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kjvmartin

We have 3 under six. The benefits of the small SUV are tangible and very real even for one kid, but if you're planning to expand your family further I implore you to please skip the small SUV and get anything with 3 rows. We were good with 2 kids in a CR-V but had a surprise 3rd. My long term car go...

kjvmartin

My employer does all payroll in house. It's a giant government organization, which I would think has every intention of following government orders. My next check arriving in Sept. does not have any reduction or removal of taxes and, in fact, nothing has been said about it. I wonder how they'll plan...

kjvmartin

With bond yields so low, does it make sense to increase your Cash Reserve and move your bond holdings into a Stock Fund? Just a thought. To me this artificially inflates the market. People with fewer savings options will be more likely to invest. I am already hearing that kind of chatter at work fr...

kjvmartin

With bond yields so low, does it make sense to increase your Cash Reserve and move your bond holdings into a Stock Fund? Just a thought. To me this artificially inflates the market. People with fewer savings options will be more likely to invest. I am already hearing that kind of chatter at work fr...

kjvmartin

Sticker on my 2019 Ford Escape SE was $27,000. With no haggling, I purchased the car at $ 20,500 . It has a full array of safety features including AWD, lane-keep, radar cruise, cross traffic alert, and more. 1.9% financing. Very comfortable seats. A Honda CR-V AWD EX will have similar features at ...

kjvmartin

I am of the opinion that if you already *have* a holding of a good company and it won't make or break you either way, I would at least hold some of it perpetually. I enjoy stories like the guy who had a couple shares of Coca Coal in the early days. That family made millions off of that. I like to im...

kjvmartin

For all the love Honda/Toyota receive, It seems like they've priced themselves out of being a reasonable choice to buy and hold. I found that I could get a comparable domestic SUV for so much cheaper than a Honda/Toyota. The discounts off of sticker at Honda/Toyota were very small. I wanted a mid-t...

kjvmartin

For all the love Honda/Toyota receive, It seems like they've priced themselves out of being a reasonable choice to buy and hold. I found that I could get a comparable domestic SUV for so much cheaper than a Honda/Toyota. The discounts off of sticker at Honda/Toyota were very small. I wanted a mid-tr...

kjvmartin

If I were a single guy I would need an SUV or truck. I'm 6'4 and tried my best to fit into a reasonable car. Pain/numb/tingles.

You may need one, you may not. It's totally up to you.

kjvmartin

I like a MacBook and buying a QHD or 4K Monitor. Use a USB-C enabled monitor which will both carry the video feed and keep your laptop powered. The monitor has additional USB ports for peripherals and dongles. It's very elegant if you manage the cables right. I don't see the appeal of an iMac anymor...

kjvmartin

6'4 with a back/knee issue. I bought just under a year ago with seat comfort as a priority and test drove almost everything with 2 rows. The MPG requirement is a bit tricky, not sure what to tell you. Hyundai Santa Fe was like sitting in a La-Z-Boy. Very comfortable. The Tucson as well was a contend...

kjvmartin

My family is fairly low income for our size (5). I use my 401k/457 through work, sometimes over and above the match. One of the key advantages of a 401k is that you can't easily or painlessly take a distribution. If you're trying to save for retirement, this is a useful function. Even a Roth IRA can...

kjvmartin

Terrible time to try and buy anything Office Equipment related! I sympathize. I have a "theme" from Ikea in my house and needed to add a decent desk. Every... single... useful item... is gone until at least August. I ended up with the cheapest thing I could find from Amazon as a placeholde...

kjvmartin

I remember when my wife had to have a treadmill. We went to Sears. I asked the salesman how long one typically lasts. He said "forever.... since no one really uses it after they buy it." $750. We finally gave it to some friends when we moved. They have since given it to some of their frien...

kjvmartin

That all said: get your mom public assistance immediately. Get her on SNAP (food stamps) if she qualifies, Medicaid, meals on wheels, senior home services like laundry, anything you can do to keep costs down. I've worked for governmental agencies that administer SNAP. We are talking about a degreed...

kjvmartin

I live in Wisconsin. We spend a lot of time indoors in the winter. We just moved to this new house and we are getting the basement finished. We are doing 1800 sq feet. There’s going to be a huge bar and a 77 inch LG TV on the long wall in addition to a bedroom and a nice bathroom. We are excited to...

kjvmartin

I do not like the Pros and how they fit inside my ear. I don't notice much difference in terms of tone. I switched back to regular AirPods.

kjvmartin

Is this something unique to government? No, I moved from the public sector to private 5yrs ago. Private is 1000x better (IMO), but this isn't one of the reasons. To make a long story short, I have a handful of employees (out of 27) that are probably a net-negative for the company and (for reasons n...

kjvmartin

You have my sympathy. Managing even a single low performer is painful and takes a lot of time. Have you heard of the Situation-Behavior-Impact framework for delivering feedback? It's a way to deliver critical feedback that is specific and applicable. In the case you described, you might try deliver...

kjvmartin

I've been promoted to management for about 3 years. I was a top level performer in a huge government organization and got passed over for various reasons until I finally got it about 10 years into my career. I learned things are not always done based on merit. I'll leave it at that. I was assigned a...

kjvmartin

My grandfather passed with a seven figure net worth. He was very frugal and no one would have ever guessed his net worth earned based on his possessions. Local government pension and held dividend utility stocks. A cautionary tale about legacy: Other than advice, he never helped a living relative fi...

kjvmartin

I really like the vibrant bright colors of QLED. You'll need a Q80 or Q90 to get a really impressive screen.

kjvmartin

For those who have a Microsoft 365 subscription, there will soon be available a "Money in Excel" template that will connect to financial institutions and bring everything into Excel. Don't know how much functionality it will have but looks interesting and I think it will be free. This has...

kjvmartin

If our room layout changes frequently. For example we have a large L shaped living and dining room. On the exterior wall is various kids toys, shelves, play kitchen, etc. It changes depending on what's out of the closet or storage. There's so much hair in our house, and I have loved the idea of time...

kjvmartin

My wife and I had an offer on a single family home accepted, appraised, and inspected ($850 out of pocket). We were set to close. To put it in perspective, we have been in and out of the market out of frustration for a couple years and this was pretty much our dream house. Currently have 3 kids 6 an...

kjvmartin

I have a colleague who bought her Grand Cherokee after lease and has bragged about how the purchased lifetime warranty has paid for itself. "I'm just a Jeep girl..." She has owned many.. My mother received an inheritance has next to no living expenses + a pension, and after driving Chevrol...

kjvmartin

I was on my way to the "Quarantine 15". I'm not a runner (knees) and don't have room for an indoor bike/elliptical. Gym remains closed and probably won't go back after they open. I decided to re-calibrate my Apple Watch fitness goals and I'm somewhere between sedentary and active by takin...

kjvmartin

I was on my way to the "Quarantine 15". I'm not a runner (knees) and don't have room for an indoor bike/elliptical. Gym remains closed and probably won't go back after they open. I decided to re-calibrate my Apple Watch fitness goals and I'm somewhere between sedentary and active by taking...

kjvmartin

Purchased my Martin before getting married, before having kids, and before I could really afford it. It was about a months pay at that time. I have had it 8 years and I use it almost every day. It's just one of those things. Lord willing, 50 years from now, I still won't care that it was an "ir...

kjvmartin

I'm a fervent Apple customer and can't find a good use for an iPad for any adult in the house. I've tried and bought a few. They have been relegated to my pre-K kids and they're great for that. For adults - It's like you have to try harder to do almost anything on it, and if you want to setup a keyb...

kjvmartin

I had one holdout in my life - church giving. They were reluctant because of fees.

They've add online giving out of necessity during this and there's a convenient option to cover the fee. By the time I get my 2% cash back, the fee is negligible. I hope they continue this option.

kjvmartin

Buy the car you want, not the deal you want.

As much praise as Honda and Toyota receive, I couldn't make one work for me my last round of shopping. There are a lot of options out there.

kjvmartin

Given the $95 annual fee BCP is actually a 4.5% groceries cash back card (and only if you spend the full $6,000 annual limit on groceries). You get 5% cash back on groceries with your IT card this quarter and if you had a Chase Freedom card you’d get 5% back on groceries during (at least the last c...

kjvmartin

I was receiving a profession based concession on my lease and it was overlooked at my last renewal after 5-6 renewals with the same concession. It was shocking to see the rent up more than the usual cursory amount. A quick e-mail to the office helped sort things out and cut the increase in half with...

kjvmartin

Apple Macs typically are the Toyota's of computers. The resale and dependability are superb (yes, there are some outliers). I sell my MacBook Pro every 3 years and purchase a new one for about $300 after my sale. So, my outlay is about $100 yearly and I always have a recent "Pro level" dev...

kjvmartin

I have maintained my job and salary so far through COVID, but my spouse hasn't. Something I'm not understanding - If it gets to the point where we need to take a partial and early withdrawal from my retirement account, my employers plan (Voya) is not offering COVID as a reason for early distributio...

kjvmartin

I have maintained my job and salary so far through COVID, but my spouse hasn't. Something I'm not understanding - If it gets to the point where we need to take a partial and early withdrawal from my retirement account, my employers plan (Voya) is not offering COVID as a reason for early distribution...

kjvmartin

I use Safari.

There are a couple websites that don't play nice and I really like the new Edge for those sites.

kjvmartin

Maybe it's just my state, but we are not allowed to penalize anyone for missing any work due to pretty much anything right now. We also have to give people a certain allotment of paid leave due to COVID above and beyond their accrued benefit. Also, my employer is temp laying off tons of people for w...

kjvmartin

The biggest change has been going on full time telework. I kind of like it saving a lot of time and money on not having a commute and being disconnected from petty office gossip and dramas. I'm hoping this flexible telework policy continues after the virus has subsided as it could be a win-win for ...

kjvmartin

Has anyone reached out to Amazon on a possible account credit due to Prime not delivering timely anymore?

kjvmartin

I think consumers will be able to buy N95 masks about the same time the country "reopens." Until then we should isolate to the maximum degree and use improvised masks when absolutely necessary. I found a place selling KN-95 masks for $5.00 each. They arrived in about 5 days. I'm not sure ...

kjvmartin

I have proactively forgiven my tenant's rent for three months. Not his fault I chose to leverage up my investment property with a mortgage. Nor is it your fault that this coronavirus situation happened. All of my renters are lower income so if they are working, they can pay. If they are laid off th...

kjvmartin

I don't see much use for the average guitarist to own a 12 String. Certain cover bands/cover artists maybe?

kjvmartin

My state caps at around $350 a month. The CARES Act, if they can ever get their "act" together on it, is another $600.

kjvmartin

It has been interesting to read people saying this doesn't seem real yet. I've lost a coworker working an essential job (corrections). Others are sick, some pending test results. They authorized nice hazard pay for those in the most exposed positions. A coworker just lost his grandmother to COVID af...

kjvmartin

I am an essential employee for the state but my wife works at a chiropractor office and has not worked in a few weeks . We are down to a single income . We qualify for the CARE relief and have two young children so that will get us by for a while . Looking forward to her getting back to work and a ...

kjvmartin

Grandpa did very well on utilities and a few other blue chips throughout that time. He had a modest government job and died with over 1 million net worth. He collected his pension and reinvested most of his dividends.

kjvmartin

OP, isn't there some legislation about pandemic unemployment assistance as part of the package?

kjvmartin

Back to commuting. I've enjoyed getting to spend time with my kids a lot more, but it's hard to be productive with a houseful.

Spouse resigned from her healthcare position for a long list or reasons related to this outbreak and will be on the hunt for a different job.

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