covered then. I agree on the disabled part without the whole picture, basically anything medical which restricts your ability to participate in society like statistically "normal" person as it were. And for taxes, until you're coming close to $12,500 (single) deductions don't even bother computing them. I know you said you were making about that much so it's less of a thing right now.
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Jan 6, 2024 17:13
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What is a good personal finance software? I'm looking for something along the lines of Mint or Quicken that can aggregate accounts and track spending. I tried Quicken because I figured that probably had the most features but it runs like absolute poo poo, crashes constantly, and does stupid poo poo like count transfers twice unless I manually go in and fix it. It feels like it handles transfers worse than Mint did ten years ago. Is there anything like Quicken but that actually works? E: if there's a better thread for this question please let me know Shear Modulus fucked around with this message at 21:26 on Jan 7, 2024 |
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Jan 7, 2024 20:17
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Shear Modulus posted:What is a good personal finance software? I'm looking for something along the lines of Mint or Quicken that can aggregate accounts and track spending. I tried Quicken because I figured that probably had the most features but it runs like absolute poo poo, crashes constantly, and does stupid poo poo like count transfers twice unless I manually go in and fix it. It feels like it handles transfers worse than Mint did ten years ago. Is there anything like Quicken but that actually works? I've had the most success sticking to YNAB but it does have a yearly fee. There's a 30 day free trial and a great thread here in BFC
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Jan 7, 2024 22:01
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Shear Modulus posted:E: if there's a better thread for this question please let me know The YNAB thread has had some discussion about this since Mint was deprecated. I’m using Monarch Money, which also has a 30 day free trial.
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Jan 7, 2024 22:09
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Check out Tiller Money. Runs on Excel or Google sheets.
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Jan 7, 2024 22:16
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Reposting this from another thread after recommendations from a mod to ask for advice here: I'm late on my mortgage ($28k) after being laid off almost a year ago, and I just got a tax bill from my town for $3700. I'm not eligible for unemployment. I have no job despite applying to hundreds and having over 10 years of experience, my industry suffered 700% more layoffs in 2023 than in previous years. I'm absolutely petrified I'm going to lose my house and my sanity, my anxiety is so high that about calling the mortgage company and actually taking care of things. Mainly because my vehicle was repossessed a few weeks ago and when the bank asked to verify my income I was a loving IDIOT and was honest and I told them I was unemployed. They just straight up cancelled my auto loan and said to get it back I'd need to pay full balance ($16k) which I obviously didn't have. I'm absolutely terrified the same thing will happen to my house, and it might if I don't do something about it. I'm going to start Ubering/DoorDashing ASAP because I don't know what else to do. I applied for housing assistance but they require paperwork from my previous employer that I haven't been able to get no matter how many emails or LinkedIn messages I send my previous employer. I have a RAFT application out, and I'm trying to get the ball rolling on this but even then it may only cover about $7k of what I owe. I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm pretty scared. I feel like homelessness is just one more bad scenario away, and I don't have anyone to help me or house me if anything did happen.
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Jan 9, 2024 17:53
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Are you on SNAP (etc)? Family help? Go to your ex-employer, in person, and request the paperwork. Seriously. What else have you got going on? You can also ask if tax transcripts will suffice. You should be getting a W-2 soon. That can help. You gotta call your mortgage company. Look in your paperwork and see what it says about income. Are you underwater on your house? Go to any number of fast food places claiming to want to hire people and tell them straight up you need a job so you don't lose your house, you will take any shift, and can start immediately. Bring your I-9 stuff with you (Passport is easiest.) (Assuming you don't have childcare needs.) Is there an Amazon warehouse near you? Have a clean driving record? See if you can do that.
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Jan 9, 2024 18:08
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Do you have access to another vehicle or how did you intend to uber/dash? Do you have any assets such as collectibles, retirement accounts, or other things that could be liquidated for a mortgage payment? Do you have family who are aware of the situation and perhaps able to help in either cash or job hunting? And yeah, what Hawk said. You have an immediate cash flow problem and need to look outside your industry to any available above board job in order to begin satisfying the bank or your mortgage lender. Anxiety can be paralyzing but big problems are solved one small step at a time. Do the small steps, ASAP.
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Jan 9, 2024 18:18
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Are you sure you aren't eligible for unemployment? What state doesn't provide unemployment assistance to people who were laid off? Or did you already get it and are no longer eligible? You may want to contact your county social services office to find out what is available to you. These programs are going to vary a lot depending where you are, but its very likely you qualify for some sort of assistance. See also https://www.benefits.gov/ And you may qualify for EITC: https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/earned-income-tax-credit-eitc Some states also have programs similar to EITC. Also, I agree that it sounds like you should take any job right now. No one really wants to step down in income from what they previously earned, but it sounds like even a few hundred dollars a week of income would help.
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Jan 9, 2024 18:21
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dopesilly posted:I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm pretty scared. I feel like homelessness is just one more bad scenario away, and I don't have anyone to help me or house me if anything did happen. There is a US goonfund thread in CSPAM that can help with small requests for money (less than $125 a month, I believe) if you have bills/medications/etc. that need to be paid. I know it doesn’t take care of the big stressors, but maybe it can help manage some smaller stuff.
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Jan 9, 2024 19:32
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Pipistrelle posted:There is a US goonfund thread in CSPAM that can help with small requests for money I didn't know this was something I could throw some money at...
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Jan 9, 2024 19:56
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Uthor posted:I didn't know this was something I could throw some money at... Yep, it’s registered as a 501c3 in Washington (I think that’s where they registered?) for anyone hesitant after the last goonfund in CSPAM. There’s an elected board and everything
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Jan 9, 2024 20:29
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Pipistrelle posted:Yep, it’s registered as a 501c3 in Washington (I think that’s where they registered?) for anyone hesitant after the last goonfund in CSPAM. There’s an elected board and everything to be clear, that thread has nothing to do with BFC and any questions/concerns about it should be directed toward its own thread and subforum.
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Jan 9, 2024 20:40
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Busy Bee posted:Amazon Gift Cards? Not sure you can use prepaid cards for it though but I know it can do low and or odd dollar amounts many times. This talk got me to convert an $18 virtual debit card I got to Amazon credit. It said it failed to go through, I accidentally clicked it to try again when attempting to cancel, and it went through immediately.  Thanks, thread!
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Jan 11, 2024 16:16
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Yeah, my partner’s family usually sends her those annoying Visa cash cards for the holidays and they are super finicky and inconsistent to use. Liquidating them into Amazon credit is a great idea.
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Jan 11, 2024 16:17
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Anonymous Robot posted:Yeah, my partner’s family usually sends her those annoying Visa cash cards for the holidays and they are super finicky and inconsistent to use. Liquidating them into Amazon credit is a great idea. Save em $6 next year and tell them you really want Amazon GC's because you want to buy <x thing it literally doesn't matter>.
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Jan 12, 2024 04:07
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I think I might just go to giving all the teachers and coaches 20 bucks next year instead of all these loving gift cards. They'll prolly appreciate one less thing to lose/unload.
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Jan 12, 2024 04:26
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Gift cards are just a convoluted way to give money, yeah. Cash is better. The only exception I can think of is when you can get e.g. a $50 gift card for $45 of real money, but you're still making the recipient deal with the awkwardness of the card.
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Jan 12, 2024 05:12
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Baddog posted:I think I might just go to giving all the teachers and coaches 20 bucks next year instead of all these loving gift cards. They'll prolly appreciate one less thing to lose/unload. I don't think you're "supposed to" so we do target. That way it's a place they almost certainly already shop.
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Jan 12, 2024 16:16
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Yeah, there’s no escaping it. The gift card exists for a reason: cash feels thoughtless, so you signal your intention and maybe a bit of knowledge about the recipient by selecting a store you think they’ll like. (And, obviously, there’s incentive for the store on the other end.) The visa cash card is just a mutation of this cultural phenomena at its most absurd.
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Jan 12, 2024 16:22
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H110Hawk posted:I don't think you're "supposed to" Bah! I'm gonna do it next year, will report back.
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Jan 12, 2024 16:46
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Speaking of dumb ideas, I wanted to open a savings account for my child to save his money. He gets checks from extended family on his birthday, and he has a particularly generous aunt. I was semi-blindly clicking through on Ally and the only account for a minor was a "custodial" one. Now that it's finished turns out that means UTMA. This doesn't seem like what I intended. Is this fine for depositing checks written out to him (alone) or have I just created a nightmare? If so, how does he... spend it? All of the googling is warning me that it's an irrevocable gift blah blah blah which I know, but there is very little on how to let him take this money and buy lovely microtransactions on his dumb ipad games. I had intended for him to have an account with his name on it just to get him going on "so this is a bank", get a statement in the mail with his name on it, earn a few bucks a year in interest, etc. I assumed he would spend it by letting me transfer it into my account as he hits "buy" elsewhere. Is this OK as long as I have receipts? We're talking hundreds of dollars max, not daddy warbucks giving you a million bucks while the estate tax exemption is $24M. Am I over thinking this?
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Jan 13, 2024 23:39
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