Bills: Taxes, Insurance, Utilities, Internet, Phone Service, Discounts, And So On
1/31/23 My husband came up with a brilliant idea I haven't heard before. He pays his bills... for the next month, before that month. A bill comes due right before the end of the month for that month, right? Well this way he gets to avoid panicking each month.
For financial services like banking, see Banking and Financial section
For rent and housing I'm working on it. Under construction: Rent
DISABILITY AND MOBILITY RELATED STUFF, ADDED 6/21/23
- Georgia Tech Assistive Technology Reuse Program Are you in need of equipment such as wheelchairs, vehicle lifts, and/or other assistive technology? Use this handy dandy tool to help you find charities in your state that might be able to help. If you are in Georgia, you're in luck, they seem to have the most comprehensive programs in that regard, see Fodac
DISCOUNTS
- GoodRX See if you can stop paying as much for prescriptions.
- Eco Friendly Products might have some stuff in there to help reduce bills. Or not. Depends on your situation. Come to think of it Eco Friendly 4 has a lot of other stuff that could help.
- It's generally a wise idea to look at the websites of literally everything that involves a recurring payment in your life and shopping around to see if there are any other better alternatives
HOME EFFICIENCY UPGRADES
PET STUFF
- Apparently some counties, cities, and veterinary clinics offer free vaccinations. Ask around. Same deal for spaying and neutering, which is a huge deal.
- Fido Alert is a free tag and app system for ensuring lost pets return home. For both cats and dogs.
ENTERTAINMENT
- Recommended: your local library. It has DVDs, CDs, video games, ebooks, computers, books to check out, and a whole lot more
- PBS
TAXES
- Family Handyman Guide to Efficiency Upgrade Rebates 3/22/23 Government tax breaks explained simply for things such as insulation, solar panels, and much more.
- DSIRE USA Renewable energy and home efficiency tax credits, searchable by zip code
- For Texas only, 2023, there are apparently some sales tax-free items available in 2023, if you were planning on buying anything like that Sales Tax Holidays April: emergency supplies. Memorial Day: some WaterSense and Energy Star products, and water conservation products. August: Back-to-school supplies. It's nice to see our state government not screwing us for once. If you live in a different state or US territory you might check your comptroller's website to see if there's anything like that.
- 12/1/22 Here's some information I just learned. If you are self-employed or an investor, or a freelancer, or otherwise have to pay estimated taxes four times a year, tax preparing companies will charge you like a lot. Self-employment taxes for instance run about
$700 a year *EDIT 1/2/23 $2000/year not including the actual estimated and yearly tax payments themselves since it seems to be monthly not quarterly (for estimated taxes) plus yearly (for the spring butt pounding) for most* on TaxAct. However, do NOT DIY your taxes. Don't. Because if you screw up even one tiny thing, the IRS will charge you interest on under-payment or even overpayment AND on any inaccuracy. Sources: IRS quarterly interest rates IRS accuracy penalty IRS interest payments And if you will notice, the interest they charge seems to range from 3 to 6 percent (on what? they don't say) and it is compounded DAILY. They keep saying on their site "sign up for online payments and just pay us money!" but if you don't file exactly accurately and properly while you're paying, using the correct forms and giving the exact correct information, they'll charge interest on your "inaccurate payment" too. Your only hope at that point is that they either don't send you a notice through the mail or that it never reaches you "within a reasonable amount of time" so you can dispute obscene usury and/or audits in court. If that weren't enough they can also legally throw you in prison for a year if you fuck up your taxes. No matter how minor the error - they can claim you acted in bad faith. However, do by all means file and pay estimated taxes with a good company if you think you need to do that by the proper times four times a year. The due dates are April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15 of the following year for the "quarters," which are divvied up weirdly. Meaning: it's probably a wise choice to file and pay these estimated taxes in the first couple weeks of each of those months, using a good tax service, as well as doing your main tax thing by April 15 for the previous year. That being said, anyone interested in starting a business would do well to hire a lawyer specializing in small businesses (and the taxes thereof) with the best reviews possible in the exact county they plan to do business in. A good lawyer can potentially talk you through the gobbledygook you'd spend months wading through otherwise.
- TaxAct In my experience, the least worst! The best for filing taxes pretty much, simple or complicated. If you need to pay taxes 4x or more a year (freelancers, people who own their own businesses, people with investments, etc.) this now can help you, 7/27/22. They actually changed their policies and now offer tax help with more complicated taxes, such as if you are self-employed or have investments or anything like that. Which is great because H&R Block, to put it mildly, damn near gave me ulcers.
- 12/3/22 For self-employed folks: Thanks to this really helpful Instructables guide from jessyratfink I was reminded of something I'd forgotten a while back when I tried to start my own business. I had wondered at the time if I was just doing things wrong or if perhaps I was too stupid to understand taxes and regulations in my area because it all seemed so complicated. It turns out that it really is different in every single county of every state in the United States, and no, I wasn't dumb, just in over my head. Also, my local Chamber of Commerce ignored me and helped me not at all, since they were a good ol' boy network and I didn't register on their radar. So by all means check your local chamber of commerce, see if they've got helpful resources on their website. But also check your state's and city's business regulations and guides on their websites. If you have any questions, call up the people employed by your town/city/neighborhood in charge of regulating your specific kind of business in your location. It's bureaucracy so they'll put you on hold a lot but be persistent. Take your time in figuring out all the regulatory hoops and tax hoops and other hoops you have to jump through to start your specific kind of business in your location. Do this before you start, and you'll pat yourself on the back later.
- 12/9/22 Here's interesting information. State sales tax in Texas, as an example, Comptroller of Texas is due every single month in the middle of the month (date varies, joy). Check to see how it goes in your state. You might need to use TaxAct or another similar software to file and pay estimated taxes for your state - properly - every single month. And if you're doing that anyway, you might as well see if you can break up the quarterly estimated payments the Feds collect into 12x-a-year payments instead; that is legal so long as cumulatively you're still paying the same amount you would have. YOU WILL STILL NEED TO FILE AND PAY EVEN MORE TAXES FOR THIS YEAR BY APRIL 15 OF NEXT YEAR (and January 1 of next year is the first day you can reasonably do so).
- 12/9/22 More helpful information for self-employed folks: it is a really good idea to have a separate bank account for your business, and to not accept or use cash for it. Just debit or credit. That way everything goes electronically into the bank's records and they're the ones that keep it. That way what you say about your business's expenses and income is believable, and easily substantiated for tax purposes.
- TaxAct for sole proprietors This service is the most convenient one. I'd recommend asking a tax advisor who works for TurboTax or TaxAct and explaining how much profit you think you'll make in a year (and at what times), and the details of your situation, before you start a business. However, if you already have one, or if you intend to start one and know the basic details of what you intend to do, then I bet you could use this nifty tool TaxAct gives you. link (incidentally, same link) It lets you start the estimated tax filing process for free, anytime. It is also wise to specifically ask TaxAct if you need to file and pay estimated payments once a month, or (I suppose if you're raking in dough hand over fist) even more often, instead of once a month (or quarter; depends on where you are doing business). Again, none of this is clear, ask many questions from someone who knows what they're doing so they can advise you in your specific situation. And the IRS website makes it even worse somehow...
STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS
INSURANCE
- Geico The least worst. It's an open secret that all auto insurance is garbage, but you're forced to get it anyway thanks to cars, which you require in order to commute to work and for groceries. Woot. Geico is the cheapest option afaik, and just as absolutely shitty as all the others. You might be able to find something better locally but then its "service area" might not cover you if you travel out of state, and then you're fucking back to square one. Therefore I shill for Geico. Don't expect it to cover anything if you get into a car crash. Drive safe.
- Healthcare.gov If you want health insurance, and dental insurance (they offer it as the last step of the application without warning - be prepared for this) and aren't so rich that gold coins come pouring out of your eyes when you cry, I highly highly highly recommend using this site. Interestingly, since using this feature, my health care provider service has tried to bill me five times for the same thing. I think they're trying to price gouge without getting caught, so don't fall for it; call them up, dispute the double, triple, etc. billing. They usually drop it and claim "technical malfunctions." However, in order to ensure you actually do have this insurance you have to doublecheck the site. Sometimes they pretend your application was submitted and approved but then deny you health care insurance (just because your application was submitted does not mean it was approved) and don't make that clear. Check it; submit more information if they ask. If they do grant you permission for health insurance they will give you the exact insurance plan numbers (individual and group) and plan name; write down the insurance information, link up your insurance information to whatever electronic portal your health care provider uses, call up the insurance provider if you haven't received a plastic insurance card so you can get a hard copy of one (and bring it to all appointments/health care visits so they can submit the info instead of charge you out of pocket) - and importantly, if your financial situation ever changes you have to report it on healthcare.gov or you could lose all of your coverage and they won't even warn you. Check the healthcare.gov portal monthly to ensure they aren't screwing you over. You also have to check the portal of wherever it is you actually pay your monthly premiums, monthly to ensure THAT isn't also screwing you over. For health insurance and dental insurance this is often something you can only find either by googling it or by actually calling up the provider and saying "how do I pay my insurance premium." Oh, finally, if your monthly income ever changes and you don't report it on healthcare.gov, or if you don't pay your insurance premium on whatever strange page the healthcare company sends you to (it's likely not going to be on your health care provider's actual digital website; these are infamous for their shit quality) for the next month - and no you can't pay for a whole year in advance, that would make too much sense - they'll strip you of your coverage and won't let you know until it's too late. As a form of "insurance" on your health insurance it is wise to take screenshots of the following, and save the following: your health care and dental bills before and after it gets paid each month, your confirmation of health care and dental coverage on healthcare.gov's website portal, your bank account transactions each month stating that yes you did pay your bill, and finally your bank account's monthly statements. Back this up on emails too, and on a flash drive if you can. Why do this? So you can sue if there's been a breach of contract, if you have to. As you can probably tell, for-profit healthcare providers are none too happy about providing an affordable service and are trying every sneaky trick in the book to ensure you don't cut into their profit margins by not paying obscene amounts for their services. I don't follow the Bible but it's interesting to note that the Bible has a term for this kind of thing called usury.
HEALTH CARE
- Remote Area Medical Absolutely desperate for care that you can't afford? I've heard good things about this organization. The lines are long, and they only exist in certain locations at certain times. If you know a doctor who would otherwise volunteer for something like Doctors Without Borders, you might mention this organization could probably use the help too.
- GoodRX Online Medicine Video visits or other online health care from real health care professionals. I have not used this, but I imagine it would be amazing if it's really all that it seems. Especially for refilling prescriptions fast, which is otherwise a major headache. Oh, and notably for those of you in Red States, it has reproductive health care options. Give it a look.
- Planned Parenthood I'm not even pro-choice. But I live in Texas and with things being the way they are, many women here probably have good reason not to trust their gynecologists anymore. Therefore, for reproductive health care to prevent the need for an abortion, I alas, recommend an abortion clinic. (of course, they have a lot of other stuff, most notably condoms, which often can't be had in some small Texas town grocery stores) Thanks, GOP! Also, consider this an investment in your future since kids, much though they are wonderful, are very expensive
- Shebop To buy condoms online here is an affordable place
INTERNET & INTERNET-CONNECTED DEVICES - MIGHT INCLUDE CELL PHONES
CELL PHONES
- Affordable Connectivity This is the Affordable Connectivity Program government website. It's like healthcare.gov - submit a long application and if you get approved, you get discounts on phone and internet and related bills.
- Straight Talk I l o v e Straight Talk. No shifty, sheisty shit like Verizon. You pay for a plan and you get that plan.
- Straight Talk Affordable Connectivity Plan Info Here is information for Straight Talk, which might help you get a discount on your phone bill monthly if you qualify
ELECTRICITY
- Check your utility provider's website. Some of them offer renewable energy services for a small or large fee increase, which you may or may not want.
- Home Energy Audits information From the government. For DIYing it or for finding someone local to do an energy audit for you
- Switch to Renewable Energy Provider Guide provided by Electricity Rates.com. In some cases you can switch easily and cheaply. In others, not so much. Also, not available in all zip codes.
- Green-E Another guide for finding these.
- Upon buying new appliances, try to get those with Energy Star certification. Here's the official website
- It also helps a lot to find appliances using the EnergyGuide government rating system as explained here. This applies to gas powered appliances also, and incidentally those are more efficient than electrical appliances (in general) for producing heat, though carry a greater risk of carbon monoxide poisoning (if you have one? get a carbon monoxide detector; in fact you should probably get one regardless; carbon monoxide doesn't smell like anything at all and that's the problem).
SOLAR POWER COMPANY OPTIONS
- How much I am willing to pay for a reliable roof-mounted solar panel grid-tie system with backup battery, vehicle charge port, company maintenance for 25 years, insurance, and a warranty for all that is exactly $15,000. Not a penny more. My family agrees. If it existed we'd pool funds and get it within two weeks. I highly doubt that other families are thinking too much differently here and hope that the costs and availability of these things decrease greatly and soon.
- Sunpower
- Costco Sunrun Residential Home Solar
- Ikea Home Solar Still Sunpower, and only available in California, 10/25/22 right now, but apparently will expand in future
ELECTRICITY OPTIONS WHILE CAMPING OR FOR VERY SMALL BUILDINGS'S BACKUP POWER
- Jackery Solar power products for camping with an emphasis on safety. Not large-scale for grid-tie or off-grid home solar... yet.
- GoalZero I was graciously directed to GoalZero, a company producing affordable solar panels-based electricity solutions for emergency and off-grid use, by correspondence with GroupHug Solar, which was seriously nice of them. Both worth checking out.
- Yeti Home Integration Kit Yeti Power Kit This is a sold-in-tandem kit of solar panel integration and lithium-ion battery that requires installation by a licensed, professional electrician. However, it would take a lot of scrutiny into the credentials of the engineering team to be certain that the lithium-ion batteries and the whole thing is set up well and in a way that reduces or eliminates risk of the lithium batteries catching on fire or exploding. I wish I was kidding.
SEWAGE
- Composting Toilet Now this is only for places where it would be allowable by regulations and a local health inspector, such as in the backwoods. This toilet has to be dumped out in a pit or something similar once every five days or so, and you don't want that to accidentally contaminate natural or potable water (shudders). You'd have to also cover the waste with "browns," as mentioned in the following point. However, apparently it works very well, and is a major improvement over other DIY wonders I've seen on that front. And no you probably don't want to know.
- If you do live in the backwoods and already have a vault toilet, here's a notion. You might consider installing another vault toilet ready to go, and then filling up the one you've got faster with things like organic straw and hay bales, bags of leaves and twigs, sawdust, and other "browns" to promote better composting. It should reduce the odor by a gigantic amount. I've also heard of biologic agents that can break down compost faster and are proprietary, in granular or liquid format, often used for septic systems. These may also help (also, will research these). And finally there are things like birch leaves and yarrow leaves that supposedly break down compost a lot faster. Just throwing some ideas out there.
- One odd suggestion is to just pee on whatever compost heap you already have. Or if you live in the backwoods to pee anywhere since it is essentially free fertilizer for whatever plants are a-growing. In a city, the old saying "if it's brown flush it down if it's yellow let it mellow" is disgusting but quite eco friendly. Obviously, use your better judgment here.
GEOTHERMAL HEATING/COOLING
- Dandelion Energy Geothermal In the Northeast, this company can install a geothermal heating and cooling system for you, which according to them is typically about $18,000-25,000. They claim this can, however, help you save up to 50% on heating and cooling bills.
- Geocomfort by Enertech This appears to have a larger service area, namely, possibly the entire continental U.S. A geothermal heating and cooling installer. Hmm. They also seem to be linked up with Dandelion, as explained here
- Geosmart Energy A Canada version of geothermal installation, apparently
- ClimateMaster Another geothermal company
- ECS Geothermal In the Kansas City general area
WATER OPTIONS
GREYWATER AND DRIP IRRIGATION
- Oasis Design One potential way to get started. I'll be honest I haven't looked into this completely since it is making my head spin. But since my family and I fully intend to give this a try I'll keep you posted.
- Drip Depot A store specifically for drip irrigation
- Drip Depot container gardening drip kit It's like $50 and has free shipping. If you, like me, have had patio gardens fail because you couldn't shlep out there to water three times a day in August, this might save your bacon.
- Drip Depot Clean Water Gravity Irrigation Patio gardening in a place without a water tap out there? Perhaps you could rig something up with this, topping up the water source whenever it runs low.
- DIG Drip Irrigation kit A walmart version
- Soaker hose Sold at walmart
- Dirty Water Gravity Irrigation Rain barrels with debris in them? Filthy pond water you want to use? Perhaps greywater? Want to water with that precisely to where your plants are? Here's a good option.
- Washing machine filter Let's say you might want to water a garden using greywater from your laundry machine, using biodegradable soap only. You'd need this.
- Washing machine line filter
FOOD OPTIONS
New budget stuff for those of you who can cook: r/BudgetFood Contains a lot of helpful info. Added to this page 3/17/23
- List is mainly for those of you who for whatever reason are incapable of cooking but still want to eat something that won't kill you in like ten years
- Please tip as generously as you can.
- Also see General Stores section and Food section for all that shopping stuff, and do consider shopping around for lunch boxes, ice packs, and coolers that fit your needs so you don't wind up buying overpriced stuff instead of packing your own foods
- If you are so profoundly lucky as to have a food vendor stand near you or a food truck or anything like that, GO THERE. People don't patronize these despite the affordability (and the fact they 9 times out of 10 are infinitely higher quality than literally all of the restaurants in the entire town and 100-mile radius) and then the best ones get shut down, then they mope that all that's left is a Sonic or a Dairy Queen. Well, you get what you pay for. Anyway, taco truck? Tamales? Halal food? Go there.
- What's the cheap locally owned stuff in your area? It's often the best stuff. I've had pretty excellent luck with some Chinese take-out places, pretty much all Vietnamese food too, but it really depends on your location. Get familiar with what's around you and show the local talent some appreciation in the form of your hard earned money.
- This is an old idea but in this era of food waste, nonetheless important: try your best to not waste food. As soon as possible after you eat refrigerate the leftovers. Freeze anything freezable too. Keep that food cold. And eat all your leftovers no matter how gross, unless they are actually spoiled.
- Denny's
- Golden Corral
- Cracker Barrel
- Texas Roadhouse WARNING: have not actually been in one of these but have researched it in the same way I research my stonks: with scrutiny. Looks ok.
Also see Homesteading section for my Israeli family's Hardcore, Royal Pain In The Ass farming method if you feel like punishing yourself by growing your own food, and Helpful Books section for extra tips and tricks on that front
Also see Vehicles section for some information on EVs
From Shopping section
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