#budget me income tax

[lawfulspawnofthedevil]

thinking about how gaming is yet another hobby stained by class division and by extension fomo, anyway how you doing

[fiercynn]

on ao3's current fundraiser

apparently it’s time for ao3’s biannual donation drive, which means it’s time for me to remind you all, that regardless of how much you love ao3, you shouldn’t donate to them because they HAVE TOO MUCH MONEY AND NO IDEA WHAT TO DO WITH IT.

we’ve known for years that ao3 – or, more specifically, the organization for transformative works (@transformativeworks on tumblr), or otw, who runs ao3 and other fandom projects – has a lot of money in their “reserves” that they had no plans for. but in 2023, @manogirl and i did some research on this, and now, after looking at their more recent financial statements, i’ve determined that at the beginning of 2024, they had almost $2.8 MILLION US DOLLARS IN SURPLUS.

our full post last year goes over the principles of how we determined this, even though the numbers are for 2023, but the key points still stand (with the updated numbers):

when we say “surplus”, we are not including money that they estimate they need to spend in 2024 for their regular expenses. just the extra that they have no plan for

yes, nonprofits do need to keep some money in reserves for emergencies; typically, nonprofits registered in the u.s. tend to keep enough to cover between six months and two years of their regular operating expenses (meaning, the rough amount they need each month to keep their services going). $2.8 million USD is enough to keep otw running for almost FIVE YEARS WITHOUT NEW DONATIONS

they always overshoot their fundraisers: as i’m posting this, they’ve already raised $104,751.62 USD from their current donation drive, which is over double what they’ve asked for! on day two of the fundraiser!!

no, we are not trying to claim they are embezzling this money or that it is a scam. we believe they are just super incompetent with their money. case in point: that surplus that they have? only earned them $146 USD in interest in 2022, because only about $10,000 USD of their money invested in an interest-bearing account. that’s the interest they earn off of MILLIONS. at the very least they should be using this extra money to generate new revenue – which would also help with their long-term financial security – but they can’t even do that

no, they do not need this money to use if they are sued. you can read more about this in the full post, but essentially, they get most of their legal services donated, and they have not, themselves, said this money is for that purpose

i'm not going to go through my process for determining the updated 2024 numbers because i want to get this post out quickly, and otw actually had not updated the sources i needed to get these numbers until the last couple days (seriously, i've been checking), but you can easily recreate the process that @manogirl and i outlined last year with these documents:

otw’s 2022 audited financial statement, to determine how much money they had at the end of 2022

otw’s 2024 budget spreadsheet, to determine their net income in 2023 and how much they transferred to and from reserves at the beginning of 2024

otw’s 2022 form 990 (also available on propublica), which is a tax document, and shows how much interest they earned in 2022 (search “interest” and you’ll find it in several places)  

also, otw has not been accountable to answering questions about their surplus. typically, they hold a public meeting with their finance committee every year in september or october so people can ask questions directly to their treasurer and other committee members; as you can imagine, after doing this deep dive last summer, i was looking forward to getting some answers at that meeting!

but they cancelled that meeting in 2023, and instead asked people to write to the finance committee through their contact us form online. fun fact: i wrote a one-line message to the finance committee on may 11, 2023 through that form, when @manogirl and i were doing this research, asking them for clarification on how much they have in their reserves. i have still not received a response.

so yeah. please spend your money on people who actually need it, like on mutual aid requests! anyone who wants to share their mutual aid requests, please do so in the replies and i’ll share them out – i didn’t want to link directly to individual requests without permission in case this leads to anyone getting harassed, but i would love to share your requests. to start with, here's operation olive branch and their ongoing spreadsheet sharing palestinian folks who need money to escape genocide.

oh, and if you want to write to otw and tell them why you are not donating, i'm not sure it’ll get any results, but it can’t hurt lol. here's their contact us form – just don’t expect a response! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[jewish-sideblog]

Clearly, y'all don't care about Jews, and the fact that Hamas is violently antisemitic doesn't seem matter to any of you. So let me go with a new approach, of equal truth and value. Hamas is violently anti-Palestinian.

This past week, Hamas attacked evacuation routes and prevented Gazan citizens from fleeing an active warzone. [1]

They did that because they routinely use Gazan civilians as human shields. Hamas intentionally builds military targets close to schools, hospitals, and mosques, putting soft targets in the way of both incoming and outgoing fire. Hamas encourages Gazan civilians and children to stand on the roofs of buildings they know the IDF is targeting. [2]

Hamas has refused to allow elections in Gaza since 2006. Not just Palestinian National Authority elections, mind you. No open elections for any office have been held in seventeen years. Palestinian rights to free elections and self-determination have been denied by Hamas. [3] (And good luck to anyone who tries to blame that on Israel, because elections were held by the PNA in the West Bank in 2012, 2017, 2021 and 2022. It's Hamas's intention alone to purge democracy.)

Hamas's track record on human rights is appalling. Palestinian prisoners in Gaza face unfair trials and death sentences after being tortured by police. Palestinian women are prevented from accessing the legal systems to escape domestic abuse situations. Political dissidents in Hamas, even ones who merely support the other half of the Palestinian government, have been summarily executed. [4] [5]

Peaceful organizers in Palestine protested Hamas's massive tax hikes in 2019. Hamas security forces responded by assaulting demonstrators, tracking them down, raiding their homes, and detaining them. And, as previously mentioned, prisoners in Gaza are not treated well by Hamas. [6]

Edit Nov.5, 10:30 PM: I forgot to add arguably the most important thing-- Hamas manipulates the humanitarian aid they receive away from helping Gazans and toward killing Jews. 5% of Hamas's budget actually gets used for humanitarian aid, while 55% goes to military use. Construction equipment intended to rebuild Gaza's crumbling infrastructure is used to build a complex series of underground tunnels. Those tunnels in turn are used to smuggle Iranian military equipment into the country. They were also used for human trafficking in the October 7th attacks. [7]

If you actually want Palestinians to be free, you can't just replace Israel with Hamas. But it's not like they're the only option for supporting Palestinian liberation. While Fatah doesn't have an immaculate historical track record, it now operates as a leftist, democratic socialist, secular Palestinian government that fights for a two-state solution. Similarly, Arab-Israeli political parties like the Hadash-Ta'al coalition support leftist, anti-Zionist, and two-state solutions from within the Israeli parliament.

You can and should support Palestinian liberation movements that abuse neither Jewish nor Arab human rights and dignities. Plenty of them exist out there. But if y'all continue to throw your weight behind an antisemitic and anti-democratic terrorist regime, Palestinians and Jews will both take note of exactly where you stand.

[adore-laur]

Dadrry idea: since Harry left his position of head chef and there’s a second baby now, maybe they’re struggling a tiny bit with money. Not too much but things are a little stressful and they have to cancel a holiday maybe? Or one of the girls just doesn’t get a toy she wants or something? And they have to explain it to the child just while Harry picks up a few more shifts

——

Harry handled the finances and was aware of each transaction made in the family. With two kids, you both had to be quite frugal, especially since Harry was working fewer hours at the restaurant and you were a stay-at-home mom. While there was never an issue of not having enough money to pay the bills and provide your children with the necessities, the prospect of running out still haunted your mind. It was possible that an unforeseeable emergency could snatch a hefty chunk of money away. Additionally, there were other boring adult things like mortgages, taxes, and monthly subscriptions that all left a bigger deduction with each year that passed.

Then there was the summer trip to Tuscany, Italy, in two months. The plane tickets had already been bought and gifted for Christmas, and the villa was booked in advance. It was expensive, but the other option of staying in a hotel room for a week with young children was undesirable in all regards. The space and privacy were crucial for your sanity.

Italy was not a cheap travel destination per se. There would be money spent every day on transportation, dining, tourist traps, and whatever else sucked you in with its magnificent European beauty. Indulging in extravagance would be tempting, but if you planned and budgeted ahead of time, maybe the financial repercussions of the trip wouldn't be so deplorable. Your wishful thinking was blatantly deceptive.

After putting the kids down for bed, you sat at the kitchen table under the dim chandelier and waited for Harry to finish unloading the dishwasher. His silent presence was comfortable as you pondered the logistics of the upcoming trip. Pondered was putting it lightly—you were brooding.

"I can hear you thinking," Harry said, setting the last bowl in the cupboard. He washed and dried his hands, then walked over to you with his cotton pajama pants slung low on his hips. His bare torso was at your eye level, and you fought the urge to bury your face in the warm, chiseled skin there.

"My head is going to explode," you muttered, feeling an imminent migraine pulsing near your temples.

He fell into the adjacent chair, exhausted from an eventful Saturday of dad duty, and scooted it closer to you. "Why, baby?" he asked, his palms scrubbing down his face as he yawned.

"I'm overthinking everything."

Placing his elbow on the table, his cheek cradled in his palm, he gave you his full focus. "Break it down for me."

"Well, there's mainly one thing." You huffed, deciding to broach the topic before it was swept under the rug. "The Italy trip. Prices are going up, and I'm worried we won't be able to afford going anymore."

Harry's expression was the epitome of flummoxed. "Wait, what? Where is this coming from?"

"You're not working full-time," you began explaining, "and I'm not raking in any income. I mean, will we be able to financially recover from the trip? What if—"

"Hold on, hold on," he said softly, his eyes pinching shut. "Can I interrupt, please?"

You half-heartedly waved your hand in his general direction, in desperate need of his sensible guidance. "Be my guest."

"Let's backtrack for a second. Why... honey, why do you think we won't be able to afford it? The biggest costs are already out of the way."

"I just told you why. Think about it, Harry." You tapped the table to emphasize each point. "A meal for four people will probably cost over a hundred dollars. That includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner, so if we multiply that by the seven days we're there, it's going to be well over a thousand dollars."

"Okay," he said. He didn't seem to have anything to add after that, so you continued.

"Then there's transportation." You groaned, staring up at the ceiling. "We still have to decide if we're renting a car. If not, we'll have to pay for a bus, or a train, or a taxi. That's going to add up very quickly."

"Mm-hmm." Harry had a dopey look on his face, a hint of a smile tugging the corners of his lips up. Whatever. You were being realistic, and he was in a dreamland where money grew on trees.

You carried on, getting tangled in the vines of your brain's dense jungle. "And then what about all the sightseeing and activities? That's the most expensive aspect." You shrugged helplessly. "I was recently searching for free things to do there. I guess there are a lot of buildings we can look at, but I don't know if the kids would enjoy it."

Harry nodded along. When he realized you were done with your long-winded explanation, he lifted his eyebrows and said, "It's a good thing we can spoil them with the raise I got yesterday."

"And also—what?" You stopped abruptly, catching your breath. Did he just...?

Harry stood and bent down to kiss your forehead in that sweet way of his—gentle and imploring, like he wanted to caress your brain and will it to calm down. "I got a raise yesterday," he repeated nonchalantly, nuzzling his nose into your hair.

"Why didn't you tell me?" you demanded, lightly smacking his shoulder.

"I'm telling you right now. I wanted to wait until we had a moment to ourselves." He crouched in front of you, holding your knees just like he'd done when you told him you were pregnant for the second time. The memory was so vivid that it almost left you stunned with emotion. "Five percent pay raise. We're going to be just fine." His simple smile was remedial. "We are not canceling this trip."

You exhaled, releasing all of your worries into the air, the pounding in your temples dissipating. "Why didn't you stop me from rambling on?"

"Because it's healthy to speak those types of thoughts aloud instead of letting them simmer," Harry replied like the perfect husband he was.

You cupped his cheeks and kissed him thoroughly, pouring all of your love and gratitude into it. "I'm so proud of you," you whispered against his mouth. He savored your words by humming and sliding his tongue across yours for just a brief second. "I appreciate all the hard work you put into making our little family happy. And thank you for making this vacation possible."

"Wanted to spoil my girls," Harry murmured, craning his neck to kiss you more. His wet lips pulled at yours, greedy for their pliancy.

"Are you going to pick up more hours at the restaurant?" you asked in between the sounds of lip-smacking and heavy breathing. Something about him at night, in the dimly lit kitchen, with you as his sole focus, was igniting that secret fuse only he could play with.

"Shhh..." His fingers dug into your waist as he lifted you off the chair. Your legs and arms wrapped around him, warmth flooding right under your skin like wildfire. "No more work talk. I want some alone time with my wife before a hungry baby wakes us up."

You giggled and bit his bottom lip in excitement before he carried you to the bedroom. Miraculously, your six-month-old gave the both of you forty minutes of uninterrupted time to roll around in the sheets.

When you went to sleep later that night, visions of Tuscany's hillside vineyards and swimming in the vast sea erased your concerns. As did the unequivocal vision of the man beside you making precious memories with his babies.

With Harry, there was no need to sweat the small stuff. His eyes were set on the most important thing—family.

——

[saturnsquest757]

Astrology Observations 1.

This is my first time please don’t judge.

I’ve noticed Pisces usually are the self proclaimed, “different and special beings” instead of Aquarius. Pisces Sun and or Venus will openly state how different they are.

A Sagittarius is the easiest zodiac sign for me to spot. It’s just so… obvious??? Even when they’re not the usual extroverted type there’s always this energy of a free spirit.

Scorpio risings are secretive but only for a period of time. Once you get to know them they usually open up. Scorpio moons however… are usually always private/secretive no matter the time frame of knowing each other.

I’ve experienced Virgos being so hypercritical they become hypocritical. Virgos have high expectations of others and themselves, but usually others cannot reach them. They also cannot reach their own standards. Considering, their a mutable sign this is why they can be critical but not back it up with constant action. Their expectations and perception is consistently changing, but still manages to remain high.

Ok… Cancer rising/moon/mars usually moody asf. No chill vibes. Very strict on comfortability and not like fixed signs comfortable. More so a nostalgic feeling or certain things needed to fulfill an emotional need. If those things (people,places,objects) change drastically there is a difficulty to move forward. If anything goes outside of a routine they get very upset.

I wish I could say one sign seems more emotionally mature than the other. I’ve met so many people with all different types of placements and most were emotionally stunted in some form and there were no similarities. So I think being toxic and or unhealthy can happen no matter the natal chart.

I have Neptune 1° degree away from my ascendent🥲. Neptune in the first house/conjunct ascendent is not an easy placement. Very creative. Very unrealistic. A strong and growing imagination. Head in the clouds. Projections. Projections. Even the movements I make with my body or face usually get misinterpreted. Can have a distorted perception of physical form. When Saturn was transiting my 1st house I lost a lot of weight, but I didn’t seem to notice how skinny I looked. People would make commentary and I thought I looked fine. Looking back at photos I realize how malnourished and skinny I was. Neptune in the 1st can also cause a tendency to be addicted to anything. Most would say drugs, but for me it’s usually any hobby that can allow an obsessive escape from reality. Low self esteem can be present considering the elusive nature of the self.

Saturn in the 2nd house folks struggle with making a higher income or a comfortable salary throughout their life. However, Saturn in the 2nd is good with being frugal and budgeting. Usually can save really easily with this placement unless Saturn is severely debilitated.

Venus/Mars in Pisces and being attracted to someone weird, eccentric. They don’t have a consistent type and can date all different types of people.

Mars conjunct Venus aspect I’m so jealous and I want. People with mars conjunct Venus can be very attractive and flirty. Usually a chick/guy magnet. People fall in love with them easily. Attract a lot of attention in some form.

Chiron is very important in the solar return chart. Whatever house it is in will be healed but also broken down and injured in some way. Or there could be a discovery of a wound depending on what house will change the description. Ex:Chiron in 7th, struggle in partnership, may break up with current partner, attract difficult/emotionally stunted individuals. Chiron in the 1st can struggle with intense amount of doubt and low self esteem concerning the body and how they show up in the world. I do believe in a solar return chart the house Chiron resides in either heals in some form or the individual learns a pivotal lesson by the end of the year.

8th house synastry is emotionally taxing. I have this with my mom and other friends and it’s a lot. 8th house synastry usually there’s a obvious power dynamic. Or one person is more obsessed/attached than the other. 12th house synastry can also have unequal dynamics however I do think both individuals will feel a pull towards each other(whether they admit it or not). 12th house synastry although elusive has the potential to make you feel great comfortability and unconditional love.

Venus conjunct mars in synastry wasn’t all that for me. It felt superficial and we mainly connected on a sexual level.

Why does NO one talk about moon conjunct moon in synastry. I love it and it’s nice!! Depending on the moon I guess opinions can differ. However both people’s emotional waves will be similar and easily understood by the other. Allowing an easy process of being seen and heard. I connected deeply with men and women that I had this aspect with. It is sad and painful when the relationship ends because there’s a mutual understanding of each other.

9th house synastry is dope and I wish I experienced it more. There’s an opportunity to learn something or you are more open to learning new things from the other person. Depending on what planet/zodiac sign/ degree it can show what topics tend to expand in the presence of a 9th house intruder. Also morals can be similar or the same on politics, social issues, etc.

Mars in the 4th house synastry is hell. I don’t like it usually the mars person brings disruption or change in the home in some way. They can without trying cause emotional distress or upheavals in the 4th house person. Obviously if mars is strongly and comfortably placed I think this can lessen the effects. Such as if it’s in its domicile or exaltation. However if mars is struggling on it’s own in the natal chart I do think it’s a red flag 🚩. Considering the 4th house is the most sensitive and hidden house.Technically your ancestral background and emotional well being resides in the 4th house which can trigger a whole lot of things.

Usually people see 4th house as good because it’s home and family. However if your family lineage has generational trauma this area can be a trigger landmark. This is the house of your deepest, habitual characteristics that only come out when comfortable. It’s also traditions your family upheld which can be any… kind not just the standard example. Such as tendencies of toxicity or unhealthy habits that linger from previous generations.

[femmefatalevibe]

Femme Fatale Guide: How To Master Your Money & Tips On Financial Literacy

Understanding and taking control of your finances improves your quality of life in many ways. Making strides toward better financial literacy can save you a lot of stress, unnecessary fees and helps you play a more active role in taking control over this aspect of adulthood. Once you understand the game of money, saving, and investing, it becomes infinitely simpler to devise a plan to set yourself up for a more financially-free future. Here are some practical tips to keep your finances streamlined, secure, and systemized to help you gain more financial literacy and win in this area of life.

Overview:

Track Your Income & Expenses

Set Financial Goals & Realistic Limitations

Invest Higher-Quality Items To Save Later

Educate Yourself On Different Types of Banking & Investment Accounts

Establish Credit, But Know Yourself

Create An Emergency Fund

Leverage Credit Card Benefits

Understand The Power of A Roth IRA (or Backdoor Roth IRA) & HSA

Automate Whenever Possible

Get Familiar With Taxes & Write-offs

Stay Informed About Employer Benefits

Purchase Seasonally & With Discount Codes (When Available)

Protect Yourself

Read Books

Seek Expert Advice

TIPS ON MASTERING FINANCIAL LITERACY:

Track Your Income & Expenses: Always have a record of all of the money going in and out of your accounts. Use the tool on your banking account app(s) to confirm your monthly income and expenses. Tools like Mint also are great to track your spending to see where every dollar is going all in one place. Aside from personal use, for small business owners, Quickbooks is my favorite invoicing and expense-tracking option. 

Set Financial Goals & Realistic Limitations: Once you know your exact monthly income, budget your essentials, savings, investments, and fun money accordingly. Make sure necessities like rent, food, health insurance, electricity, WiFi, toiletries, etc. are accounted for before anything else. Depending on your financial situation, experts (not me – I try to educate myself as best as I can, but am no expert!) recommend trying to save and invest between 15-30% of your pre-tax income. Give yourself the liberty to spend the rest (say 15-20%) of your income, so you don’t feel deprived and stay on track with your goals.  

Invest Higher-Quality Items To Save Later: Initially purchasing a higher-quality item often cuts your overall expenses in a certain area over the long run. (Ex: Well-made clothing, shoes, furniture, kitchen appliances, coffee maker, hair dryer, etc.). If you invest upfront on an item you regularly use, there’s a lower chance that it will deteriorate, rip, break, or otherwise become unusable for the next few years. When you opt for the cheaper option, this practice might save you a few bucks in the short term, but you will probably end up having to replace it a few times over time and spend more in the long run. This tip might seem counterintuitive to some, but it truly does save you a lot of money (and frustration). However, I will place a caveat here and say that this advice comes from a place of privilege. Never purchase something you can’t afford. If you have the means, spend a bit more upfront - it is better for your future wallet, allows you to indulge in a better quality of life, and helps you let go of any scarcity mindset/financial limiting beliefs. 

Educate Yourself On The Different Types of Banking & Investment Accounts: Know the differences between and the use purpose of different accounts: Checking, Savings, CDs, 401K, Roth IRA, HSA, etc. Always opt for a high-yield savings account option to help preserve your money’s value over time with rising living costs and inflation. 

Establish Credit, But Know Yourself: Your credit score is like your adult report card. It’s essential for so many aspects of life, like renting or buying a home, insurance, cell phone plans, etc., so it’s important to start building your credit as early as you can. However, if you know you’re the type of person to overspend with a credit card, look into secured credit card options (you deposit the money that acts as a credit limit, so it’s like a debit card with credit-building benefits). 

Create An Emergency Fund: Pay yourself first. Have between 3-12 months of expenses available in a high-yield savings account at all times. If you have a family or are self-employed, aim for 6-12 months of necessary savings to stay sane. Saving this amount of money takes time. Be patient, and cut back on frivolous expenses if needed for the short term. 

Leverage Credit Card Benefits: If you have enough self-control, always use a credit card instead of a debit card – but spend in the same way you would as though the money is coming directly out of your bank account. This gives you additional flight and other purchasing perks, such as cashback and exclusive discounts. Using a credit card provides additional security, too.

Understand The Power of A Roth IRA (or Backdoor Roth IRA, depending on your income) & HSA: Compound interest is your best friend financially. Depending on your income, invest as much as you can into a Roth IRA account or set up a backdoor Roth IRA through your brokerage firm (I use Vanguard!). HSA (Health Saving Accounts) accounts offer so many benefits – they can serve as a tax write-off, lower your overall healthcare costs, and be leveraged to use as an additional retirement investment account, too (I use Fidelity). 

Automate Whenever Possible: Automate a portion of your paycheck to savings and your investments, so you never see this money. Pay yourself first before spending (on anything but necessities). 

Get Familiar With Taxes & Write-offs: This mainly applies to anyone self-employed or a small business owner (been in the game for 5 years!). However, this point can also potentially be beneficial for students who can leverage an education credit for tax purposes. Explore all of your options to see what write-offs are available in your specific situation. Understand how your income and expenses influence your tax bracket. Investing in a CPA can save you a considerable amount of money and all of your sanity if you’re not a salaried employee. Look over the standardized section C document, and speak with a professional to help maximize your write-off potential (legally and honestly, of course). My CPA is my lifeline! 

Stay Informed About Employer Benefits: Always maximize your 401K match (whatever percentage that is at your company), any wellness perks (like a gym membership or massage credit), or any meals and car services credits for late nights/work trips. 

Purchase Seasonally & With Discount Codes (When Available): Try to purchase items off-season when you can (e.g. purchase classic winter closet staples in the summer when they’re on sale). Utilize plug-ins like Honey or Cently on your browser to have discount codes for any site readily available. 

Protect Yourself: Stay on top of fraud alerts. Freeze your credit bureau accounts if necessary. 

Read Books: Educate yourself on saving, investing, budgeting, building a business, etc. See the ‘Finance’ section of my Femme Fatale Booklist for some recommendations. I also love Graham Stephan’s Youtube channel – his videos are highly useful and practical for beginners in this life arena! 

Seek Expert Advice: Use licensed professionals (CPAs, brokerage firms, your bank, etc.) as a resource, too, for your personal goals. 

This is a lot to take in, so try to implement one action item (or a few) at a time, so you can work towards your goals without getting overwhelmed. Also, for reference, I’m in the United States, so all of these tips are focused on how the system works in my country - if you know of any international equivalents, feel free to drop them in the comments to guide others.

Hope this helps xx 

[copperbadge]

Hi Mr Starbuck! Some friends and I are moving in a few months and we're eyeing various places all over the US. Chicago came up as a relatively affordable big city (compared to LA and NYC) and I have to ask the resident Tumblr Chicagoan his opinion. As a resident who lives and works in the windy city, what's your big pros and cons of residing there (especially things you might not encounter as a tourist)? (also, how accurate is your "guide to chicago" still, since its been a few years!)

Well, I definitely have opinions!

The guide to Chicago is no longer accurate -- too many places have closed or moved, and the pandemic altered a lot (for example the Money Museum still exists but I'm not sure if it has regular hours even now). I should do a new one but like, I really don't get out much anymore so I can't talk about restaurants outside of a VERY local area, and I never could talk much about hotels, which just leaves points of interest mostly already covered by Atlas Obscura. :D At this point it'd just be kind of moot, others are doing it better than I am.

Chicago is inexpensive compared to New York or Los Angeles, but like, that's everywhere in America. Chicago is still a quite pricey city to live in, mainly because the taxes are so high -- 10.25% sales tax, for example, and my property taxes are also pretty steep. People joke about Taxachusetts, but I'm pretty sure Chicago at least has it beat (and 2/3 of the state's population lives in Chicago or the outlying suburbs). Housing is not at a premium in the way it is in NY and LA but depending on where you want to live and how far you want to commute it can still be very expensive. My housing was never less than half of my monthly income until I bought this place, and then ONLY because the job I'm in now came with a $10K/yr raise from my last one.

Chicago does have great culture, great museums, great food, and it's a liberal island in a pretty conservative region. It is however quite segregated, so if you are any race other than white, living here can get a little more complicated than I've portrayed it as a white dude. There is significant crime and particularly gun crime, but it's generally confined to specific regions of the city. That said, even if you discount crime, the Chicago PD are corrupt as fuck and uninterested in being helpful, so if you are from a demographic the cops enjoy harassing, it will not be different here.

I do love the city, warts and all. I like the water, I like the people, I like the midwestern vibe. I'd find it very hard to leave, especially because I have a network of friends here, but also because I just plain like it and I know it really well. There is a very short list of cities I'd consider leaving Chicago for, and most of those would have to have a well-paying job waiting for me. But it did take me time to fall in love with it -- it took a few years before it felt like home.

It's a little difficult to get more specific without knowing more about your situation -- what you do for work, what your budget is like, what your goals are in leaving where you are. Do you prefer to drive most places? (Parking and traffic can both get dicey.) Can you tolerate taking public transit if driving is inconvenient? Is the industry in which you work something that has a lot of openings here? Do you want to live in an urban environment, and if so are you prepared to live in a likely somewhat shitty apartment to do so? If you prefer to live in a house, are you prepared for a long commute? What do you like to do for fun and is there a thriving culture for that here? What is it important to have access to -- museums, concerts, theater, sport? Where do you need to travel to regularly (ie, I go to Austin several times a year) and how do you prefer to travel there?

Anyway, yeah -- like, I love it but I have few illusions about it. If you want to chat further feel free to hit me up by email, happy to answer more specific questions!

[wander-wren]

every once in a while i like to poke my head into "anti [x]" tags just to see what the other side thinks. recently i was looking through "anti ao3" and found a really funny post claiming that ao3 is not anticapitalist, but actually the Definition Of Capitalism, bc it relies on volunteer labor while supposedly having the money to pay a staff.

oh, honey.

but i am not going to make unsubstantiated claims on the internet, no, and this gives me an excuse to look at ao3's whole budget myself, which i've been meaning to do for a while. these numbers are taken from the 2022 budget post and budget spreadsheet.

ao3's total income for 2022, from the two donation drives, regular donations, donation matching programs, interest, and royalties was $1,012,543.42. less than $300 of that was from interest and royalties, so it's almost all donations. and that's a lot, right? surely an organization making a million dollars a year can afford to pay some staff, right?

well, let's look at expenses. first of all, they lose almost $37,000 to transaction fees right away. ao3 and fanlore (~$341k and ~$18k, respectively) take up the biggest chunks of the budget by far. that money pays for, to quote the 2022 budget post, "server expenses—both new purchases and ongoing colocation and maintenance—website performance monitoring tools, and various systems-related licenses."

in some years, otw also pays external contractors to perform audits for security issues, and for more servers to handle the growing userbase. servers are expensive as hell, guys. in 2022, new server costs alone were $203k.

each of their other programs only cost around $3,000 or less, and otw paid around $78k for fundraising and development. wait, how do you lose so much money on your fundraising?? from the 2022 budget post: "Our fundraising and development expenses consist of transaction fees charged by our third-party payment processors for each donation, thank-you gift purchases and shipping, and the tools used to host the OTW’s membership database and track communications with donors and potential donors."

then the otw paid an additional $74k in administration expenses, which covers "hosting for our website, trademarks, domains, insurance, tax filing, and annual financial statement audits, as well as communication, management, and accounting tools."

in case you weren't following all of that math, the total expenses for 2022 come out to $518,978.48. woah! that's a lot! but it's still only a little over half of their net revenue. weird. i wonder what they do with that extra $494k?

well, $400k of it goes to the reserves, which i'll get to in a second. the last $93k, near as i can tell, gets rolled over to the next year. i'll admit this part i'm a little unsure about, as it's not clear on the spreadsheet, but that's the only thing that makes sense.

the reserves, though are clear. the most recent post i could find on the otw site about it were in the board meeting minutes from april 2, 2022: "We’re holding about $1million in operating cash that is about twice the amount of our annual operating costs. There is another $1million in reserves due to highly successful fundraisers in the past. The current plan for the reserves is to hold the money for paid staff in the future. It’s been talked about before in the past and we’re still working out the details, but it’s a rather expensive undertaking that will result in large annual expenses in addition to the initial cost of implementation."

woah....they're PLANNING to have paid staff eventually! wild!

so let's assume, for easy numbers, that the otw currently has $1.5 million in reserves. before we even get to how to use that money, let's look at the issues with implementing paid staff:

deciding which positions are going to be paid, because it can't be all of them

deciding how much to pay them, bc minimum wage sure as hell isn't enough, and cost of living is different everywhere, and volunteers come from all over the world

hiring staff and implementing new systems/tools to handle things like payroll and accounting

making sure you continue to earn enough money both to pay all of the staff and have some in reserves for emergencies or leaner donation drives

probably even more stuff than that! i don't run a nonprofit, that's just what i can think of off the top of my head.

okay, okay, okay. for the sake of argument, let's assume there is a best-case scenario where the otw starts paying some staff tomorrow. how much should they be paid? i'm picking $15 an hour, since that's what we fought for the minimum wage to be. by now, it should be closer to $20 or $25, but i'm trying to give "ao3 is capitalism" the fairest shot it can get here, okay?

ideally, if someone is being paid to help run ao3, they shouldn't need a second job. every job should pay enough to live off of. and running a nonprofit is hard work that leads to a lot of burnout--two board members JUST resigned before their terms were up. what i'm saying is, i'm going to assume a paid otw staff is getting paid for 40 hours of work a week, minimum. that's $31,200.

at $400,000 per year, the otw can afford to pay 12 people. that's WITHOUT taking into account the new systems, tools, software, etc they would have to pay for, any kind of fees, etc, etc.

oh, and btw, if you're an american you're still making barely enough to survive in most places, AND you don't have universal healthcare, vision, or dental. want otw to give people insurance, too? the number of people they can pay goes down.

it's. not. possible.

a million dollars is a lot of money on the face of it, but once you realize how MUCH goes into running something like the otw, it goes away fast.

just for reference, wikipedia also has donation drives every year. wikipedia, as of 2021, has $86.8 million in cash reserves and $137.4 million in investments. sure, wikipedia and ao3 are very different entities, but that disparity is massive. and i should note that if you give $10 to wikipedia they don't give you voting rights, i'm just saying.

by the way, you may have noticed that i didn't mention legal costs at all here. isn't one of otw's big Things about how they do legal advocacy?

yes, it is. they have a whole page about that work. and i can't for the life of me find a source on otw's website (and i'm running out of time to write this post, i'll look harder later), but i am 90% sure i learned before that most, if not all, of otw's legal work/advice/etc is done pro bono. i've also seen an anti-ao3 person claim their legal budget is only $5k or so, but they didn't have a source. but keep in mind that if they don't have a legal budget, all the numbers above stay the same, and if they do, there is even less money available for paid staff.

you can criticize ao3 and the otw all you want! there are many valid reasons to criticize them, and i do not think they're perfect either. but if you're going to do so, you should at least make sure you can back up your claims, bc otherwise you just look silly.

[ashknife]

I see posts every now and then talking about how library books and electronic resources are free, so get a card and start using them.

Well, no. They aren't free. You've been paying for them, albeit indirectly.

I've been working in an academic library since 2002, first as a student assistant, then since 2006 as a full-time paraprofessional. I work in serials and handle tasks like managing proxy servers and developing web pages so people can get to our electronic resources. In May 2024, a little over a year from now, I will be receiving a Master of Science in Information Science, which will let me bear the title of librarian. I've seen a lot of price tags not thrown out to the public eye.

Services like Kanopy, Libby, and Flipster are great in that they deliver a ton of content to library patrons so long as they have a library card or other official means of identifying themselves as a patron of the subscribing library. For many public libraries, that would be the library card. For a lot of academic libraries, it is usually tied to a school email or a student ID number. However, they are subscriptions. They cost the subscribing library a lot of money. For my library, which serves a population of a couple thousand students, staff, and faculty, these services would cost us $20k-$40k per year each. For larger libraries and consortiums, the cost is even greater. The state of Texas has a statewide library collective that provides a suite of research databases. Each member library chips in a small amount. Taken all together, the suite costs tens of millions of dollars per year.

These subscriptions are a steal, but they are not free. A great deal you can't afford is still something you can't buy. Not every library can afford Kanopy. My library cannot. The public library down the street from me cannot. The larger libraries a few counties over can. Public libraries receive money from the local and state governments, and those funds are supplied from property, income, and sales taxes. Public academic libraries receive state funding and money from tuition and fees; private academic libraries receive money from tuition and fees. The larger the school, or the larger the city, the larger the budget.

In a time when budgets are shrinking and prices are going up, the money you and your peers indirectly supply to your library may someday not be enough, and those services you enjoy can go away. Do you like Kanopy? Use it. Do you like Flipster? Use it. Do you like your JSTOR or EBSCO access? Use them. When libraries have to make cuts, they prioritize things that are not used to cut first. It's great that these things are provided to you with no upfront fee, but you are still paying for them. Use what you're paying for so that libraries know what is worth keeping. Not only that, advocate to your city and state representatives to adequately fund these institutions.

[collapsedsquid]

That’s a concept which is a little bit narrower than just “disposable income” (typically meaning after taxes) or even “post housing costs income”.  The income concept I’m thinking about here is one that’s familiar to me from having done analysis on debt management companies in the 00s – the firms that used to advertise on daytime TV that they could get you out of debt trouble by drawing up a Creditors’ Voluntary Arrangement. At the heart of the CVA system in England was the idea that you needed to rewrite the debtor’s household budget.  You’d start with the fixed charges necessary to provide a “decent life”, give a small allowance for everyday purchases, and then the rest would go to debt service for a few years, after which the balances were written off.  I’m interested in the real value of that “small allowance”, or its equivalent for solvent households. I’m also interested in the fixed charges.  These obviously included housing costs and a standard figure for food and clothing; they also included mobile phone bills.  One of the great debates of the time when I was really into this used to be whether Sky Sports subscriptions were a necessity for a football fan, and lots of CVAs ended up ruling that they were (the debtors’ representatives successfully argued that if they weren’t taken into account, the debtor would end up spending all their disposable income).

Going to start a charity where we fight debt by teaching underprivileged men how to pirate sports broadcasts

[bao3bei4]

zine finance and fulfillment

hi everyone. now that i’ve completed the “spending money” part of “yaoi zine 2” (for the most part. i hope nothing gets lost in the mail, although i’ve resigned myself to it), i thought i would make a long boring post about zine finance and fulfillment. this is because people talk about it less than other parts of zine making online. so i hope this will be of interest or use to at least one person.

none of this should be new to anyone who’s ran a zine before, but my hope is to give people who are interested in it some food for thought so that we have more cool zines that i can buy. 

before we begin. a brief disclaimer: i am kind of half-assed about good zine finance hygiene. that is to say, i keep the money in my personal checking account, i don’t have a llc, etc. i do declare zine income on my taxes (i write it almost all of it off, since i only make not-for-profit zines). this is because i am twenty three years old and i have a small scale operation. i recognize and acknowledge that i do not follow best practices, and someone else should write a long boring post about what all best practices entails. 

this post is about how i price my zines, and my workflow for fulfillment. that’s all it is. i hope that it is useful for anyone else trying to cheaply and quickly make and sell maybe 150 zines or so to their friends and followers. 

so i do a sort of stupid model for my zines, which is that i charge a flat rate to send a zine anywhere in the world. this is a stupid model because, in the case of “yaoi zine 2,” the “real cost” of sending one zine to the united states is $11.58. the “real cost” to send a zine to, say, the united kingdom is $24.20. you may notice that this means it actually costs me five dollars and twenty cents every time someone in the united kingdom buys a zine, as i priced the zines at $19 each. this is generally a horrible business model. as i write this now, i am realizing that i really should have made the zines $24, steep as it is. just because yikes. -$5.20. 

but i like doing it this way because it feels fairer. and also because i’m the sole proprietor of “tshirt zines” and i can do whatever i want. i just am commenting that i cannot ethically tell you to adopt this model, since i’ve signed the hippocratic oath. this is because you need to be okay with using your personal funds to cover any losses that you take as a result of this model. this is true for all zines, but like. especially here. 

back to the matter at hand. how did i arrive at that $19 number, knowing that i would lose money on at least some sales? 

there are basically four components i keep in mind: shipping materials (think envelopes, labels, toner for my printer), printing cost (i just call up printers and ask for estimates), shipping cost (i’ll talk more about this in a sec), and stripe fees (.029 * price + 0.30 atm). use a spreadsheet to keep them straight. 

i went over budget on shipping materials because i last minute decided to make little freebie one page zines and burned through a bunch of toner in the process, so we won’t talk about that. this one is simple, anyway. you know how to figure out the price of mailing envelopes.

printing cost. i like working with local printers, if i can. if the zine is too big for me to print at home, but small enough it can be saddle stitched, i’ve worked with lightning press here in the bay area, and keith has never let me down. great guy. for perfect bound zines, like “yaoi zine 2,” i used mixam.com. i wasn’t the biggest fan, quite a few zines came a little bent or warped (this is why you order extra. that and in case they get lost in the mail). keith would NEVER do that to me. i’ve also heard good things about bookmobile, but i was keeping it simple for this printing. dm me if you’ve used them. 

anyway, all told, the price of an individual zine shipped to me, taxes and everything was $6.14. i estimated that it would cost $6.

shipping cost. so since i do aforementioned stupid model, i have to arrive at a number. PERSONALLY. the number i PERSONALLY have arrived at. based on my particular following. after doing five internationally shipped zines, is that i can usually expect 70% domestic orders, 30% international. i guesstimate the weight of the zine by stacking and weighing other zines i have until i get a decent facsimile (NB you should probably just weigh your proof but i wanted to expedite the timeline), and then i check these charts. peep the “large envelope” numbers. 

domestic: https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm#_c037 

international: https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm#_c341

i actually used media mail for my domestic orders, this time, because of the size. so it cost $3.92 to mail one zine domestically, and rounding between all the zones, i guessed that it would cost $16 for most international zines. 

i then did the following equation (0.7 * 3.92) + (0.3 *16) = $7.24

actually i’m lying. i did (0.7 * 3) + (0.3 *12) = $5.70 because i underestimated the weight of the zine so that’s on me. i rounded that number to $6. 

“what about canada” shipping to canada is actually basically the same cost as that mean zine shipping cost. so they don’t actually affect my calculations at all. 

stripe fees. self explanatory. remember them, though. 

anyway. zine price = shipping materials + printing cost times two + averaged shipping cost + stripe fees. 

now, you may notice that i underestimated a lot of things. how did i break even? three reasons. 

first, LUCK! that’s right. my ratio this time was skewed more in the favor of us zines than international zines, about 80-20. who knows why. probably the strong us dollar atm made it cost prohibitive for many people. geopolitics strikes again.

and second, actually i made about $580 profit, that i had to disburse. i was never actually in danger of losing money, because of that “printing cost times two” i skipped over really fast. the purpose of that is to cover printing and shipping free copies for all contributors. i arrived at the number two because 1) according to oomf that’s apparently standard, 2) it’s a nice round number, and 3) if i sold 50 copies (my original lowball estimate of how many i would sell) that was my break even number to print contributor copies.

$580/$12.88 (my actual raw cost of a zine, without stripe fees) = about 45. i had 21 contributors, so after mailing them out zines, i had around $300 profit, or 24 zines worth of it, left. this is where the money for the giveaway zines came from!

third. i also had some profit from selling “yaoi zine 1” again which HADN’T gone over my estimate. because i’d shipped them before. this helped pay me back for all the extra expenses. 

let’s talk about more logistics. i use bigcartel for my storefront because it’s free. that’s literally the only reason why. i use stripe instead of paypal because to make it a business account (and not expose my legal name to everyone) i would have needed to update my account with an id and that would reveal to them that i created my paypal account when i was 13. stripe has no such problem for me. 

i fulfilled orders this time using “pirate ship” because, again, free. in the past i’ve used shipstation + stamps dot com combo, because that afaik is the only bigcartel integrated service that allows you to buy letter mail postage (i want to send them as letters, not packages, because it’s cheaper). but that you have to pay money for, or use the free trial. since i was using media mail this time, pirate ship was good enough for me. 

when all of the zines arrived at my house i began stuffing envelopes and printing labels with the help of a lovely friend. don’t do this alone you EITHER get really bored or you slip into that sports manga ass trance that anyone who’s ever done repetitive labor has experienced and the day blips by. instead i had fun with a friend.

now. there is no way. as far as i know. to buy international letter mail stamps online. this is because you are not supposed to use it for your online store because you can only send things with a value of $0. and they have to be documents. so using them for zines is really skirting legality here unforch. 

WHAT I DO INSTEAD. i go to the closest post office with that pitney bowes machine, and i monopolize it printing postage. yeah. go at an off time. BE PREPARED to annoy everyone else at the post office. let them take turns with you obviously, but there will be some mean old lady who will make a snarky comment about you so stay fucking safe. 

 i think that’s everything i have to explain about my process. go make a zine. and consider selling it. 

[xiaq]

Hi! I read an old post of yours from when you were teaching, where you said you earned 39k a year, and that it wasn't a lot of money. That would be 3k a month + 3k end-of-year bonus, especially if it's tax free (as in, all money already goes to you, with taxes already paid). In my country, that's a very good income. How much does life cost in the USA, for you to say that academia is not a career that makes you lots of money? I think I'd need context to understand, if you can explain, please :)

Hi there! So what it comes down to is cost of living coupled with an inability to put money away for retirement.

Also, that 39k is before taxes. So I was really making around 32k annually or 2,600 a month. No bonuses.

When I was making that, I was living in Dallas, TX and then Gunnison, CO. The average rent cost for a one bedroom apartment in Dallas was $1,500 base per month and in Gunnison, CO the average rent cost for a one bedroom apartment is $1,700. In both places I paid less than the average, but my total costs with paid parking, utilities, etc. were around $1,500. In addition to housing, I had to pay for health insurance which was around $2,000 a year, car insurance which was around $1,500 a year, and then general car maintenance which was $2-3,000 a year depending on if I needed new tires. I walked or rode my bike as much as possible, but was still spending at least $50 a month on gas (more when I'd go camping or drive home for the weekend 3 hrs away). I also had to pay for vet bills, food for me and my dog, and standard life stuff. Even with couponing and a strict budget, I was spending around $300 a month on food for me and my dog in Dallas and $400 per month in CO since food was more expensive in the mountains (like, a little box of strawberries was $8, a 2-serving bag of salad was $5). Also, even though I was paying for health insurance, I still had to pay copays and out of pocket for bloodwork and some specialists, which was a couple more thousand a year. I rarely went out to eat, I don't drink or smoke, and I bought all my clothes and books second-hand. Pretty much any time I traveled it was because my parents or friends were going somewhere and I could tag along, or I was car camping. So I was living a very frugal lifestyle and still had no money left at the end of the year to put toward retirement based on my teaching salary.

So, as a breakdown my approximate annual costs were (I just went and found an old budget spreadsheet from 2020)

Rent+utilities+wifi/phone $18,000 Health insurance $2,000 Car insurance $1,500 Car maintenance $2,000 Gas $1,000 Vet bills/dog food $1,000 Food $3,500 Medical copays and oop expenses: $2,000 Clothes $500 Books $500 Home-goods, laundry, cleaning products, misc $500 Skin, hair, hygiene products $500 Total cost: $33k You'll notice this is more than my teaching salary. I was doing a bit of tutoring and ghostwriting on the side and my parents were kind enough to pay for some of my car maintenance that year, which is the only reason I didn't end up in financial trouble.

Importantly, I had no money at all for emergencies or putting toward retirement. I was also working 60-70hrs a week, had very little opportunity for career/salary growth, and was constantly being asked to pick up additional unpaid labor for the benefit of students/the program. I loved teaching, but there was no way that lifestyle was sustainable and there wasn't any hope of retirement. AND I was one of the few people who had no student loans to pay off by the time I finished graduate school. Thanks to academic scholarships, living at home, and my parent's assistance, I had no debt. That is highly unusual for people in academia and I can't even imagine the stress it would have added to my life if I was trying to pay off student loans every month as well.

Also, I'd just like to point out that adjunct professors make even less than I was making as a lecturer, and even tenured profs don't make all that much more. The humanities in academia in the US is not the place to be if you're wanting to make a reasonable amount of money for the amount of work you're doing. :( By contrast, working in tech, I'm now making $100k a year (78k take home), I work 40-50 hrs a week, I'm putting money into my retirement every month, and my work/life balance is magnificent. I'm also up for a promotion in a few months and I have a lot of opportunities for career and salary growth in the future. For the first time in my adult life I don't feel like I have to count every penny, and I think I may actually be able to retire some day.

Anyway, I hope that helps give context!

[pepprs]

ok. im going to make this post but i REALLY shouldn’t but i just am so devastated rn and need to not be alone in it and you guys are the only people i can talk to candidly about moving stuff rn for a lot of reasons. the reason im crying rn is because i just found out i made a massive error in my budget and it turns out that my net pay is barely over minimum wage and i cannot afford to live by myself. at all. unless i live off of savings in addition to income but even then that’s only going to help me for a couple months and anyway it’s extremely unwise bc i should save that money for getting a car etc etc. this is not entirely a bad thing because a) at least i can afford to… you know… live. and b) living with roommates will not be bad especially if i live with friends and/or strangers i come to be friends with. it’s just i really… i don’t know i just feel so sick to my stomach. it’s just that recent events have made it so clear to me that i need to teach myself how to live independently before i can live with other people (let alone function in the world, heal from trauma, etc.) healthily. i know it so deeply. and it can’t happen for me. this is confirmation. this is confirmation and there’s nothing that can change it. rent is too high (even for shitty apartments in the area which let’s be real most of them are… it’s too high!) and over half of my income is going to taxes and deductions and bills and student loans. i feel so hopeless

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Rep. Jim McGovern, a leading anti-hunger lawmaker in the House, expressed anger Tuesday that the debt ceiling legislation negotiated by Republicans and the Biden administration targets food benefits for older adults while doing nothing to raise taxes on the wealthy or rein in military spending.

During a House Rules Committee hearing on the bill, McGovern (D-Mass.)—the panel's top Democrat—slammed his Republican colleagues for claiming to care about the deficit but refusing to look to the Department of Defense, a paragon of wasteful spending and fraud, for savings. The White House and Republicans ultimately agreed to increase military spending for the coming fiscal year.

Meanwhile, Republicans rejected White House proposals to close tax loopholes exploited by the rich.

Instead, McGovern said Tuesday, the GOP insists Congress has to "cut funding that helps the most vulnerable in this country."

"Give me a goddamn break," he added.

McGovern voiced particular alarm over the bill's expansion of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) work requirements to include adults between the ages of 50 and 54, a Republican demand. Analysts and campaigners say the change, which would sunset in 2030, could put hundreds of thousands of older adults at risk of losing food aid.

White House officials and President Joe Biden himself have defended the new requirements by pointing to the legislation's proposed expansion of SNAP benefits for veterans, kids leaving foster care, and people experiencing housing insecurity.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Biden brushed aside progressives' warnings that the bill could cause some people to go hungry, calling such concerns "ridiculous."

McGovern pushed back during Tuesday's hearing, saying that "improving benefits for some does not justify putting 700,000 older adults at risk of losing critical, lifesaving food benefits."

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) published an assessment late Tuesday that concludes the debt ceiling bill, titled the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, would lead to roughly 78,000 people gaining SNAP benefits "in an average month, on net (an increase of about 0.2% in the total number of people receiving SNAP benefits)."

But observers cautioned that the CBO's estimate hinges on ensuring that vulnerable people, particularly those who are homeless, are aware they are exempt from SNAP work requirements and able to navigate the program's bureaucracy.

"This is HIGHLY theoretical," The American Prospect's David Dayen wrote of the CBO analysis. "There's no funding to identify eligible people without benefits or to help them apply or find the necessary documentation. I obviously haven't seen the model but it seems like wishful thinking to me."

"How are we exactly a) informing homeless individuals that 1 of the 2 work requirements for SNAP [has] been lifted, b) helping them collect and submit the documents that prove they meet the income test, and so on?" Dayen asked.

After a nearly six-hour hearing, the Republican-controlled House Rules Committee voted Tuesday to send the debt ceiling legislation to the full House for a vote, which could come as soon as Wednesday evening.

McGovern and every other Democrat on the panel voted no.

Ahead of Tuesday's committee vote, McGovern called the latest standoff over the debt ceiling an "all-time high in recklessness and stupidity" and said Republicans "manufactured" a "crisis that risks the full faith and credit of the United States."

"Republicans are unfit to govern," said McGovern, one of the lawmakers who—to no avail—urged Biden to use his 14th Amendment authority to unilaterally avert a debt ceiling catastrophe.

"This bill could have been a lot more awful than it is," McGovern added. "I didn't come to Congress to hurt people. And when I listen to my Republican friends, what is clear to me is that we don't share the same values."

[judgedarts]

hi!! proud owner of i think 5 atp jojo chibi charms and VERY new artist alley vendor here and i was just wondering, how do you budget/manage costs for non local cons that might have high transportation costs or more expensive tables? do you usually make back what you spent on transport + table/tickets + merch production/ordering + etc at the con or is there a slight loss? this is mainly for my own reference asking someone successful so ty for answering!!!

hey! congratulations on becoming an AA vendor :,) im very honored that you've bought from me before and that you consider me a 'successful' vendor haha!

i'm really passionate when it comes to talking about AA stuff so I'll be putting my answer in the read more since it's pretty long lol!

to be honest, I'm in a very lucky position to be able to travel to conventions beyond the east coast because it can really get expensive T_T i think the most honest answer i can give you is that your first couple of cons most likely are going to be a slight loss for you income wise if you are planning on traveling for a convention - tbh, i generally don't recommend doing a convention out of your state/out of your means if you're very new to tabling. my very first conventions were in driving/public transport distance (i love you new york and new jersey!!!) so i never spent money other than the table cost and ordering product. so if you're starting out and live in a state that has local cons, id HIGHLY recommend doing local events to get experience and cutting down costs as much as you can so you can get the most out of it! if you do intend on doing out-of-state cons because your state doesn't have many small local cons, i totally get it, but again, just try to keep your costs as low as possible. here are some suggestions and things to keep in mind:

1.split costs with a friend

split the table, split hotel fees, split ubers, etc! if you have family/friends in that state, consider crashing at their place for the weekend! maybe treat them to dinner haha

2. save up funds

honestly, there's really no getting around it - you might have to get income from somewhere else besides selling merch @ cons! i worked a part-time job throughout college, did commissions/freelance, and had my store open to save up for cons.

3. remember to deduct all expenses for your business

keep in mind that table fees/travel and hotel fees/products/meals are all deductible. these are considered investments for your business and they're completely necessary for you to run said business so when it comes tax time, you'll be able to breathe a little easier haha.

4. know your limits and be cautious

unfortunately, not all cons are going to be successful or will go your way no matter how much money you pour into it. if you know a convention is going to be out of your means, you can always apply the following year. I've had plenty of cons i couldn't go to because i simply couldn't afford it at the time, but the more money you save up, the more experience you get, and the more connections you make, you'll be able to afford to go and be successful! i'd also do plenty of research about the convention (especially the attendance #s, how previous vendors feel about the con, etc) before you decide to go. 5. have fun!

even though the upfront price can be intimidating, you are still paying the price to travel, visit a city you've never been to, meet new people, fans, your friends, and make connections! not to mention the really inspiring and motivating atmosphere that artist alley can be. i hope that regardless of the money you make you take the time to enjoy the experience to the fullest and appreciate that you are sharing your awesome art with others :,)! i try to make the best out of a con even if i barely make even, and make new friends and connections because trust me, they are so meaningful ^^<3!

besides all that, i highly recommend joining the Artist Alley Network discord if you haven't already - there's a plethora of info, advice, etc that you can take away from there. https://discord.gg/artistalleynetwork i hope this was helpful! if you have any more specific questions I'm more than happy to answer them for you. if they're too specific or i don't feel comfortable answering, i hope you can understand too! good luck with all your AA endeavors - i believe in you and i really hope we will table at the same con soon!

[arizonaconservativegal]

Other things about this bond election that are aging me prematurely

Why are we bonding for depreciating items? Why are taking out a 25 year loan on buses that will need to be replaced in 15? This is how people get in a lot of trouble on car loans. Do not take on debt that will outlive the item you bought with it.

All of this should have been general funded. These are not major infrastructure projects. There are a couple of small infrastructure improvement items but they are very very small and should have been paid out of the annual budget. We do not need 25 years of debt on these. But we can't do that because our general fund budget is maxed on paying for silly pet projects for councilmembers that look an awful lot like pay offs to friends.

"Up to 10% interest." Always a gripe of mine when you can't tell me what the real cost of the loan is but even leaving that aside, is now really the best time to be taking on non-emergency debt? Even with our credit rating, we're going to be on the higher end of that estimate these days.

"We have a balanced budget in this town." The fuck you do. Bonds are debt. The unfunded pension liability you don't like to acknowledge is debt. A balanced budget means you pay for all expenses with income, not debt. At best you have a balanced general fund. That's like me saying I have a balanced budget because I'm able to cash flow rent obligations while I put groceries on a credit card.

We never finished spending the covid money we got a couple years ago. A lot of the things in this package could reasonably be paid for with that funding. Why didn't we do that?

The very quiet voice that says there could be a property tax increase to pay for all this but deliberately doesn't tell you how much that will be.

Our ability meet debt service obligations has been calculated based on the assumption that the economy keeps on trucking along with no hiccups which is a really big assumption over a period of 25 years, even if we weren't teetering the edge of a meltdown at this very moment.

Half of these "capital improvement projects" are going to facilities we don't even own? Why?!?!?