Detachable vs. Fixed Cables: Pros and Cons in Mobile Audio

[AbuHossam]

Hubby and I paid off our first home in 2022. We have saved up for the past year to upgrade houses to a better ******** and back to where we grew up. We were able to qualify for a new home loan without making our previous home sale contingent on the purchase of our new home. This allowed us to own 2 houses for some short amount of time and make us more competitive buyers. We closed on our new home and love it. Here’s the problem:

Our old home listed at $369k, and went under contract at $403k. It only appraised at $375k. Our realtor was shocked. We trust him as he is top 1% in our state and we used him to buy this house years ago. He filed for them to reconsider but they didn’t budge. The contract fell through. Before the appraisal came back, the potential buyers agent even poked fun at our realtor for listing the house “sooo much” below value. They thought they got a steal at $403k.*

Our realtor was able to get us under contract at the same price and this time the house appraised at $387k. The reason given by the appraiser is the age of the home (build in 1920). Apparently some new legislation passed to impact appraisals on older homes despite upgrades. Has anyone heard of this or experienced this?

Some additional information: we owe $468k on our new home and were hoping to put $320k from the proceeds of this home onto our loan.

This is all so frustrating as we had/have multiple offers above what it is appeasing for. Unfortunately, no cash offers at that amount. The stress of going back and forth with these offers is taking a toll on my husband and I as we have never experienced anything like this before. What are everyone’s thoughts? Any guidance is appreciated.

[AbuHossam]

Our story: Without knowing what the baby steps were, just one year ago, we were debt free and in baby steps 4,5 and 6.* We had been on a one year wait list for a pool and full back yard remodel and on another wait list for a tesla.** That summer the tesla arrived, the dig began and interest rates began raising on our not yet used HELOC.** My company was also getting ready to sell the division I work for.* The sale would happen in December, but I would not know if I would have a job until this summer.

I started looking for a financial podcast to see how to get rid of our debt.** I found the Ramsey Show.* Everything Dave said made sense.* After all, I was an accounting major, worked in Controllers and a saver by nature.* I had always thought myself to be fiscally responsible.* But here I was, as Dave would say, I was the ultimate broke-rich and stupid-smart person.* I had listened to the podcasts for months, but couldn't pull the trigger.* Where would we even start?* We lived a cushy life.* But I heard some folks in a different department got laid off.* And the more I listened to Dave, the more scared I got.*

In Feb, instead of using the HELOC to pay the last installment of the pool, I wiped out our FFEF to pay* it (leaving $2K). I wouldn't say I am gazelle intense - yet.* But a couple weeks ago, for the first time in 27 years, I stopped contributing to my 401k and my husband stopped his deferred comp contributions. We also discontinued funding my daughters 529, which we had been contributing to since she was born.* These were HUGE difficult steps for me.* It had been ingrained in me- no matter what, save for retirement and college.

In March, I totaled our debt to be $184K.* With my husband doing a TON of OT and my CURBING our spend, today we are down to $174K.* 4 days ago, I finally made a detailed budget for the first time in my life at 48. I know there is still so much fat to cut.* I need to trim it, get a side hustle, and delete the amazon app, but we are on a way.* I started going though the house and listing stuff on FB market place.

Our goal is to be debt free by the time my husband turns 50 in July 2025.* That's ~$7K to pay off each month 😳.* But we are doing this.* If I can get gazelle intense, maybe we can move our goal to my 50th in Aug next year..but...baby steps..*

I recognize ours is not an income problem, it is a spend problem.

For the first time in months, I feel hopeful, determined, and have an actionable plan.* I just needed to put our stupidity out publicly to the universe to feel accountable.* Thank you for listening.* Your stories have been an inspiration.

[AbuHossam]

The Question
Find cars on Craigslist that just need minor repairs that are sold “as is” fix them up so they are drivable and sell. Just got a truck for $900 last weekend that has a rebuild engine and just had one part that was jammed in the new rebuilt engine because it needed greased up. Had a mouse nest in the air filter too. Cleaned it up, added oil and sold for $2,500!!!

For just the price of an air filter and some engine grease and the dolly rental that was $65 for the day! Now with that money we made, husband wants to buy a Kia that’s $1,500 that comes with the parts needed to fix it, but the guy doesn’t have the time to fix it.

The Kia would be for me and gets great gas mileage which I need working an hour away from home.

So basically bought and fixed up a car, sold it and with the money we made, now I get a free car plus $100 on top we can use for taxes.


ANSWER 1
I did that last year although I started to get into $4-5k cars. My best one was I bought a bmw at copart for $4k and fixed all the damage and sold it for $9.5k. I only put about $400 into it. I may start again soon to make some extra $


ANSWER 2
Watch your state laws. Here in my state, an individual is only allowed to sell six cars a year without a dealer license.


ANSWER 3
I so wish I was mechanically inclined. I've got a friend that does this with "junk" cars too. His last deal was a 94 Jaguar. He traded the guy a hammer drill and a six pack. Hauled the car home, got a 20$ part on Amazon and it fired right up. Awesome hustle!!!! Yall will be debt free in no time!



ANSWER 4
Hubby got our son’s first car because a friend couldn’t start it. Sat in his driveway for two years. Told hubby if he could start it, he could have it. Challenge on! He went over, popped the hood, cleaned out a bird nest, sprayed with some starter stuff and voila! Free grand am for the kiddo. He drove that car for four years. FREE!

[AbuHossam]

The Question
.Today I get a letter saying they are closing my account. I was mad that they closed it before I could call to close it myself. Another cc cut up and gone forever!




ANSWER 1
That just proves the type of relationship they had with you. They call the shots.

How awesome you are out of that one!

ANSWER 2
Banks are starting to do what they did in 2008/2009. As people pay down large balances, they are starting to trail the limit down, or close all together. I'm glad you are getting these cut up though, congrats, they did you a favor and don't even know it!


ANSWER 3
Something else must have happened that made them close the account because lots of people have cards they pay off every month to get cash back.



ANSWER 4
Congratulations! Be happy they did that, you did not have to try to navigate their automated phone system to cancel it.

ANSWER 5
Credit card companies are so PETTY, they show us exactly who they are when we refuse to keep ourselves in debt. Sam's did me a favor after closing mines, right after I paid it off.

[AbuHossam]

The Question
I live in a college town of 25,000 students. This week was move out week & the things the students were throwing away were INSANE! With just a few pick ups, I've already sold a few ideas on FB Marketplace that I found on the side of the road lol (cleaned everything beforehand of course). Coffeemakers, dishes, silverware, glasses & mugs, etc. I tend to stay away from mattresses, blankets, pilllws, etc for sanitary reasons. Clothes & shoes are hard to sell on Marketplace.

If you live in or near a college town, it's a great way to make some quick extra cash

ANSWER 1
I think I still have some of my dishes and silverware from college and I've been out 18 years.


ANSWER 2
I loved that time of the semester.


ANSWER 3
“Now that I’ve graduated, I’ll never need dishes again.”

[AbuHossam]

The Question
She finished her freshman year and still wants to pursue this but vet school is at least $100k with in-state tuition. She’s seen Borrowed Future and knows debt’s not for her but how can we help her accomplish this seeming unattainable goal? Is there a similar degree/ field with some of the same attributes but not the insane price tag? She’s applied for scholarships but she’s not the top of her class or the most outgoing/involved student and hasn’t received any yet. It’s pretty hard to get scholarships. We have the money for her to get a bachelor’s degree but that’s all. I don’t want to kill her dream but I don’t know what to do. Any ideas?


ANSWER 1
Definitely getting a job at a vet clinic to help her know their day to day and what they do. I was initially wanted to do vet school (ever since elementary school) but after working at a vet clinic and seeing how it would actually be, I didn't want to just do exams 90% of the time and the same 2 surgeries the other 10% of the time so decided on something else with more variation but still in the science field.

Vet school is very hard to get into. When I was looking at it, less than 10% of applicants got in to the vet school at my university. And if you didn't get in but wanted to apply again, you had to take another year of classes through that same university because you had to be a current student in order to apply again.

Vet classes are definitely way more intensive than regular college and literally a solid 40 hrs, M-F 8-5. That's not including any study time at home or study time in the labs. Vet students told me it was similar to working 80 hrs a week between classes and studying.

So working during vet school is out of the question, especially when you can get kicked out if you don't get certain grades and their grading system is different (90-100 isn't an A, 93-100 is an A...I believe 75 was the lowest to be considered a C, at least for K-State). I know people here will say she should work during vet school if she decides to go that route but she could very likely get kicked out since her grades would suffer working a job on top of working 80 hrs for vet school itself.

ANSWER 2
My grandfather and uncle were both veterinarians. My uncle just retired in February. They both made an absolute fortune, but they worked HARD for it. My grandfather went to both undergrad and grad school on scholarship then worked in a rural area as both a large animal and companion animal vet. When he retired my uncle bought the practice from him, and was the best veterinary orthopedic surgeon in New England (if not the entire northeast and beyond). BUT, these two men worked more hours than I’ve ever seen anyone work. They amassed an incredible amount of money, but worked 14-16 hour days 6-7 days a week for much of their careers.

Veterinary medicine is about people at least as much as it’s about animals. Just make sure she’s prepared for that. She’ll be talking to owners, explaining everything to them, and be met with so much resistance for the price of her services. Veterinarians as a group struggle greatly with mental health along with their support staff. It can be wonderful and rewarding, but so many go into the field because they prefer animals over people and don’t realize how much they’ll be dealing with people.

If she decides being a veterinarian isn’t for her, there are other ways she can help animals! I work for a pet health diagnostics company. We develop the tests veterinarians use to diagnose a wide variety of illnesses in animals. We have a lot of people work for us between their undergrad and vet school, but we also have a lot of scientists with degrees in chemistry, biochemistry, biomedical engineering, and others. We’re highly involved in the veterinary field without dealing with a lot of the struggles they deal with. Just presenting another option! I do highly recommend she work at a vet clinic throughout her undergrad so she can see if it’s something she really wants to do. It’s a lot harder than anyone thinks when they first say that’s what they want to do!

ANSWER 3
She should work, and then work some more. If it takes 5,6,7 years, then so be it. By working and earning it herself she'll be sure that this is what she wants, she'll work harder to earn the degree, and she'll have a tremendous sense of accomplishment when finished. I speak from experience.



ANSWER 4
Have her talk to the military and see if they pay for her school. If that doesn’t work, have have multiple roommates or live at home to save on boarding. Have her work throughout professional school and take one year off before entering school and save as much as possible working full time then go and work during school because it’s going to cost at least 300,000.

[AbuHossam]

The Question
I have never done anything like this before. Is it cheaper than buying vegetables? I was thinking of doing tomatoes and string beans.


ANSWER 1
In my experience, it is not financially rewarding, but it's an enjoyable experience and the food tastes great!


ANSWER 2
I do A LOT of canning and freezing. Probably 900 jars a year and I barter with what I can. It is financially worth it for me because of the canning. My teen son loves gardening and homesteading and grows enough for me to can and he sells any extra. I reuse jars from the grocery store also to keep the cost down..people save them for me. Not 100% of them work but it has saved me hundreds of dollars.


ANSWER 3
When I first started a garden, I bought the veggie plants because I didn’t know what I was doing and didn’t feel comfortable. It iis more affordable to plant using seeds instead of buying the plants. Also, learn to freeze and can. It really is fun to see everything grow.



ANSWER 4
It's cheaper to buy veggies at the store or farmer's market, unless you're in it for the long haul, but I enjoy gardening anyway. I know how they were tended to (organic or not), I can pick fresh when needed for a meal, it's an activity to do at home that provides vitamin D (via sunshine), some quiet time with nature, and it keeps me busy and moving, so it keeps me healthy in several ways.

The biggest expense is the initial startup. We had to go with raised garden beds because our yard has drainage issues in heavy Spring rain, so that meant the added expense of building material and large planters, plus the soil and fertilizer to fill them. I've had plants not produce or produce little, while others have provided more than we can eat. The last 2 years my jalapenos have been tiny, no bigger than 1", and weren't ready to harvest until long after I had a stash of tomatoes and onions (I make a lot of salsa). I got an earlier start this year and planted them closer to my privacy fence (morning sun, evening shade) and I've already picked several 4" jalapenos, while my tomatoes are still green. Squash is extremely easy to grow, but squash bugs were a big nuisance last year and I'd never had that problem ; I refused to plant squash this year as a result.


You also have to fight off the squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, etc. I've lost many nearly ready melons to those little buggers.🤦‍♀️

I use veggies fresh, but also freeze, dehydrate and can, the latter is another big investment and ongoing expense for supplies, but allows you to have ****f stable, homegrown veggies year round.

[AbuHossam]

The Question
…a little too much in my opinion. I shopped around and all the quotes are higher than what I used to pay, which was $60-70 a month. I don’t have tickets or accidents. Is it the age of my car? Should I carry full coverage still? I’m on BS3, just started. I’m lost on what coverage I should carry now.

ANSWER 1
First and foremost 'full coverage' is not a real thing.

The question you should ask is IF something happened to your vehicle how would it effect you?

Could you afford to get nothing and purchase a new to you vehicle? If the answer is no, I would carry Comprehensive and Collision as well as rental reimbursement.


ANSWER 2
I pay a little more than that per month for my car and renter’s insurance (for a single family house) combined through State Farm. I don’t have full coverage though as I’ve said. I’ve never really tried shopping around because I’ve budgeted this in.. however I did receive a mailer from a local Progressive agent in the area saying they could save me money.. with a higher quote.

It all depends on where you live, park, your age, etc too. I don’t think that’s too high IMO unless they’re asking for like $150 or something.


ANSWER 3
Car insurance is going up, regardless of the age of the vehicle. A five year old Brand X car will be more expensive than a 15 year old vehicle of the same brand. So, even though the driver has no accidents or tickets on their record, across the board insurance prices are going up. Rates are increasing because the cost to repair cars is getting more expensive. This was confirmed by a phone conversation with our insurance agent about 18 months ago. In my state (Washington), the Insurance Commissioner pushed through an edict that credit ratings could not be used by insurance companies as a thing in determining insurance rates. (Good credit got you a discount, poor credit didn't get you the discount.) He felt that this negatively impacted people with lower credit ratings and it wasn't fair. Our agent explained that the insurance companies do research and find that people with lower credit ratings typically have poorer driving records, getting more tickets and/or getting into more accidents. Less than a year later, the edict was dropped, and we saw a small decrease in our insurance rates. Not as big of a drop as the increase had been, but it did drop. What you should do with your insurance I'm not sure. However, look at paying six months at a time vs paying monthly....you'll pay less per six months period of time. Shop around to different companies. If you're a home owner already, look at bundling your car insurance with your home owners insurance....you'll get a discount. Good luck on figuring this out.



ANSWER 4
Where I live off your paying 60 to 70 that's a steal. A 15 year car full coverage you would pay more. Insurance like everything is going up... I dropped torque I have mine where each person is given like 100k in medical and I icky pay for mileage since I work from home . I have 2 cars and pay 112 monthly.

[AbuHossam]

And each year I get closer to my birthday feeling defeated. In the past few years I've learned to slow and as I've found some healing, focus has started to slowly follow. This year is the FIRST year I've ever made goals for myself and actually been hitting them... before the due dates even! My first goal was selling my car and I did that in March.

Then sorting thru work and family files and pics I've been avoiding since the divorce, and then was tackling the last bit of weight. I've now lost a total of 70lbs, and it's time to focus on building strength! I wanted to cry when I saw those numbers and I feel almost numb. Next goal to check off is my debt.

Look how close y'all!!' It's been a long almost three years tackling that and I can't wait to check that one off next!

Adding the visuals has really helped keep me motivated. If you're feeling discouraged because it is taking a while, it's ok to cry and get frustrated. Set backs WILL happen and that's normal. But then just get back up, give it to God and keep going.

That's where the growth is. It may feel slow, but it each step forward is progress and they start to build on each other and if you just don't give up, you WILL see results. It's always Gods time, not ours! Trust Him, lean in, and look ahead. Your best days are still yet to come!!!

[AbuHossam]

The Question
Is there anything I can do about this or what are some ways you have dealt with the fluctuations?

Thank you

ANSWER 1
Ours went up $700 late last year. I’ve called the mortgage company and told them we couldn’t afford it. They said our escrow account was under because of an increase in taxes. But then, they split the difference over the next few months so that we could pay less.

A few months go by, they do a quarterly review of our escrow account and actually find out we had a surplus in our escrow. And because we’ve overpaid, they’d give us money back AND lowered our payments.


ANSWER 2
I had my insurance shoot up last year 10,000 (for the year) for no reason. Shopped around and got a better rate through a new home insurance provider with the same coverage. I’d recommend shopping your insurance if it didn’t go up because of a claim


ANSWER 3
Mine was only going up about $50 because of insurance/taxes, but my mortgage company gave me the option to make a lump sum payment and keep my lower mortgage payment or to have it go up the $50. I work in insurance and home insurance rates have been going up because property values/cost of materials and labor has gone up so I definitely suggest getting an independent agent to shop around multiple companies to see if they can get you a lower rate



ANSWER 4
Increase insurance rates and property taxes can definitely eat up escrow and cause a shortage. Check to see if you have a shortage. If so, can you pay the shortage amount? This will immediately prevent your mortgage payment from increasing and can even lower it from what you are paying now. This helps for the remainder of this year. To help with next year, (depending on your escrow analysis date) also see if you can change insurance companies to get a lower rate…and call your property tax office to see if you have qualifying factors for the Homestead Exemption Program. This will help to reduce your tax liability, which also helps to reduce your mortgage payment.

Good luck!

Here: Frank Vasquez member page

[AbuHossam]

1. Turn off the TV. Eliminate all advertising from your life if you can. Practice contentment.

2. Look at all my progress so far and it gets me extremely excited instead of anxious on how much I have left.


3. Budget, Budget, Budget (we use Every Dollar). Knowing where every dollar is going gives you such control, confidence, and power.


4. Budget every cent of my income, build up savings for emergencies, and use sinking funds for expenses I know will arise or are coming up.


5. Remind myself daily Im doing well and working to do better everyday. I also track winning and losing budget months and look where I was a year ago to feel better.

[AbuHossam]

They even covered my licensing and the work is remote! I kid you not, I've made more on a lunch break, than i did in an entire month at my second job(9hr shifts, $14/hr, 3-4 days a week)!!

After you work 8am-5pm, then 5:30pm-2/3am, everything else seems easy! I only lasted one week working 3rd shift, then going to my main job at 8am!! Finally debt free minus the house, and still working my side hustle!!

Happy to share info! Just shoot me a message and I can get you in contact with a recruiter for a Zoom call.

[AbuHossam]

The Question
I'd like to be able to save a few hundred dollars at least, so I was considering opening a new credit card with a cash back bonus to put the expense on. Many credit cards will give you $200-500 cash back if you spend a few thousand on on card within the first few months. Thoughts?

ANSWER 1
The biggest savings will likely come from shopping that price at an independent mechanic. For the credit card aspect, sure. Sounds like a great time to sign up for a new card and get the bonus points. I would be looking more at travel points va cash back though. You can usually get higher value that way


ANSWER 2
Tune ups aren't a real thing anymore. What exactly does it need? Spark plugs, engine and cabin air filters and oil change? Insert upsell unnecessary maintenance things after


ANSWER 3
First tune up, as in 20k miles, oil change, filters and such?

Thoughts: second opinion on what it really needs, because $2k is significant and I like to be sure the mechanic is correct. As to using a cc to get bonus and points for known large purchases can be a little bump in the budget, but not something I chase.

[AbuHossam]

ANSWER 1
If you choose to respond to my comment, please don't be rude. I'm confused as to why last month's budget is different than this month? I know there are things throughout the year like car registration, etc, but... can someone explain why each month is different?


ANSWER 2
Honest question, for those who do this, do any of you have an irregular or varying income? Ours varies every month due to varying overtime, and my unpredictable hours, but we know what the base of my husband's income will be. So I have a standing monthly budget for the base, which covers basics, then an average of the rest, with a big cushion for "misc", and a lot of sinking funds. It works well. Just wondering how others handle this.


ANSWER 3
Trying to budget in vet bills, pretty sure our girl dog will have pups in July and her ultrasound got pushed back but she may have them before then, I only scheduled one cause she is small and in case there is complications, but it’s only 63 days and the ultrasound is not cheap but scheduled about when I am guessing she is due



ANSWER 4
Budget day! Here's my "issue"...it's an expensive month with a vacation, some concerts and other big spends. But I'd rather turn up the heat on my two side hustles instead of take the money out of our "fun money". My wife says we make too much money to worry about hitting those funds, and she's totally right, but i feel like it's a failing move to touch it

– Sandi Calio profile in Astronomy

[AbuHossam]

The Question
We cancelled everything tv, so we use our $14 month Amazon prime for video on the tv but it needs internet to work. I was hoping to eliminate the $100ish (have no clue as my husband has this linked to his acct and it’s auto) bill as well. I was looking into just using the hotspot on my phone but that would only work if I’m home and would suck for the rest of the family or babysitter when I’m working. Am I missing a cheaper alternative? Even if I can find a cheap plan and maybe call breeze line and threaten to switch it’ll go lower? Anything to help please!


ANSWER 1
I'd definitely look and see if Verizon or tmobile home internet is in your area. The tmobile one didn't work great for us(we play video games and stream a lot at the same time) but other people in my area love it. My brother had the Verizon one and has no issues streaming from multiple tvs at the same time. Last I checked they're both under 100 a month.


ANSWER 2
If you go into the Xfinity store most times you can get a deal. If you have the roku app there are alot of shows on there that the kids can watch for free. The kids and the babysitter will adjust and if the babysitter is relying on tv to sit your kids then it is time for an adjustment so she does things with the kids.


ANSWER 3
Internet depends on area. Good luck trying to save on that. Internet speed is going to start going up due to people streaming a lot more and cancelling tv service. Communication business depend on income from both so that’s why you will see rates go up for internet. Also if you compare prices don’t just look at the price because the speed they offer will be vey important when you stream.


ANSWER 4
Phone hot spot is usually more expensive overall, I think.

Your internet options are going to vary by where you live. Cheaper alternative ISPs often have outages or bad customer service. The big ISPs are stable, but expensive. You can often call in (or online chat) to bargain down a deal of $10+/mo, but it's usually limited time and you have to ask again in a year.

– Sandi Calio user page in MyminiFactory