Got my performance evaluation back from work and received "outstanding". Last year, that meant I ended up getting a much higher than expected bonus. Given the company has indicated they don't have much funding for the bonus pool this year, and they haven't been giving raises the past few years, I'm curious how my review will relate to compensation adjustments this year.
Skiplagging is expressly forbidden by airlines and they will absolutely ban you if they realize that's what you are doing. They have even sued the guy who popularized the concept because of how much they hate people doing it.
But yes I am assuming they would treat your plan similarly.
Airlines really don't like it when you try to play games to save money. They have complicated algorithms to price their flights based on demand on where you are traveling from.
If you cancel the return often enough on the same airline, they are very likely to just ban you in the future. This is even more likely to happen if you book your flight to Germany through the same airline as the return. It won't happen right away. It might never be an issue for you. But be careful if being banned completely by a major airline would be problematic for you.
Asking where you are from is pretty normal conversation, especially if you have a noticeable accent. Asking where your parents/grandparents/etc are from is less common. Are you by chance not-white? Sometimes these sorts of questions have a race element to them
I'm a big fan of the Kroger butter chicken sauce. It's gotten pretty expensive so I don't buy it as often as I used to, but I think it's super tasty. I usually throw it together with some mixed frozen vegetables and rotisserie chicken served over rice. It basically takes as long to cook as it takes the rice cooker to finish the rice.
I wouldn't worry too much about it. It sounds like he is very shy and inexperienced. It's probably just excitement/nerves. You can ask if he likes hugging or if he'd prefer something else. If he says he likes it, I wouldn't bring it up anymore.
my current career (which would have the add-ons of saving more sooner, meeting my spouse earlier, getting to travel more when I was younger, bought a house earlier, etc)
went to the dermatologist to get a diagnosis. I was miserable for years and could have solved the issue much sooner, since she knew exactly what was wrong with me the second she saw me
Be careful not to get too loose of a sweater. My guy peed all over one of his because it hung down into the line of fire. Now he can't wear it until after laundry day.
I've heard of people putting kiddy pools inside with sod during storms, if you have a garage or basement that will work for that.
That being said, after putting on and taking off his coat all yesterday when we went outside, my dog absolutely refuses to wear one this morning. I went out with him and stood on the porch while he did his business. I think going out with them helps them bear it a little more.
My 97 year old grandma spent Christmas in the hospital with COVID and congestive heart failure. I'm honestly shocked she isn't a part of this statistic.
Woohoo. Finally talked the spouse into a trip for later this year. They aren't big on travelling and kind of burned out on travel this past year. I finally found a decent deal on flights to somewhere they didn't completely hate the idea of.
Now I have six months to plan an epic trip to Toronto and Quebec City!
General retirement advice is to contribute 15% total to your retirement account. Since your employer adds 12%, you should contribute a minimum of 3%.
As for your coworkers advice, it may or may not be valid. Contributing to your 401k or a taxable account, both allow you to invest your money. The 401k comes along with tax advantages. Assuming you are making Traditional contributions, then you are saving taxes at the marginal tax bracket (potentially 22 or 24%). If you contribute enough to drop your MAGI to the 12% bracket, then the tax benefit is much less. You can still contribute to Roth, which means you can withdraw that money tax free in the future but you have to pay taxes on it now.
Another thing to consider is the fees in your 401k. Since you are limited to the options provided, sometimes fees are quite high. If you don't have any options that cost less than 1%, you likely are better off investing your money elsewhere.
Finally, you get into the really personal part of personal finance. What are your goals? Do you have short/medium term goals that you would prefer to save this money for? For instance, if you want to save up for a down payment for a house in the future, putting that money in a 401k is a bad choice. Do you have a comfortable emergency fund to pay for unexpected expenses? Do you have high interest debt to pay off?
Financially, mainly just keep on keeping on. I already max all tax advantaged accounts so I plan to continue. My efund is set, so nothing to do there. Since I'm within a few k, I'd love to hit $500k invested but that's mostly up to the market.
However, I do have some difficulty differentiating between memories and dreams that I recall from my early childhood.
Here are three examples of memories I have from a very young age. One is confirmed real by my parents. One as far as I can tell is physically impossible so must be a dream. And the third I have no clue if it is real or a dream.
Shortly before my 3rd birthday, we moved. I remember getting bored while the moving truck was at our house so I rode my tricycle to the next door neighbors and hung out with the old lady and her dog until my mom realized I was missing and yelled at me for wandering off without telling her. (This one really happened)
We were at the mall to meet my dad for lunch at the food court. As we got onto the escalator, I remembered I was able to fly and flew through the mall (it was similar to swimming but in air instead of water). (Obviously this had to have been a dream but it feels just as real of a memory as the first one).
As long as I can remember, when we drove anywhere as a family, my spot was behind the driver's seat and my sister's spot was behind the passenger seat. I have a vivid memory/dream of it being reversed but my sister saying we should switch spots. My mom said ok and we switched to the standard positions. Nobody remembers this so it may have been a dream (and I would've been extremely young if it was real).
You should wait for the statement to pay your spending instead of covering it same day. Otherwise it's not reported to the credit agencies and it looks like you have no activity on your card.
Also, generally speaking some fluctuation from month to month is to be expected. I wouldn't worry too much about 10 points in either direction.
Got my performance evaluation back from work and received "outstanding". Last year, that meant I ended up getting a much higher than expected bonus. Given the company has indicated they don't have much funding for the bonus pool this year, and they haven't been giving raises the past few years, I'm curious how my review will relate to compensation adjustments this year.