I never had an issue with my HSA card. Paid into one from 2016-2020 when I had a state job. Then switched off a high deductible to a standard plan with an FSA. Left the state job in August 2021 to go private. finally burned through the last of the HSA money in June 2023. Switched jobs back to the state last August and started paying into the FSA. They hassled me over every charge that wasn’t a copay. Go go the eye doctor. Prove it. Buy contacts. Prove it. Go to a chiropractor. Prove it. They deactivated my FSA card over $1.60 that the insurance said was over the standard amount.

Sorry, I pay into the account for medical purposes. I go to a doctor and you pay it. You have no business knowing WHAT the doctor did to me. They were demanding stuff as documentation from my wife that was a blatant privacy violation.

Exactly. I left that part off since I thought it was already a long description. But completely true. Can’t pay out an actor that takes a percentage if it never made any money on the “official” paper.

Think of it like Russian nesting dolls.

You got the production company that pays $100 million to make a movie. The production company is owned by a studio. Production company licenses the movie to the studio that owns it for $200 million. But it’s all the same ownership and no money changed hands. It’s just on paper. So now the $100 million movie cost $200 million. Then the studio licenses out the movie to the marketing company, which the studio also owns, for $300 million. Again no money changed hands and the value is all on paper.

Do that a couple more times and that’s how a movie that literally cost $100 million and made $500 million at the box office “barely broke even”.

Might be off on the layers, but I heard that description of movie accounting years ago.

Don’t know about the same owner. But I know they are all franchises. Closest one is a major college town.

They, and most fast food, forgot what they are and why they are there. Cheap and fast food. Not sit down and expensive.

It’s cheaper to go to our local Mexican place than to Taco Bell. My wife gets the two chalupa combo. And to switch from chicken to ground beef, the combo is $13. Her standing #4 at the Mexican place is $8.75.

When Taco Bell was advertised the $5 box, all the local ones had it at $5.99. Now it’s $8.99. There’s one Taco Bell about 20 miles away that actually does follow the advertised prices. But it’s not worth driving that far.

Same, mostly. Use the credit card for the cash back and points. Pay the balance off every month. Only things I pay interest on is my mortgage and car.

When I bought my house in 2016, the total mortgage (principle, interest, taxes, insurance) was about 18% of my gross. Two jobs later, same house, it’s now 8% of my gross.

House value according to Zillow has doubled since I bought it. As has the interest rates.

Got to crash sometime.

This. I worked in municipal government years ago. And there were a few different depots for the county vehicles, including police, to gas up.

Pretty sure he means the surface temp of where he’s about to put the food to cook.

Use the laser to see how hot the cast iron is before putting the meat on. Or how hot the oil is before deep frying. The laser thermometers are good for that.