Most of the testing IDE’s I have tried so far are too developer heavy for my purposes. I
just need something to record user journeys and make sure our UX doesn’t break.
What QA tools exist that run reliable tests but don’t require a developer to operate
them?
Talking to a fellow veteran recently, it hit me how much we can miss during our transition. When I went through TGPS/TAP before getting my DD-214 it felt like a massive information overload. A bunch of power point slides and checkbox briefs. But when I think about it, almost every single life-changing piece of information came from conversations with other veterans rather than from an official source.
It got me thinking about the fact that there are probably a lot of us out there struggling just because nobody mentioned a specific program to them sooner. You can be years post-service and have no idea that you’ve been missing out on benefits that could be life-changing.
My wife and I bought a home several years ago and we finally felt stable. But she lost her job due to some health issues and for a while we weren’t sure we’d be able to keep
paying our mortgage. Our original loan had an adjustable interest rate and the monthly cost was becoming unaffordable. I thought we were going to have to sell the house until I learned we could refinance using the IRRRL benefit. After talking to a handful of lenders, we refinanced with swift home loans and were able to lock in a lower fixed rate. It might not sound like a big deal but the money we saved eliminated so much stress and uncertainty around our housing situation. She was eventually able to start working part-time again, and we were able to stay where we are.
We spend a lot of time on this sub fighting bureaucracy. I think it would be awesome and hopefully helpful to a lot of folks if we start a thread to share lesser-known benefits that have been impactful for your family. So what VA benefit had the single biggest impact on your life? It doesn’t have to be something that was valuable in a financial sense, just something that you wish you’d known about sooner.
What benefit positively impacted your family, mental health, your career, or overall wellbeing?
Share your story below. It might help a fellow vet find exactly what they need.
Originally bought my house when we PCS’d and ended up at 7.1%. Rates have come down enough that I’m shopping around again. I got quotes from VU and USAA. They were all quoting in the low 6% range
Not long after I did those credit pulls I got a quote from a company called swift home loans. They’re telling me they can get me in the mid to low 5s with no points. That would drop my payment over $400/mo compared to what I currently have. The other quotes would only drop my payment by about $180/month.
I’m skeptical because the other lenders I’ve talked to are nowhere near that. As far as I can tell, Swift is a real licensed lender. But I’m still worried the rate is a bait and switch where the fees are buried somewhere in the fine print.