...is: how much I bill you is directly related to how much of a pain you've been while I've been trying to dig you out of whatever mess you've found yourself in.
My dogs can't handle an all-meat diet. I tried feeding them meat alone and they were incredibly sick, even after the adjustment period. I don't know if it's because of a couple thousand years of being bred as Chinese lapdogs or what, but they do really well with grain food, but not so much on an all-meat diet.
If you read your retainer agreements, yes, we bill for doing five minutes worth of work. My time isn't free. You'd be billed .1 for the five minutes. Where exactly did people get the idea that the first fifteen minutes would be free? Or that only the tasks that they approve are free? It's outlined in the contract that you sign at the beginning of your engagement with the lawyer.
Think about it. If you hire a therapist, you pay for an hour and it is typically fifty minutes. I don't see people complaining about that. It's an industry standard.
To clarify: we were already going to buy. I thought I made it clear that I thought it was disingenuous of our broker to attempt to pressure us with the carrot of $8k back. I've done the math on how 8k compares to the total you'll spend on the mortgage and it doesn't compare.
It's a joke to think that 8k would be the main reason for someone to buy.
I actually got so many of those tips from reading one of John Grisham's novels. I was really not surprised, especially on the billing, as all the incoming lawyers are told to bill for even 5 minutes of doing work.
An unjust enrichment lawsuit claims Chadbourne & Parke billed a client $20,000 for online legal research that cost the law firm only $5,000.
San Diego lawyer Patricia Meyer, who represents the Texas businessman suing Chadbourne, tells the National Law Journal that at least a dozen other law firms are also overbilling for research, and more lawsuits are in the pipeline.
Meyer alleges that Chadbourne and several other law firms are paying flat fees to legal research companies such as Westlaw and LexisNexis, but billing clients at hourly rates, the story says. Meyer claims it is a violation of California ethics rules to charge the higher amount without disclosing the arrangement to clients.
"This appears to be more widespread than you would think," Meyer told the publication. "Basically what we're finding is that certain law firms are using Westlaw and Lexis as profit centers. … Quite candidly, what we're finding is the clients really have no idea that this is going on.”
I'm not sure if your wording was intentional or not, but please don't call it "free" money. There is no such thing as a free lunch; a cost is always there, whether it's obvious or not.
#9
You can thank Bush and the Republicans as well; the fiscal and monetary irresponsibility is not just limited to the Democrats.
#10
Your tax-preparer was correct at one point because several years ago a housing credit existed which had to be paid back. The newer version does not though. He may not have been informed of the change, although I would think it's common knowledge by now.
My thoughts on the housing credit is that it's a huge waste of money that only helps those who were already going to buy anyway. You can't stimulate forever and when the music stops someone is going to be left without a seat.
The only thing the credit accomplished was pulling forward demand; those who were planning on buy in 1-2 years moved up their purchase to get the credit. This is only going to leave an absence of demand after the credit runs out.
I have personally been waiting for this credit to end before I even begin to consider purchasing a house. The next major obstacle is getting prices to reflect the massive amount of shadow inventory that exists. Banks have been playing extend and pretend with delinquent and defaulting mortgages, refusing to send NODs and proceed with foreclosure. As the shadow inventory makes its way onto the market, housing prices will be under further depreciation.
All these things are good for those who have patience and do their homework as they will end up paying far less than their neighbors.
The canine digestive system is much shorter than the human digestive system, and while most dogs can eat grains they don't process them as well. I have a miniature Schnauzer who is very keyed up and reactive (barking) when he has even a tiny amount of grain, so we feed him raw and feed him a diet high in lean meats and vegetables.
Dogs (and cats) don't need any vegetables, and certainly not grains. You can feed a dog with a lot less effort by simply buying raw meat (chicken necks and backs, on sale pork and beef) with suitable amounts of bone and organs.
we feed our 60 lb lab a raw diet of a quarter pound of hamburger, a few grated carrots, a raw egg and its shell, an apple or a banana, and any bland leftovers we have lying around (potato peels, bread crusts, old oatmeal) twice a day. The cost works out to be about 1.25 a day for the 2 meals. Not the cheapest, but since everything is raw, we find she occasionally gets sick if we buy bargain basement meat or eggs. (which was a wake up call to us to not buy this stuff for ourselves either). She is the healthiest, glossiest dog and the vet is always shocked by how clean her teeth are. I am not a big raw evangelist, but it is true that dogs don't get much out of the grains--I have observed that they come straight out the other end. There's also some evidence grains irritate the stomach and intestines of all dogs and that chronic inflammation can lead to problems down the road...
The WSJ article used an average savings of $1.44/coupon. Even with doubles ($0.01-$0.39) and triples ($0.40-$0.50) my average is probably closer to $0.85 or so. And I think I probably spend a bit more than 1 minute per coupon that I actually use as I cut, sort and file many coupons which I do not use. So, my returns are a little lower than the article estimates. However, that does not deter me from coupon usage. Between coupons, rebates and free samples, I save at least 50% on my grocery and other consumables bill each month. I haven't paid more than $0.25 for most of my personal care items in years (including hair care, toothpaste, deoderant, razors, etc. That's where the savings adds up very quickly.).
It does take some work and at least some of what I eat and use is dictated by what I can find on sale with a coupon. But that's not something that bothers me, especially not when I consider the amount that I would otherwise be spending.
I was told by my tax preparer that this was essentially a loan and had to be paid back to the government later (I'm not sure what the fine print was, either low interest or interest-free loan). So he suggested we were better off not utilizing the tax credit. Was he right or is it time to look for a new tax preparer?
Wanting to feed a natural/healthy diet and then loading the food up with grains and cooked meats seems contradictory. If it's about saving money, supplementing (or feeding 100%) raw can be just as economical. Plus the added savings of buying fewer poop bags. ;-)
I've been making my own dog food for about 2 years. (My Westie can't handle something in commercial food.) The cost of the meat was a challenge for me, so I put an ad in the paper for people who were cleaning out their freezers and had meat they were getting rid of to call me. Freezer burned meat, or meat has just been in a freezer longer than humans feel comfortable consuming, usually because of the taste changes, is perfectly safe for dogs. In less than a week I ended up with an entire freezer full of meat.
Archie is happy and healthy, and gets incredibly excited when I pull out the food processor. He knows that's "his" food I'm mixing up!
Thanks for this, Elizabeth. I've been thinking a bit about natural dog food lately and trying to figure out if I'd have the ambition to start making it.
When my dog was small, he'd knock over the garbage can to eat the eggshells inside. But I never thought of feeling them to my dogs - do they blend well?
I think the key in this article is that WC said they would buy the place with or without the credit, so the credit is really just bonus free money. It's definitely a nice perk I guess, but I don't know if it's a huge deal in the grand scheme of things.
Witch Hazel is also great for taking yellow stains out of finger and toe nails due to dark polish. Put a little in a spray bottle, spritz on toes or fingers after you get out of the shower and it will come right out
I second the cat food question- any ideas or recipes? I'd love to see another article.
...is: how much I bill you is directly related to how much of a pain you've been while I've been trying to dig you out of whatever mess you've found yourself in.
I love the idea about Craigslist! I would just want to be sure the people I'm getting the meat from are trustworthy...
My dogs can't handle an all-meat diet. I tried feeding them meat alone and they were incredibly sick, even after the adjustment period. I don't know if it's because of a couple thousand years of being bred as Chinese lapdogs or what, but they do really well with grain food, but not so much on an all-meat diet.
Lulu,
If you read your retainer agreements, yes, we bill for doing five minutes worth of work. My time isn't free. You'd be billed .1 for the five minutes. Where exactly did people get the idea that the first fifteen minutes would be free? Or that only the tasks that they approve are free? It's outlined in the contract that you sign at the beginning of your engagement with the lawyer.
Think about it. If you hire a therapist, you pay for an hour and it is typically fifty minutes. I don't see people complaining about that. It's an industry standard.
To clarify: we were already going to buy. I thought I made it clear that I thought it was disingenuous of our broker to attempt to pressure us with the carrot of $8k back. I've done the math on how 8k compares to the total you'll spend on the mortgage and it doesn't compare.
It's a joke to think that 8k would be the main reason for someone to buy.
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I actually got so many of those tips from reading one of John Grisham's novels. I was really not surprised, especially on the billing, as all the incoming lawyers are told to bill for even 5 minutes of doing work.
can i sell my vag hair too?
We're planning to use our credit for more tax break purchases - new windows, insulation, etc. that we can deduct on our taxes next year.
Question for Anthoine cited in post. Is the case you worked on similar to this one?
http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/chadbourne_accused_of_overbilling...
sorry I don't know if links are allowed
An unjust enrichment lawsuit claims Chadbourne & Parke billed a client $20,000 for online legal research that cost the law firm only $5,000.
San Diego lawyer Patricia Meyer, who represents the Texas businessman suing Chadbourne, tells the National Law Journal that at least a dozen other law firms are also overbilling for research, and more lawsuits are in the pipeline.
Meyer alleges that Chadbourne and several other law firms are paying flat fees to legal research companies such as Westlaw and LexisNexis, but billing clients at hourly rates, the story says. Meyer claims it is a violation of California ethics rules to charge the higher amount without disclosing the arrangement to clients.
"This appears to be more widespread than you would think," Meyer told the publication. "Basically what we're finding is that certain law firms are using Westlaw and Lexis as profit centers. … Quite candidly, what we're finding is the clients really have no idea that this is going on.”
How did this case turn out?
Thanks! Great links.
It's like nice icing on cake if you are already buying the house then but it's not an incentive to buy if you are not ready for it.
#8
I'm not sure if your wording was intentional or not, but please don't call it "free" money. There is no such thing as a free lunch; a cost is always there, whether it's obvious or not.
#9
You can thank Bush and the Republicans as well; the fiscal and monetary irresponsibility is not just limited to the Democrats.
#10
Your tax-preparer was correct at one point because several years ago a housing credit existed which had to be paid back. The newer version does not though. He may not have been informed of the change, although I would think it's common knowledge by now.
My thoughts on the housing credit is that it's a huge waste of money that only helps those who were already going to buy anyway. You can't stimulate forever and when the music stops someone is going to be left without a seat.
The only thing the credit accomplished was pulling forward demand; those who were planning on buy in 1-2 years moved up their purchase to get the credit. This is only going to leave an absence of demand after the credit runs out.
I have personally been waiting for this credit to end before I even begin to consider purchasing a house. The next major obstacle is getting prices to reflect the massive amount of shadow inventory that exists. Banks have been playing extend and pretend with delinquent and defaulting mortgages, refusing to send NODs and proceed with foreclosure. As the shadow inventory makes its way onto the market, housing prices will be under further depreciation.
All these things are good for those who have patience and do their homework as they will end up paying far less than their neighbors.
The canine digestive system is much shorter than the human digestive system, and while most dogs can eat grains they don't process them as well. I have a miniature Schnauzer who is very keyed up and reactive (barking) when he has even a tiny amount of grain, so we feed him raw and feed him a diet high in lean meats and vegetables.
Dogs (and cats) don't need any vegetables, and certainly not grains. You can feed a dog with a lot less effort by simply buying raw meat (chicken necks and backs, on sale pork and beef) with suitable amounts of bone and organs.
And please, why cook it? Dogs love raw!
we feed our 60 lb lab a raw diet of a quarter pound of hamburger, a few grated carrots, a raw egg and its shell, an apple or a banana, and any bland leftovers we have lying around (potato peels, bread crusts, old oatmeal) twice a day. The cost works out to be about 1.25 a day for the 2 meals. Not the cheapest, but since everything is raw, we find she occasionally gets sick if we buy bargain basement meat or eggs. (which was a wake up call to us to not buy this stuff for ourselves either). She is the healthiest, glossiest dog and the vet is always shocked by how clean her teeth are. I am not a big raw evangelist, but it is true that dogs don't get much out of the grains--I have observed that they come straight out the other end. There's also some evidence grains irritate the stomach and intestines of all dogs and that chronic inflammation can lead to problems down the road...
The WSJ article used an average savings of $1.44/coupon. Even with doubles ($0.01-$0.39) and triples ($0.40-$0.50) my average is probably closer to $0.85 or so. And I think I probably spend a bit more than 1 minute per coupon that I actually use as I cut, sort and file many coupons which I do not use. So, my returns are a little lower than the article estimates. However, that does not deter me from coupon usage. Between coupons, rebates and free samples, I save at least 50% on my grocery and other consumables bill each month. I haven't paid more than $0.25 for most of my personal care items in years (including hair care, toothpaste, deoderant, razors, etc. That's where the savings adds up very quickly.).
It does take some work and at least some of what I eat and use is dictated by what I can find on sale with a coupon. But that's not something that bothers me, especially not when I consider the amount that I would otherwise be spending.
I was told by my tax preparer that this was essentially a loan and had to be paid back to the government later (I'm not sure what the fine print was, either low interest or interest-free loan). So he suggested we were better off not utilizing the tax credit. Was he right or is it time to look for a new tax preparer?
Got any advice for cat food?
Wanting to feed a natural/healthy diet and then loading the food up with grains and cooked meats seems contradictory. If it's about saving money, supplementing (or feeding 100%) raw can be just as economical. Plus the added savings of buying fewer poop bags. ;-)
I've been making my own dog food for about 2 years. (My Westie can't handle something in commercial food.) The cost of the meat was a challenge for me, so I put an ad in the paper for people who were cleaning out their freezers and had meat they were getting rid of to call me. Freezer burned meat, or meat has just been in a freezer longer than humans feel comfortable consuming, usually because of the taste changes, is perfectly safe for dogs. In less than a week I ended up with an entire freezer full of meat.
Archie is happy and healthy, and gets incredibly excited when I pull out the food processor. He knows that's "his" food I'm mixing up!
Thanks for this, Elizabeth. I've been thinking a bit about natural dog food lately and trying to figure out if I'd have the ambition to start making it.
When my dog was small, he'd knock over the garbage can to eat the eggshells inside. But I never thought of feeling them to my dogs - do they blend well?
On behalf of the taxpayers, you are welcome. Thanks to big O for extracting more from the prudent.
I think the key in this article is that WC said they would buy the place with or without the credit, so the credit is really just bonus free money. It's definitely a nice perk I guess, but I don't know if it's a huge deal in the grand scheme of things.
Witch Hazel is also great for taking yellow stains out of finger and toe nails due to dark polish. Put a little in a spray bottle, spritz on toes or fingers after you get out of the shower and it will come right out