BBB: Do that Boring Buck-saving Busywork!

[Dicey]

I applied for and was approved for Medicare. I then completed the necessary paperwork and turned it in to my husband's former employer so we can be on their retiree health program. I really struggled with this. When I was 21, I had a rare cancer that had a "propensity to recur". I am so happy to have grown old enough to qualify for Medicare with no recurrence, but it still felt weird.

You're not going to believe this: Apparently I may have some retirement benefits* due to me from a previous employer. IIRC, I wasn't there long enough to be fully vested and I rolled over my 401k when I separated. However, by applying for Medicare, it triggered something and I just received a notice that I have an account valued at $12,410 with the previous employer, payable in a lump sum. Not going to hold my breath, but dang, wouldn't that be something? We shall see.

*Specifically "401k Profit Sharing Plan"

Former employer called back and said  the account in question has a zero balance. Whomp, whomp. I was expecting this answer, because past me would never have lost track of that much money. When I get home, I'll dig into the archives. I suspect the amount refers to the unvested portion of my account, which I knew I was leaving behind. Shrug.

Disappointed in the administrator set up that false flag.

It's Medicare, I was expecting something along these lines. Their capacity to disappoint is limitless, no doubt. I'll dig through some old files when I get home. (Psst: Mr. Dicey and I spent the day exploring Joshua Tree - amazeballs!)

[dandarc]

Changed Payroll Providers a few weeks ago and saving $400 / year for my one person shop going forward. Probably wouldn't have even crossed my mind as a thing to look into if my W2 had not been wrong again and having to pull teeth to get that fixed (actually still isn't right but they have passed along my bug report and say they're going to change it soon).

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I finally sucked it up & created two TurboTax accounts, so we can file Married/Separately. We're in a unique tax situation, due to California high income, and it will save over $3k to do it this way. TurboTax is totally not set up for Married filing Separately, so I've been putting it off. We have one more tax form each to upload, and then we should be in pretty good shape.

[jnw]

I finally sucked it up & created two TurboTax accounts, so we can file Married/Separately. We're in a unique tax situation, due to California high income, and it will save over $3k to do it this way. TurboTax is totally not set up for Married filing Separately, so I've been putting it off. We have one more tax form each to upload, and then we should be in pretty good shape.

I bought Turbo Tax Deluxe for Mac/PC for $34.99 recently (sale on Amazon).  You can file both returns, as different accounts, with the same software.  It does everything including Schedule C, Schedule D/8949 etc.  And you can file state return for free if you print it from the software and mail it in yourself.   I remember paying $180 for a turbotax online account one year.. figured I'd mentioned it in case you are spending close to $300 for the both of you using Turbo Tax Online as opposed to just $34.99 for Turbo Tax Deluxe on Mac/PC.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I finally sucked it up & created two TurboTax accounts, so we can file Married/Separately. We're in a unique tax situation, due to California high income, and it will save over $3k to do it this way. TurboTax is totally not set up for Married filing Separately, so I've been putting it off. We have one more tax form each to upload, and then we should be in pretty good shape.

I bought Turbo Tax Deluxe for Mac/PC for $34.99 recently (sale on Amazon).  You can file both returns, as different accounts, with the same software.  It does everything including Schedule C, Schedule D/8949 etc.  And you can file state return for free if you print it from the software and mail it in yourself.   I remember paying $180 for a turbotax online account one year.. figured I'd mentioned it in case you are spending close to $300 for the both of you using Turbo Tax Online as opposed to just $34.99 for Turbo Tax Deluxe on Mac/PC.

This is a great suggestion for  next year. Too late for this year, but thank you!

[rockeTree]

I have had an old tiny IRA stuck at Victory Capital after USAA tossed investors to this terrible provider years ago. You have to jump through a lot of hoops to transfer it out, and so the 3k or so has idled there earning little and paying fees for all this time. Finally converted it all to money market and went to the post office with the paperwork to consolidate it with the big Fidelity account.

[Weisass]

We had a car repair that was expensive but a result of getting hit by a small semi, so thankfully our financial outlay was nothing. Still, I took the time to read through the paperwork and be in touch with our claim center, because the collision center had insisted we pay a 500 deductible. Two days later, they are mailing us a check for the over charge.

[mistymoney]

A motivational thread to encourage us all to tackle what I like to call BBB… Boring Buck-saving Busywork! These are those tasks that we just KNOW will result in major financial payoffs… But  they can feel so onerous or overwhelming that sometimes it seems impossible to even start.

Need to spend an hour on hold to cancel a subscription? Stuck slogging through endless reimbursement paperwork? Crying while comparison-shopping your car insurance? THIS IS THE CHALLENGE FOR YOU!

Post your successes, commiserate about your struggles, and cheer each other on!

what a cool idea for a thread!

I need to do my flex reimbursements......wish me luck!

I am notoriously bad at these....like - spend 1k new years eve to get the flex money used up.....and then miss the reimbursement date!

In my defense! they are always moving it up! Used to be april 15th with taxes....so I did that. Nope, it was Mar 15th! So i was keeping my eye on that and a spammy email came through but luckily I read it and it is Feb 28th this year!

[dandarc]

How am I just noticing the OP on this thread has the same name as my dad and nephew?

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Dealt with my insurance company again (it's a saga), & saved $800 by making a few policy adjustments.

[okisok]

Filed my taxes earlier than ever this year. I started an e-filing account as soon as the first paperwork was available and hit 'submit' as soon as the last paperwork came in.

[mistymoney]

A motivational thread to encourage us all to tackle what I like to call BBB… Boring Buck-saving Busywork! These are those tasks that we just KNOW will result in major financial payoffs… But  they can feel so onerous or overwhelming that sometimes it seems impossible to even start.

Need to spend an hour on hold to cancel a subscription? Stuck slogging through endless reimbursement paperwork? Crying while comparison-shopping your car insurance? THIS IS THE CHALLENGE FOR YOU!

Post your successes, commiserate about your struggles, and cheer each other on!

ok - submitted my 2022 vision expenses....need to dig up all my dental expenses......8 days to go til deadline!

what a cool idea for a thread!

I need to do my flex reimbursements......wish me luck!

I am notoriously bad at these....like - spend 1k new years eve to get the flex money used up.....and then miss the reimbursement date!

In my defense! they are always moving it up! Used to be april 15th with taxes....so I did that. Nope, it was Mar 15th! So i was keeping my eye on that and a spammy email came through but luckily I read it and it is Feb 28th this year!

[TheStrenuousLife]

I posted this in my journal and someone said I should repost here, so here it goes:

Another Mustachian win:

-Nearly two years ago my car was broken into and my registration was stolen.  I was concerned about identity theft so signed up for Equifax's credit/personal information monitoring service at $22.54 CDN per month and just let that ride until now when I finally got around to cancelling.

A sure sign that I should have cancelled earlier was that Equifax is one of those silly companies that makes you phone in to cancel your subscription.  I had to go through two customer service agents and a bunch of unnecessary hoops and sale retention tactics, but after about 20 minutes, I got it cancelled, so that is another $22.54 CDN in the bank per month.

I am going through YNAB to see my monthly expenses and identify other potential subscriptions that can either be downsized or cancelled all together.

[Rosy]

Seeing this thread off and on is definitely motivational.

Just got a notification about $57... owed me from a bankrupt company - long story. It will be mine if I fill out a few pages.
Not a big deal, I'll do it today.

But it reminds me that I still got nowhere with my health insurance reimbursements. It should be so simple yet they make it so frustrating.
Tackling that once again Monday and every day from then on until it is resolved. I've had it!
 

[okisok]

I went to a missing property page and found several listings with my uncommon name. It only listed name and state, so I applied to each one. They each sent a separate email with the particulars.
Turns out none of them were for me. Womp womp. I did the boring busywork, though, so at least I tried.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Followed up on a toll that we were over charged by $12. What a hassle, but dutifully sent my email, and filled out the form to get our money back.

[Serendip]

Called to check about seat selection on a flight with my mom (who has mobility and other health issues) managed to get some good seats with no additional charges.

[Turtle]

Slow afternoon at work meant I could log into the inherited 401k and compare fund fees/allocations with my company ones.

I had been doing some periodic dollar cost averaging out of a Target Date Fund in there, but no real deep dive because that particular 401k doesn't have a nice, clear fee chart available the way that both of my own 401k accounts do.

Annoyingly, their "passive" index funds, which are through State Street, don't even list their fees on their details. 

I can tell it would behoove me to take a deeper dive on Asset Allocation and put together the big picture across all my accounts so I can adjust accordingly.  Doing some preliminary work for that now.

 

[MaybeBabyMustache]

We're going to Dubai in a month or so, to meet up with my husband's family. For a variety of reasons, we're booking the hotel rooms, and covering the costs. (They don't have international credit cards.)

I had to add another room, and noticed the price was slightly cheaper per night. Not enough that I would do anything with the other reservations if I just had one room, but since I have five rooms, and we're staying six nights, it was worth it. Spent about a half hour rebooking all of the rooms under the cheaper rate. Saved $380.

[rockeTree]

I have had an old tiny IRA stuck at Victory Capital after USAA tossed investors to this terrible provider years ago. You have to jump through a lot of hoops to transfer it out, and so the 3k or so has idled there earning little and paying fees for all this time. Finally converted it all to money market and went to the post office with the paperwork to consolidate it with the big Fidelity account.

And almost a month later it has made it through the wires! A little money saved, and things simplified for either me when I'm a little old person or whoever has to handle my estate :-)

[oneday]

Over the years, I've accumulate 4 different transit parking accounts, with varying amounts of funds on each. Today I went through the process of resetting passwords for all of them (since my password manager is out of commission currently), updating payment card, then requesting accounts to be closed. $394.50 coming back my way in 5-7 business days. Woot!

[halfling]

Just finally checked on how my mobile data usage has been lately, and got a US Mobile eSIM. After the 100 day free trial which will already save me a couple hundred bucks, my cell phone bill should drop from $85/month to ~$25/month. Don't know why I put it off so long!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Followed up on a toll that we were over charged by $12. What a hassle, but dutifully sent my email, and filled out the form to get our money back.

Never ended up getting our money back, so had to call, but now correctly resolved.

Also, it took numerous calls & emails, but got a one night credit ($225+) for a condo reservation that went wayyyyyyyy awry. I'm also hoping that my escalation will lead them to actually repairing the unit, before it gets rented out again. Bathrooms are not optional!

[oneday]

Submitted for a refund on a credit card I don't often use for $1.59.

[Dicey]

Over the years, I've accumulate 4 different transit parking accounts, with varying amounts of funds on each. Today I went through the process of resetting passwords for all of them (since my password manager is out of commission currently), updating payment card, then requesting accounts to be closed. $394.50 coming back my way in 5-7 business days. Woot!

Have you received the money yet?

[mspym]

We are moving so my life is paperwork right now. 

- Moved the tiny amounts of money from various transit cards onto the one that is in my wallet, cancelled the auto-top-up so it doesn’t refill itself before we leave and found out how I can get any remaining money off it once we leave Sydney.
- Opened a personal savings account in NZ and moved some cash that was over the interest-earning limit for my Au savings account to it.
- Emailed the money transfer service about exchange rates for large sums of money but haven’t heard back so that’s a task for this coming week.

[oneday]

Over the years, I've accumulate 4 different transit parking accounts, with varying amounts of funds on each. Today I went through the process of resetting passwords for all of them (since my password manager is out of commission currently), updating payment card, then requesting accounts to be closed. $394.50 coming back my way in 5-7 business days. Woot!

Have you received the money yet?

Oh, yes. It arrived on time back in March.

[SpinWave0704]

I like this thread! It's motivating. I moved to a new apartment, and sold 4 Ikea Kallax shelving units for $310 - about 35% from the original price. However, the Kallax units didn't fit in the new apartment, so I was glad to see them go.

[SpinWave0704]

Another tip (for US residents): In a previous job, I dealt with the escheatment process. Escheatment is usually handled through the Office of the State Controller. Search for Escheatment or Unclaimed Property and your state name on Google, and you may find some funds! It's super easy.

[halfling]

Canceled my travel rewards card. After 5 years of churning, I am finally fee-free when to comes to my credit cards; I probably won't try churning again until after I get a mortgage.

[driftwood]

While doing my '22 taxes, I realized that I didn't include my property taxes when I filed in '21. I went back and did an amendment, $400 refund for about 15 min of work and a stamp on an envelope.

Just about gave up on this ever showing up, and then a check arrived in the mail a couple of weeks ago. Coincidentally, it paid for a plane ticket that I had just purchased to the dollar.

[dandarc]

While doing my '22 taxes, I realized that I didn't include my property taxes when I filed in '21. I went back and did an amendment, $400 refund for about 15 min of work and a stamp on an envelope.

Just about gave up on this ever showing up, and then a check arrived in the mail a couple of weeks ago. Coincidentally, it paid for a plane ticket that I had just purchased to the dollar.

On - why does this take so long!? I just received another "we need another 60 days to decide" letter on a request for abatement on penalties for late filing of a form 5500-EZ for 2021 for my (now terminated) soloK. My case is dead simple "Hey I tried - I filled the form out on time, even signed it on your website, but missed the very last, separate step of submitting". I sent the original request for abatement in November.

If they do abate the penalty, that will have proven to be some serious BBB for me - $19,500 racked up before I realized the error (and compounded by filing the form immediately instead of researching what to do). Seems like at the rate this is moving I might die of old age before they make any decision.

[newbie]

Filled out and sent the required paperwork to receive a refund on a car service.  Got the check today - Yay!

[Just Joe]

Setup three meetings with different financial advisors today. Been putting this off for months. One is our employer's retirement advisor. One is our employer's 401K agent (Empower) who sends emails to everyone offering to meet with folks. Last one is an independent financial advisor who has an office here in town.

Wondering if we will come away knowing anything new and whether the information between the three will be consistent.

Also, reviewing our home and car insurance policies next week. Teen #2 has a newer used car this week (car is still older than they are). Want to make sure we are getting the best prices. Car might see them through college. MPG isn't great but the cost for the vehicle is so low that it should still work out in our favor. Nice older car previously owned by a relative so the price was very good too.

Old car is sold already. Teen is supposed to finish up cleaning it so the new owner gets a clean car (friend). That car still has alot of miles in it too but lack a/c and has some paint issues.

With the family discount on the "new" used car and the sale of the old car - it is a $250 upgrade to something that was top of the line back then and still fully functional.

[Turtle]

Boring busywork item finally checked off the list -- needed some PII on one of my stepkids before I could update beneficiaries to be split directly 5 ways instead of going to the trust.  Once I had the final piece I needed, I've now got all of the accounts which can have direct beneficiaries set up that way.

Wouldn't make a difference to me one way or the other, but gives the 5 kids more flexibility and lower tax bill than having the 401k accounts going into a trust.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I'm glad this thread is back! I'm doing a ton of tasks for my special needs aunt (my sister & I are taking over financial management from our parents). Lots of wins there, as no previous negotiation on packages for cable, phone, and she qualifies for a variety of low income discounts that we've now set her up for.

For myself:
-Paused DS16's gym membership for four months, given he's playing 2 sports
-Canceled my separate Netflix membership, used basically just when I travel. (It screws up the rest of the family's Netflix when I travel, and it's really the only time I use it.) Now that I'm laid off, won't be doing that international travel again!

[crocheted_stache]

Boy, do I need this thread.

Earlier this week:
-Returned/exchanged a shower head that failed within a week or two of being installed when some little gasket broke inside. Got it all the way back to the hardware store within the regular return period. Saved ~$20.

Earlier this year:
-Raised the deductible on my home insurance. Saved ~$75 per year, but I wouldn't make a claim for that low an amount, anyway, lest I raise my premium for the rest of time. Also, $75 is $75.
-Cancelled an extended warranty thing that did not want to be cancelled (of course). $25/month.
-Requested and received the smaller trash bin. $10/month.
-Signed up for an even cheaper phone plan, saving $10/month. I don't use a lot of minutes or data, and I can add some a la carte if the time comes when I'm doing something that requires it.

So $635 saved for the year so far, and at that rate, worth the time on the phone, in line, and online. Also worth it for the reduction in guilt that would otherwise accrue from not getting around to those things.

[crocheted_stache]

I finally got started consolidating an old HSA into a current HSA. The destination account will let me invest what's in it. I was dreading having to call both institutions during their business hours (invariably in some other timezone) and generally hassle with bureaucracy, but there was a web form to initiate this transaction, and so far it appears to work.

I will need to follow up to empty and close an accompanying placeholder checking account, which just started charging a monthly inactivity fee. They assure me I agreed to this when I signed up.

[Freedomin5]

Submitted a few medical claims. Got about $1000 back.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Got all of special needs aunt's bills set up for auto pay, & called her insurance agent & sorted out a bunch of stuff to save her money
-I needed a cell phone plan for the first time in forever (laid off, I was previously on an employer plan). Created a family Fi account, and added myself, & DS17 & DS18. It was actually $10/month cheaper than the amount I was paying for DS17 & DS18, which means my account was "free", and I saved $10 on top of that.

[crocheted_stache]

We still need to actually pay, but the hard parts of taxes are done. The bank inactivity thing is going to have to wait one more day.

[mspym]

I just booked long-term parking for while we are overseas, which is roughly $100 less than getting taxis or not booking it in advance. I also took advantage of a very empty bank to close down a couple of empty accounts.

[Shamantha]

I used to travel a lot for work, internationally. Over the years, the unused banknotes from different countries (always handy to have some cash...) just accumulated. Also quite some coins, foreign as well as for my own currency, Euros. Sorted it all, exchanged what could be exchanged, donated what was too far out of date. Deposited all my Euro loose change in an ATM that accepted Euro coins. Used my UK loose change at the supermarket self scanner that accepted coins and turned it into vintage Cheddar. Cleared out 6 old UK transit cards (Oyster) and put the proceeds on 2 cards. It was quite a lot of busy work but in the end this gave me approximately 1000 euros, which had just been lingering in drawers, cups and boxes. Way more than I thought!

[By the River]

I used to travel a lot for work, internationally. Over the years, the unused banknotes from different countries (always handy to have some cash...) just accumulated. Also quite some coins, foreign as well as for my own currency, Euros. Sorted it all, exchanged what could be exchanged, donated what was too far out of date. Deposited all my Euro loose change in an ATM that accepted Euro coins. Used my UK loose change at the supermarket self scanner that accepted coins and turned it into vintage Cheddar. Cleared out 6 old UK transit cards (Oyster) and put the proceeds on 2 cards. It was quite a lot of busy work but in the end this gave me approximately 1000 euros, which had just been lingering in drawers, cups and boxes. Way more than I thought!

I was just cleaning my desk and found 2 oyster cards that I used in 2017.  Is there any way to check the balance remaining?   I will mail them to someone who can use them if it is worthwhile.

[Shamantha]

Yes @By the River , you can create an online account with Oyster and add them to that, you can then see the balance on the cards. That how I have done it in the past.

[dreaming]

Stumbled upon the fact that Microsoft Rewards pays you for searching the web using Bing.  I have no idea how I accumulated over 45k points and that equated to a $40 Amazon gift card.  Now that I know, I go to the site daily to accumulate more points and in about a month I got $10 more in Amazon gift cards.  It only takes a minute a day to do so. 

[crocheted_stache]

Stumbled upon the fact that Microsoft Rewards pays you for searching the web using Bing.  I have no idea how I accumulated over 45k points and that equated to a $40 Amazon gift card.  Now that I know, I go to the site daily to accumulate more points and in about a month I got $10 more in Amazon gift cards.  It only takes a minute a day to do so.

I'm lazy. I let Ecosia collect my Bing bucks and use them for their responsible reforestation efforts. They seem to have rearranged the personal counter off the website, but mine was up to about 90 trees. Neither the world nor I need me to get a bunch more stuff from Amazon, anyway.

[midweststache]

Walked to Aldi with my eldest this weekend for most of our groceries. Saw pretzels were on sale (DH eats a handful almost daily for lunch.) Grabbed two bags.

Later, unloading the groceries, DH goes "Oh, I don't like those." They're pretzels? Except they were the garlic-covered pretzels - WOOPS. Two bags of pretzels that would not be eaten by any of us. So DH walked back over to Aldi to return them. Could we have given them away? Sure. But $4 is $4, and it was a beautiful day for a walk.

So not only did we get $4 back, but also apparently Aldi has a return policy where you get your money back AND get the correct replacement item for free? I was sure this was crazy, but DH assured me the cashier told him to get the two bags of (more expensive) regular pretzels that he wanted at no cost - for the inconvenience of having to make a return I guess?

I dunno, seems like a not-great policy and one that could be very easily gamed, but I was glad we took the time to make the return for pretzels we would not eat (and the surprise replacement pretzels)!

[rivendale]

I spent 30 minutes "chatting " with a combo of AI and a real customer service rep in order to get a refund of a $25 charge on ny cell phone bill. We had to change our financial information and the direct billing got impacted. It was a hassle, but I was able to do other computer work at the same time, so redeemable.

[oneday]

Do taxes count? Because until one knows if there is a refund or amount due, one might be on the hook for late filing penalty. Schrödinger's penalty.

So, yeah. Taxes done.