A debt perspective

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Somehow our culture has placed perception above reality. I think the majority of people would choose the blue pill from The Matrix rather than the red pill.

Now there's a nice example of (perhaps unintended) irony: making a point about mainstream culture's perception with an example likely to be understood only by those immersed in mainstream culture :-)

[freebeard]

I've been confused by blue and red ever since the Republicans and Democrats swapped colors.

[Xist]

I have never cared enough to remember which mascot went for which party, and how either was supposed to be flattering.

That woman stopped being my friend months ago. I always wondered what else was going on, but she was suddenly hostile for at least a week or two. I tried three or four times to get her to agree to talk to me in-person. I felt that was the only way to have a chance to find out what was wrong. Parts of our "conversation:

Me: "I get arrested at night."
Her: "So you've told me."

I was arrested twice at night, although it was nearly two years ago, so I am significantly less paranoid.

Her response still does not seem appropriate to me.

Forget trying to talk in person, I really dont think I will be ok with you coming over. I don't know what you need to say but I tried to talk already. The stress is getting to me and I need to be able to sleep at night.

When did she try to talk to me? That must have been over the phone. I realized I would be driving past her place and asked if I could stop by. She responded an hour or two later, when I was getting ready for bed.

I could show you the chat log, but I doubt anyone wants to see it. She never said what was so stressful about talking to me.

The following are consecutive messages. I am not omitting any:
"I am not going to talj to you you understand that right."
"Talk."
"I will not see you in person understand that to."
"Your going to either tell me what ever it is you want to say or never say it I am not changing my mind."
"So you have 2 things that belong to you here what do you was me to do with rhem?"
"So get rid of them for you?"
"Ok no answer that is a yes."
Me: "I was sleeping. Are you talking about the microwave and dishrack again?"
I gave these to her when she got her own place.
"Yes."
"Just wanted to know what you wanted done with your things."
Me: "Keep them. They are yours."
"Ok I will get rid of them for you."
Me: "Fine. I will pick them up."
"Ok"
"When will you be by to get your things,"

She used to take pictures of her kids playing with me, but she would not let me over while the kids were awake. I just did not want her throwing away perfectly good items out of spite. She gave me a Minions shirt. I still wear it. I said as little as possible to make arrangements. When I showed up, she threw the door open, vaguely gestured at my stuff, forcefully closed it behind me, and then sat down on the couch. She sat there while I opened the door with my arms full. I looked at her, she looked back without breaking her silence, I started walking to my car, and she slammed the door behind me, but when I went to get in my car, she was standing at my door.

She demanded to know what I had wanted to tell her, but kept demanding, and never gave me a chance to answer. I tried to close my door, but she stepped in the way, and kept yelling at me. She finally stepped back, I closed my door, and drove off. She called, I did not answer, and then she wrote me on Facebook:

I will never contact you again after this message.
I am now removing you from my friends list as well.

It has been nice and quiet the last five and a half months. She or someone logged into her Facebook account called me a while ago, but I did not have any idea if it was actually her, or if it was on purpose. Nobody left a message and that is the end of that bizarre story.

I have mentioned her before. She never learned to drive, although at least at one point insisted nobody knew more about driving than she did. She said she could not get her permit because she has test anxiety.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Xist

That woman stopped being my friend months ago.

Don't know what this has to do with debt, but "that woman" did you a favor. She is doing exactly what I have always recommended doing with exes and any friends that are girls; ignore them.

[Xist]

1. Making illogical choices because they give you a false sense of security
2. Reminds me of a woman I knew
3. ???
4. Profit!

Considering she followed me to my car and demanded that I talk to her, I do not think she was attempting to sever ties. I was not putting up with her anymore, though.

I just realized I never answered this:

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I don't know what you mean by deducting $0.55 per mile and what you are paying 15% interest on, but I sure would like to have $0.55 for every mile I drive.

I work as a contractor, so I deduct my mileage from my taxes. As I understand it, I only pay 15% taxes until I earn more than $30,000 in a year. If I average four clients a day and drive forty-one miles between my first and my fifth, if I work two hundred days a year, I have a $4,500 deduction, right?

(41 * 200 * .55 = $4,510)

Wait a second...

[Frank Lee]

Way too much drama. Whatever she's got, it ain't worth it.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Xist

Considering she followed me to my car and demanded that I talk to her, I do not think she was attempting to sever ties.

Of course not. I've never known a woman to cease communication entirely. That's why I'm the one that enforces the no-contact strategy of living drama free.

I work as a contractor, so I deduct my mileage from my taxes. As I understand it, I only pay 15% taxes until I earn more than $30,000 in a year. If I average four clients a day and drive forty-one miles between my first and my fifth, if I work two hundred days a year, I have a $4,500 deduction, right?

(41 * 200 * .55 = $4,510)

Wait a second...

As I understand it, the mileage deduction is a reduction in taxable income that applies regardless if you take the standard deduction or itemize deductions. 15% of $4,510 = $677.

Below is the tax bracket for 2015:



You are taxed at 10% on the first $9,075 of taxable income. The 15% tax only applies to the amount of taxable income over $9,075.

At any rate, you should be taking the mileage deduction. I use freetaxusa.com to do my federal taxes for free. The prompts make it easier to take all of the applicable deductions and credits, because the paper forms require you to know what's available.

[ME_Andy]

Originally Posted by Xist

When I showed up, she threw the door open, vaguely gestured at my stuff, forcefully closed it behind me, and then sat down on the couch. She sat there while I opened the door with my arms full. I looked at her, she looked back without breaking her silence, I started walking to my car, and she slammed the door behind me, but when I went to get in my car, she was standing at my door.

She likes you. She wanted you to say something... probably "I'm sorry" or "I miss you."

[Fat Charlie]

Or "We never talk any more."

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

As I understand it, the mileage deduction is a reduction in taxable income that applies regardless if you take the standard deduction or itemize deductions. 15% of $4,510 = $677.

In most circumstances mileage is a business expense that gets deducted on Schedule C, in order to figure your actual business profit. In addition to the income tax, though, you also have to pay Social Security/Medicare taxes on that business income (Schedule SSE). IIRC that's about ~12.3% of your business profit, so about $1230 less tax.