Random Questions

I’ve still been to scared to try mine :joy::see_no_evil: but the silver infused reusable TP cloth we got at the same time has been a huge help.

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But which style did you get?

Why do we stop and bring food to family vacation when we have young kids, but my brother doesn’t because he had young kids 8 years ago?

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everyone knows that brothers are better than everyone, whether or not they have any evidence to prove it

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So I got a conundrum here and would like y’all’s advice.

So with the student loan forgiveness thing going on we can request back payments we made during the pandemic. Now, I had loans with Nelnet, all federal loans, before I refinanced with Earnest last year in July. I made $6,120 in payments to Nelnet between March 13, 2020 and June 28, 2021 before I refinanced. So right now, I owe Nelnet nothing. I got Pell Grants in college so I qualify for the $20,000 in forgiveness. The only federal loan I have right now is the $2,033 I owe on my Perkins loans that were moved to a federal loan servicer back in April. That’s nowhere near the limit on the forgiveness.

So here’s what I was thinking about. If I request a refund of that $6,120 I would then go from owing Nelnet nothing to $6,120. However, if I apply for the forgiveness in October when that application comes out, I could get that amount forgiven along with my Perkins loan and owe Nelnet nothing again.

I’m a little hesitant because what if they don’t forgive it? Then I go back to owing Nelnet money again. But if it does get forgiven I can pay off my car now instead of waiting until the end of the year. Then in December when I get my new client bonus and vacation payout, I can pay down some credit card debt.

What would y’all do? @mirepoix I know you refinanced with Earnest last year, so I was wondering if you were thinking along the same lines and @wintertell I know you said you were going to request your payments back, would that still leave you under the forgiveness limit?

What do the rest of y’all think?

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Yes, it leaves me under the forgiveness limit. But, I’m not sure if you can request funds back if the loan has been paid off. Since you moved to Earnest, they paid off the loan balance for you, effectively. It doesn’t hurt to try to call. If it works, the you could hold on to the funds until you apply for forgiveness and see what if everything is forgiven to address your concerns. If it doesn’t work, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I would try ASAP as they were saying it would take 30-45 business days to process requests two days ago when I called to file my request.

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I didn’t think about that. Good point.

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An Instagram person I follow (@fanserviced) did this with a loan that she had paid off. So I think it’s worth at least trying to get those payments refunded. There doesn’t seem to be a particularly bad outcome possible: they deny it, they refund you, you stick it in a savings account for a few months and make $2 in interest and then you don’t get forgiveness and you pay it back, or they refund you and you get forgiveness.

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That’s a good point too.

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With the student loan stuff, especially if the account has been closed and you’re asking them to reopen the loan- is there any way you would be put in a position to pay taxes on the relief?

Also- any resources you find that give specifics can you pass along?

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Our state doesn’t tax student loan forgiveness (depends on the state). And the federal forgiveness is exempt from taxation because of the CARES act. I think student loan debt forgiveness is taxable in 13 states. Not sure how the Earnest loan payoff factors into it, though.

So no NC tax eh? I thought that was the case but wasn’t sure. I’m gonna call Nelnet hopefully tomorrow and will report back what I learn.

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At least according to Bloomberg!

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-26/surprise-tax-hit-may-await-some-with-student-loans-wiped-away

Dis one


Lots of stretchy maneuvery to water plants

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I am late to the discussion but I largely agree with Economista - Acalypha virginica, or actually it might be Acalypha rhomboidea (common three-seeded mercury, based on what I can see of the flower bracts). It may technically not be native to your area, but with climate change zones have been shifting north along with many species.

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Does anyone have experience with portable acoustic walls like these? My partner and I share an office, and we’re wondering if something like this would help us both be able to have meetings at the same time.

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Heard an ad for facetwealth financial planning. Anyone know anything about this? Getting investment advice from a fiduciary proves to be out of my budget otherwise. This might be too expensive too, but I don’t know.

So I just got off the phone with Nelnet. I only had to be on hold for like 5 minutes so hooray for that. The lady I talked to was very nice and she just needed to fill out a short form to request my refund. It didn’t matter that I had paid off my loan already, although she did make sure I understood my account would be opened back up and I would owe what I was refunded. She said some people hadn’t understood that before they called in. I assured her I understood, so she asked me to confirm the dates of the payments I wanted refunded. I told her from March 13, 2020 up until June 28, 2021 which was the last payment I made before it was refinanced. I don’t want to include the payoff from Earnest, that would put me well outside the forgiveness limit.

Like @Rhubarbsoda suggested once I get the money I will put it aside and wait to see if it’s forgiven. If so, I pay off my car; if not, I just pay it back to Nelnet.

She did warn me it would take several weeks as the organization processing the refunds is swamped. I figured that. So now it’s just a wait and see game.

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Has anyone been to Vegas recently ish, and have hotel advice? My priorities are smoke-free air and being close to everything, and my budget is medium: is the Aria still the way to go?

Edit: Just realized the Vegas Din Tai Fung is in the Aria, and proximity to DTF is how I make my hotel decisions. So now I’m sold unless there’s another reason it’s a terrible idea.

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Ooo, jealous! I’ve never been to DTF, but I hear their dumplings are amazing. Have fun!

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