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A friend recently asked me for this list so I thought it would be worth posting. I spent about two years pursuing unusual properties as my first home, weird enough that I talked to more commercial lenders than residential lenders. Old schools, churches, campgrounds, etc. I was offering 10-40% down and considering interest rates ranging from 4% to 12%. Over time I had more money to put down, and pursued slightly less weird properties every few months. Here's everyone I pursued financing/lending with, most of which were just one phone call, but also including over two dozen applications (and consequent dings to my credit) and hundreds of follow-up calls. In total I probably spent at least a thousand hours on this process. In the end it was worth it, but it was still a slog.

 

Lists of lenders/brokers )
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Due to a combination of unemployment, pandemic stimulus, stock income, prediction market income, marriage, going back to school, and other factors, I overpaid my taxes in 2020 by more than every year from 2000 to 2019 combined. In the past I've tried to keep my overpayment, and thus my refund, as low as possible, with $4 being my best year and most years being well under $1000. This year I overpaid by more than 10% of my income.
sparr: (cellular automata)
Put more money into savings. One year of 12.5% contribution to my 401(k) has made up for multiple years of low/no retirement savings. The first year worth of stock grant at my employer also just vested, so that's a start to my short/medium-term savings (so I can buy a house in a year or three, maybe).

Donate more to charity. Katarina inspired me to make recurring donations to the ACLU and Planned Parenthood already. My irregular EFF donations are going to be made regular, and I'm going to add some to that.

Buy more art. My friends make art and their time is not worthless. I also consume a lot of art/media/entertainment that I don't have to pay for. Thanks to Winter for the idea of making a bunch of $1/mo Patreon commitments.

Help my friends and acquaintances more, financially. I make more in a day than many of my friends make in a week. I think I can work at least one day a month for them. Starting today.

Do something more interesting for housing than just living in a bus. I have three buses. I am actively pursuing leads for a small building and parking lot somewhere in SF or Oakland, so I can invite 5-10 people to live with me and make something unusual happen.
sparr: (cellular automata)
When someone commits to buying a ticket to an event from you, or sharing a hotel room, or riding in your car, when other people also want to, and then they bail, do they still owe you the money? If they tell you they aren't coming a month in advance? A week? A day? During the event? Or if they just don't show up?
sparr: (cellular automata)
Short version: I get paid Friday morning. I need to check into the Arisia hotel tonight. Would anyone out there be willing to check my room in for me? I can switch it over to my own card tomorrow for payment when I check out.

Resolved!
sparr: (cellular automata)
Every time someone asks me to send them money (or accept money from them) via Paypal I have to explain that I don't use Paypal and that I will happily use any other online money transfer service. The most common responses boil down to "I didn't know there were any alternatives to Paypal" and "Why not?". Read more... )
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I am going to order some uncut currency (that is, poster-sized sheets of bills) and document my experience spending (or trying to spend) them in different ways. A few ideas occur to me, and can be applied in different combinations.

A small 'checkbook' of bills. Perforated and torn out to pay for things, or not perforated and I cut the bills out.

Using larger than 1x1 sheets (that is, more than 1 still attached to each other) of bills.

Any of the above, applied to a transaction where I already have the goods (such as a restaurant meal I have already eaten, or a post-paid utility bill), and thus the other party is required to accept them (they could say no in other situations).

I am also trying to think of a good way to video-record the experience without needing a wingman, maybe a small video camera on a lanyard or hat?

Your thoughts?

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Clarence "Sparr" Risher

February 2025

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