Posts by brisktinker15

Nah, I'm still just running this tiny little boutique operation... thanks for the hand though 😍

Yeah, I get how it works with the IRS; even if you factor in the $0.00 rent, they just set some baseline based on the local square footage in that area. The real headache is that my old man is losing his mind because I'm dragging him into all this paperwork he refuses to deal with regarding 🙄.

Whatever, I’ll cover his tax bill myself since I'm the one who wants the lease signed.

I'm mostly stressed about all the money I've sunk into the spaces I've had so far and the ones I'll have down the road. I installed AC, bought cabinets, put window tints on everything... and I logged all of it as business expenses for my LLC... all before we even had a formal contract in place. That's why I'm trying to figure out how to write it off "retroactively," at least for this year, so I can actually justify those deductions.

My head is spinning 😢

So, I’ve found myself in this weird little legal gray area regarding my workspace. I run a sole proprietorship, and technically, the law doesn't even require a specific type of commercial space for what I do. But, because of how the work actually functions, I decided to register my business using a workshop owned by my dad. When I was filing everything at the local Small Business Administration office, they didn't ask for any proof of ownership or anything crazy regarding the property. I figured since it's family-owned, it just flew under the radar—especially since the shop is on the exact same street where I live, so the address is basically identical except for the house number. They probably didn't even blink.

Now, someone just gave me the heads-up that I should probably sit down with my old man and sign a formal Lease Agreement, just so I can actually write off the utility bills as business expenses moving forward. Up until now, I've been putting small stuff I spent on fixing up the place into my business deductions... which makes me wonder, am I accidentally breaking the law here?

Is it possible to make that lease "retroactive" to whenever I first started the business a few years back?

What should my next move be?

I tried one of those things once, and honestly, it felt like such a waste of time—just some tiny little microscope setup where you’re supposed to squint at your own saliva smears to figure out if you're actually ovulating or not... like, is it a chicken or an egg situation? I'm definitely not a lab tech. The photo quality is garbage too, and you’d basically need a PhD in biology just to decipher what any of these messy results are even trying to say.

Way too pricey and totally unreliable.

Save your money, don't bother.

They’re pretty much worthless as they are, but the frame might actually be worth something, especially if that gold plating is still intact.

@ crimsontiger21 : I’ve got a feeling those first three prints are probably copperplate or woodcut engravings... either way, they're pretty killer visuals... though if you're looking for someone who'd actually appreciate them, you should probably run them by Mr. Sterling first, he'd likely be the most into them.

I honestly don’t get how a massive bank like Chase can be this clueless about where their money is coming from. Like, seriously? Even on my basic checking account or my small business account, I can see exactly who sent me cash and what it was for. Even the mobile app makes it super easy—it clearly lists the sender, the amount, and the memo.

Honestly, I can see a lot of those "just moving money around" companies, along with their jobs and positions... even the bureaucrats and desk jockeys... finally having to ditch the ties, roll up their sleeves, and actually get some dirt under their fingernails.

But hey, that’s not a bad thing; it’s actually what this country needs. We need to get back to valuing actual work instead of just living off margins.

If we don't, the whole damn thing is going straight down the drain.

So, you're telling me I can't even use a prepaid card to snag some plane tickets?

I'm constantly stuck dealing with these generic payment slips, and since my building's mailroom is usually my go-to, I end up getting absolutely fleeced by their ridiculous service fees.
It used to be that the IRS had this "afternoon savings" thing where you could dodge some of those fees if you paid later in the day, but they must have axed it because there isn't a single mention of it on their website anymore.
Look, I get that it’s smarter to just pay the utility companies directly—like Duke Energy or the local water department—but what are you supposed to do when you're trying to send money straight to the federal government? 🤷

I just keep this list manually, since it usually only eats up a couple of pages over an entire fiscal year

Thanks, mellowfox56!

"TO" = I'm talking about the list of requirements and obligations.

Thanks a ton! 👍

So, I’m a little tripped up by how this one author explained things—either she totally missed the mark or I'm just completely misreading her.

Is it cool if I just leave that "foundation" column blank in the KPI, since I'm following your lead and just logging everything—both paid and billed invoices—based on when the cash actually moves?

Basically, I'll just stick any unpaid outgoing or incoming stuff over in the accounts payable list.

mellowfox56, maybe this isn't even the right place to ask, but I'm curious: what actually counts as a "foundation" in accounting—specifically when looking at KPIs for small business owners (excluding sales tax)? Right now, I’ve been putting the invoice number from my receipts under credits and the number on the invoices I issue under debits, but am I totally tripping here?

Mind if I ask what kind of business we're talking about here—something you can't just run as a sole proprietorship and have to set up as an LLC instead?

My sister living abroad and I have been hashing out this business idea. We both have full-time gigs—she’s freelancing over there while I’m running my own small business here in the States—and we want to launch a side hustle centered on a service that hasn't really hit the market in America yet, nor is it even a thing overseas.
Initially, we could roll this out right here in the US, with the potential to expand globally if things actually take off. The whole model would rely heavily on online bookings from clients both domestically and abroad, though the actual operations would be centered in California, or maybe eventually nationwide.

Does anyone have any actual, useful advice on how to register a business like this? I’m assuming an LLC might be the move? Also, how do we set up a company that we can manage together, where I’m handling things here in the States and she’s managing her end from abroad?
Is it smarter to pull the trigger on this in the US or should we look at setting it up overseas?

Honestly, I don't even know where to begin.

Richard Collins7 said:So, I’ve got this old, carved chest sitting at home—the kind with all these little saints etched into it—and I was wondering if anyone could give me a ballpark idea of what something like that might actually be worth... I know there’s a massive list of variables that go into determining value, obviously, but does anyone have a rough sense of what these kinds of pieces go for nowadays?? thanks!!!

Well, toss up a photo so we can actually see what you're talking about....

My bad

Here’s the link to my saga regarding those unauthorized account fees:

So, after wasting a ridiculous amount of time trying to talk sense into the Chase management, I finally got a hold of my personal banker on the phone today, only for them to deadpan tell me that I should have opted out of paper statements... which don't even exist, because they never even issued them in the first place. Honestly, until I had online banking and could actually see how they calculate these monthly service charges, I had no clue they were charging me for phantom statements and some other nonsense NKS messages or whatever else they feel like tacking on.

I'm filing a formal written complaint now, and if they try to play games with me—which they already did a few times by acting like it was somehow my own fault—I’m just going to pack my bags and move my money over to Bank of America. And yeah, I might just tip off a few journalists while I'm at it.

Not really sure which corner of this forum to toss this question into, so I guess I'll just drop it here: what’s the move when your printer decides to quit on you, and where do I even take it?🤔