Yeah, used to never get a refund, now we do. I also get my brother in law to prepare my taxes now. It's awesome.
We have a child, and we received a whopping $57 and some change via a prepaid gift card. I guess I should be happy we didn’t need a check, but given the insane taxes we pay it’s hard not to feel like I’m subsidizing everyone else. Shit, I sound like a conservative. Regarding pickled eggs - I endorse Nett’s recipe. I pickle a few batches of eggs a year, and usually bring at least one batch to my bar, where they last two happy hours at most. I usually add beets for that nice red color, but I vary the other ingredients depending on whats on hand and my mood.
Aaand, it's snowing. Fairly hard. The only upside is that it's what I think is the new puppy's first experience with snow, based on her reaction.
Yep, there's a nor'easter bearing down on us right now with mixed predictions for snowfall, anywhere from 1-2 or it could be a foot. And I just took the plow off the ATV last week. Screw it. The temps are supposed to be back in the 50's after this is over, so it'll melt.
No snow here and while it wasn't pool temps yet, I was relaxing shirtless in the backyard yesterday enjoying a Padron 1964 and a glass of Basil Hayden though. I've said it before and like a scratched record, I'll say it again; I have no idea how you folks live in the snow. When it gets cold and rainy here, it sours my mood and makes me miserable.
Ha... always heard the first time fucking being compared to the first snow of the year... she doesn't know how much she's going to get, doesn't know how long it will last, and doesn't know if it'll be there in the morning.
We're miserable and in a sour mood half the year. And we drink. Seriously, I remember a woman who moved here from down South complaining about the weather and its effect on her weight. "There's nothing for ya'll to do up here except eat and drink." She wasn't wrong.
My waistline agrees. I feel almost manic when the weather is nice and I can be outside. It's crazy how much it affects my mood and energy.
I'm not sure where to put this but I'm looking for ideas: My brother-in-law has one kid and is about to have another one. I got a nice bonus at work and would like to figure out something "big" that I could do for the kids. My first thought was to create either a trustee account or an education account for them and put some money in it to grow and be part of their college fund. I'm still considering that. But, while neither my brother-in-law nor his parents are rich, the BIL and wife both make good white collar incomes and my father in law still knows where the first dollar he earned is, so I have no doubts that their education will be taken care of no matter what I do. Any alternative ideas? I don't know exactly what the budget is here, but it's somewhere in the "several thousand dollar" range. I don't have or want kids, so I figure I can invest in theirs a little.
Get on a whitelist and buy them an NFT when it mints? Something on par with Doodles, Invisible Friends or Moonbird. Or, do something boring and safe like EE savings bonds. (Which is funny that they're now electronic, and aren't issued on actual paper.)
I’m assuming you’ve already maxed out your own investments to their tax advantage limits? If not, do that first. I don’t know what state you or your BIL’s family lives in, but something like a 529 is dependent on what offers his state provides for those types of accounts. Sometimes it’s amazing, other times it’s not worth it. I would start there. Otherwise, do they need anything large for the new baby? New stroller, crib etc.? All the stuff they had for the first kid gets complicated when adding the second.