u/yesac93

Hi ladies, I had a bunch of comments on my other post looking to do a Bay Area meetup but it got removed by Reddit, probably because I was sharing the whatsapp group link too many times 😂 so dm me if you want that link to join! My hope is more meetings can be organized that fit everyone’s location and schedules but I wanted to seize the momentum and put one on the books for anyone who can make it (Golden Gate Park, next Monday, 6:30). Would maybe prefer to send the exact location, what I’m wearing that day, etc in the whatsapp rather than directly on the internet for safety haha but lmk if you have questions or ideas!

If there are enough SF/Bay Area ladies here, would we be interested in organizing a little meet up? :)

I’m tired of the lack of visibility Wealthfront gives to what it projects each of your accounts growth to be. The botched plaid revamp and lack of account connectivity was the final straw. What other apps do a better job of showing you projected growth for each account as well as overall?

Hey everyone,
Looking for some realistic feedback. husband and I own a property in a popular mountain town. We are holding onto the house long-term either way, but we are looking to launch it as an STR this year specifically to use the short-term rental tax loophole (material participation to offset our W-2 income).
Here is the thing: we are absolutely not trying to maximize profit or cash flow from bookings. Our main goal is just to cross the finish line to qualify for the tax status, which means hitting the minimum 15 nights booked per year. To be safe and give ourselves a buffer, we are aiming for a really low-stress target of about 20 nights booked a year. We want as little guest management work and stress as humanly possible.
The main thing I am stressing about is the property itself. It is an outdated 1960s ranch house. It is fully functional, but it is definitely un-renovated. Because it's an older place, it can look a little bit grungy compared to all the flipped, luxury mountain-modern cabins I see when browsing the Tahoe market.
Our plan is to price our place cheap since we genuinely don't care about the booking revenue and be selective in taking bookings. Eventually, we want to do major upgrades like putting in new floors and pine ceilings, and running it as an STR means those projects become a massive tax benefit and business write-off versus just paying for them out of pocket on a personal home.
To help protect the house and avoid nightmare guests, one thing I plan to do is strict occupancy limits. The house could easily sleep 6 to 8 people, but I am going to cap bookings at 4 people max. I'm hoping a smaller group size keeps things quieter.
I know the general advice is usually that low prices attract awful guests, but given that we literally only need 20 nights a year to make the tax math work, is an outdated budget house realistic in a saturated market like Tahoe? Will people actually book a retro spot if the price is right, or will it just sit completely empty?
Would love to hear from any hosts who run low-occupancy, budget-friendly properties or anyone who has used this exact tax strategy. Thanks!

Seeking advice on the best financial moves for our FIRE timeline when it comes to our real estate portfolio. Spouse and I rent in VHCOL area and own two SFH in a ski town a few hours away. One I bought before we met and currently LTR which is a headache at times but mortgage is only $2400 so I think I’d keep it even if vacant. With rent minus maintenance costs we break even. The second house they bought at a higher interest rate so mortgage+utilities+repairs averages $4400/month. But I’m emotionally attached to this house! It’s a bit smaller than house A but if we move back to this town sometime in the next decade (hopefully), I’d pick it to live in over mine, at least if costs were the same. However, paying that much money each month for a space we use about twice a month is definitely hurting our savings rate, which will further decrease next year as we have our first kid and childcare costs come into play. I’ve considered STRing house B, not for cash flow but to take massive tax write offs against my w2 income since I can materially participate by working on it 100 hr per year. Which will definitely add stress to our lives as we have a baby but might be worth it to keep this house. Or should we just say it’s time to let go? I think it would be an easier decision if it had appreciated more since purchase but the market in that area has really cooled from post covid prices so I think we’d be lucky to net 10k on the sale and it needs a lot of cosmetic upgrades first (80s carpet and bathroom and tile counters). Here’s the rest of our financial picture- i think even if we keep paying for both houses we can retire by 50 but both would love to FIRE or barista FIRE even earlier (currently 33)!
401ks: $450k
Roth IRAs: $160k
Brokerages: $262k
Cash: $74k
HSA: $60k
529: $72k

I signed in with Paze to make some small Sephora purchases. A few days later I made some at Dunkin and dominos. I see statement credits for the food places but none at Sephora. Did any one else have issues or success?

Husband and I are well on our way to Chubby Fire (32, 1.6M NW with about 1M in investment accounts, 500k in equity between two properties, and 100k cash/bonds) but will have our first kid in a few months! Likely will stay in our VHCOL city a few years with a HHI of 400K and then move somewhere more simply HCOL with a bit of a pay cut. Aiming to retire around 49/50 with about 5 million which is probably excessive anyway since we are natural savers who struggled to ever spend more than 80K in a year. However, this whole family thing will be a new world! I’m not too worried about our cash flow or cutting back savings rates to pay for stuff like childcare. But feel like something is always learned in hindsight so what do you wish you knew when you were on the cusp of parenthood from a financial perspective?
Let me know if any other info is helpful- I know I didn’t get too detailed on assets and accounts but am happy to do so

I’m only three weeks pregnant but my dentist recommended a deep cleaning with ozone to treat my gum disease. Anyone have experience with this? It’s a less common treatment but shown to help gum disease, just not really studied in pregnancy…

I opened a checking account hoping to get the $400 bonus for direct depositing $5k. However, I was dumb about the timing and opened it the day I got paid last. It’s a 25 calendar day period so I only get one paycheck direct deposited during that time, which came to $4400 🫠 I need to do some other type of transfer that will code as a direct deposit because my next paycheck won’t deposit till a few days after the (very short) promo period