Can cash out the 1$ immediately from the app.
$bid and I will pm you only looking for a couple so first come first serve!

Note: I was technically supposed to post this earlier this week, but noticed that no one was signed up for today (plus I was super busy earlier), so I'm posting a bit late, under a throwaway account! Fair warning: I'm VERY verbose, so this will be long!
Section One: Assets and Debt
As I mentioned above, I make $56k per year as an administrator in higher education. My husband (K) just got a raise to making $155k per year. He works as a lawyer, has been in the workforce for about 12 years. I won't get into too many details but he works for a small boutique firm, not Biglaw. He also sometimes gets a yearly bonus of around $10k-20k but it's not guaranteed or anything like that. K and I have totally combined finances, so the below numbers are for both of us. I have a humanities PhD but I decided to leave academia and find an alt-ac job. My current position has good work-life balance (I never work past 5 pm), but pays terribly and my university is very badly run. I'm hoping to leave higher education all together in the future and am currently enrolled in a certificate program to try to make a career transition to instructional design.
The big elephant in the room is that my husband, K, makes a lot more money than me. When we first met, he was paying off massive amounts of student loans and making much less, and I was debt free with a lot of savings, so we both spent about the same amount. Now he makes 3x what I make and we are both debt-free, so the difference is much more noticeable. We do argue about money sometimes (more in the past), but the reality is that I have a humanities PhD and will likely never out earn him, and he knew that when I married him, lol. Because of all the labor I do around the house and in our lives to support him as he works a much more intense job, I was very clear that I believed we should split our finances equally as soon as we got married. We don't have separate accounts and we generally check in with one another whenever we are planning to spend more than $100. This system works for us for now.
I also want to address the question about parental or family support. Although I technically paid all of my own bills since I got my Bachelor's degree, my parents supported me a lot by paying for my flights home to visit at Christmas or in the summer as Xmas presents/birthday presents. My parents also paid for my undergraduate degree (and K's parents paid for his undergraduate degree as well). They also gave us about $15k to pay for our wedding.
Finally, my parents recently gave me $20k as an "early inheritance." They told me they plan to do this every year (depending on the stock market). We put this money into a brokerage. I don't consider my parents rich, as they both worked hourly jobs in health care my entire life (as a nurse and respiratory therapist - both with only associate's degrees). We never owned a new car, when we went on vacation we stayed in hostels , and shopped almost exclusively at Goodwill. But they scrimped and saved and now they have over $1 million in a retirement account. So I want to acknowledge my financial privilege in that I came from this kind of background. K's parents are similar.
Retirement Balance: $186k (combination of 401k, 403b, 457, 2 Roth IRAs, and taxable brokerage account).
Equity: None, we rent.
Savings account balance: Approximately $45k.
Checking account balance: Right now, around 8k.
Credit card debt: Right now, around $3k. But we pay it off each month with our checking account balance.
Student loan debt: $0. We finally paid off my husband’s law school loans (around $130k), last year. I didn’t have any student loans from undergrad (parents paid) and my MA & PhD were fully funded.
Section Two: Income
Income Progression: I’ve been working in my current field for 3 years. I started off making about $53k and got tiny 2% “merit increases” twice. Then in July my payroll title was changed, which triggered a required raise of about $2k. (I am dramatically underpaid).
Before my current position, I was in academia. I worked as a visiting assistant professor for one year at my alma mater (made $50k for 9 months of work) and before that I was a graduate student for 7 years. I was paid $18k-21k in stipends each year and my tuition & benefits were covered. Luckily, I lived in a very low cost of living area and this was enough for me to live on without going into debt. I got my PhD in 2017. Before I was a graduate student, I taught English in Japan for three years and made around $36k per year. In high school and college, I had random jobs that provided grocery/spending money, but I was lucky enough to have parents that paid my tuition and my rent in college.
I’m currently trying to make a career change (as you will see in my diary) and enrolled in a certificate program which runs from Autumn 2020 to Spring 2021 in order to help with that.
Main Job Monthly Take Home: $7,634. This probably seems low relative to our joint income, but we max out our 401k (K) and 403b (me). I work for the state government, which means I’m also eligible for something called a Deferred Compensation Plan (457b). This is basically the same as a 401k but you can withdraw contributions and gains from the account at any age without penalty (of course, you still have to pay taxes). I also max this out, and the limit is the same as a 401k/403b - $19.5k. Also this number is before K’s raise is accounted for. It won’t increase until his end of February paycheck.
Other deductions - I have health insurance taken out (about $80 a month for me, K’s firm covers his premiums) and taxes. WA has no state taxes, so it’s only federal taxes. I used to have to pay $50 / month for a bus pass (K's was free), but I don’t pay any longer because I’m working from home during COVID.
Final note - the sum I mentioned in the headline includes a variable bonus my husband gets. My base pay is $56k and his is $155k (as of February 1). This year he also got a bonus of $20k, which is set up a bit strangely. About $4k of this was structured as a 3% matching contribution to his 401k and the rest was taxable income. In small law firms, it’s unusual to get any 401k match so this was nice.
Side Gig Monthly Take Home: None.
Any Other Monthly Income Here: We get some interest from our savings account… like $25 a month.
Section Three: Expenses
Rent: Rent comes to approximately $2,050 total for a one-bedroom apartment. Rent itself is $1886, then we have pet rent ($25 per month), bicycle parking ($15 a month) and water / sewage / gas, which is usually $120-150 (variable cost).
Renters insurance: $157.76, paid annually. $13 a month.
Retirement contribution: In addition to the 401k, 403b, and 457, which all come out before taxes, we max out our Roth IRAs. That means $500 each per month per person (for a yearly total of $6k each). As I noted up top, we match out our 401k and 403b (19,500 each) and our 457. My employee also offers a 7.5% match. K's employee offers a 3% match but it is included in his yearly bonus so it's not guaranteed (confusing).
Savings contribution: We put $500 per month into our emergency fund. We also put about $860 a month into our “sinking fund,” which covers large and small annual or sporadic purchases such as vacations, gifts, Amazon Prime renewal, car insurance and renters insurance, etc.
Investment contribution: $875 per month into a taxable brokerage at Vanguard.
In total, we save about 47% of our gross income. We can do this because we keep our housing cost low relative to our high income, we don’t have any debt remaining, we don’t have any kids or parents who need financial support, and we’re very privileged in a lot of ways. We are hoping to FIRE within 10 years.
Debt payments: None.
Donations: We budget $100 per month for donations, which includes one-time donations as well as some reoccurring donations. My husband does pro bono work as well. I would like to increase this by quite a bit, but I still have a hard time budgeting for donations because I spent 7 years living on approximately $20k a year. To go from that to making more than 10x that amount within 3-4 years is obviously something that I am very privileged for, but it is still hard for me emotionally to comprehend at times.
Electric: ~$50-100 (billed every other month)
Wifi/Cable/Landline: An extortionate $87.12 for slow internet that only works for Zoom calls about half the time. Do I really live in one of the tech cities of the future?
Cellphone: $170 (This includes both service and paying off two new iPhones. We could have paid them off up front, but it was actually cheaper by like $50 to go on a payment plan.)
Subscriptions: BritBox ($7.70), Spotify ($16.50), HBOMax ($16.50), We Hate Movies Patreon (my favorite podcast - $8.81). My parents pay for Netflix and my sister pays for Hulu, and we all share.
Gym membership: None. K and I both run and do yoga with YouTube videos. Before the pandemic, we went to yoga classes pretty frequently in person. I’d like to do some online synchronous yoga classes but find it hard to make time.
Pet expenses: Varies, but I budget $50 per month and also include an emergency fund for my cat’s vet bills in our sinking fund. She’s 11 years old and probably asthmatic, so I know her vet bills are going to increase over time.
Car payment / insurance: We own our car outright. Insurance billed yearly is $2,097, about $174 per month.
Regular therapy: $0
Paid hobbies: Nothing regular, sporadic language classes and art supplies.
Other expenses: Right now I’m doing a certificate to hopefully help with a career change. The total cost for tuition is about $5k and we already saved it up (included in our 'sinking fund') basically through spending less during the pandemic. I’ve paid two quarters so far, and the last quarter (due in March) will be a bit more - about $2.3k.
__________
Day 1
Morning: I wake up at 5:30 am. Ever since the pandemic, my sleep schedule has been shot. At first, I was so happy not to have to leave the house at 7:15 for my 45 minute bus commute and I slept in a lot. But the stress (and maybe getting old?) has made me an early riser, no matter how much I try to sleep in. I do value my early mornings with just me, my cat, and my coffee, though.
I start work at 8 am and begin by triaging my emails. I have a bunch of deadlines this week, so it’s busier than usual. My job tends to be very seasonal, and sometimes I have a ton of work and sometimes I have none and can work on other longer-term projects. I have a piece of toast for breakfast and place a Whole Foods delivery order for the following day at 10:30 am. We made a meal plan and put everything in the cart the day before ($117.36, including tip).
Afternoon: I have my lunch break from noon to 1 pm. It doesn’t really matter when I take my lunch break, since I’m salaried, but the others in my office are hourly so in the before times we used to always close our office during the same time. I have a piece of leftover delivery pizza and some spinach risotto that I made a few days earlier. I also have half a brownie – the last one from a batch I made a few days ago (K gets the other half). He also has leftovers for lunch.
I should say at this point that both K and I are lucky enough to have been working almost entirely from home since early March. An area near Seattle was one of the first places to get hit by COVID-19, and my state and both of our employers have been taking it very seriously ever since. Working from home hasn’t always been easy since we live in a 600-square foot apartment. Also, there is a three-story townhouse being built directly next door to us and I can hear the pounding in my dreams at this point.
Around 2 pm, I go for a 2-mile run. I feel like some money diarists tend to toss off things like “oh, I went for an easy 7 mile run,” at the drop of a hat, so I want to be clear – running for 2 miles isn’t easy for me; it’s exhausting, annoying, sweaty, and generally gross. Also I am very slow. But it has kept me sane during quarantine.
Meanwhile, my husband goes to our local pet store to get an enzymatic cleaner (our cat peed in one of our suitcases… I think it’s probably a lost cause, but it was basically brand new, so worth a try) and special weight-loss cat food. Our cat is an 11-year-old rescue from the Humane Society and she is a chonky girl. We had to sign a waiver when we adopted her, saying that we understood that she was very overweight, lol. Our vet recommended a special diet food, rather than just restricting her intake as we have been doing, so we will give it a try ($78). My husband also stops buy our local wine store and picks up two bottles. We’ve been doing a dry January, so this will be our first drink for a while ($27.53).
I have a phone interview scheduled for 4 pm – just a preliminary interview with an internal recruiter. It’s the first ‘corporate’ job interview I’ve ever had, since I’ve been in academia my entire life. I’m trying to make a pivot into instructional design / training and development. I’m just excited to get an interview. It seems to go pretty well, but who knows. They tell me they will probably get back to me by the end of this week.
Evening: My husband whips up a random meal of fridge remnants – pesto pasta with sausage and a fridge salad with feta and bell peppers. It’s pretty tasty with a little Sauvignon Blanc. During dinner, we play a card game we call gin rummy, although it bears no resemblance to the actual game. After dinner, I make a chocolate cake with orange buttercream frosting and we watch Cobra Kai.
Daily total: $222.89
Day 2
Morning: Up early again, a piece of toast for breakfast (very exciting). We’re out of eggs until our Whole Foods order arrives. I’m working on creating some tedious but necessary spreadsheets this morning.
Noon: Our Whole Foods order arrives around noon. Excitement! They’ve given us a half-rotten bag of romaine lettuce and substituted pecans for hazelnuts. I should probably just double mask and go to Trader Joe’s myself (our regular spot, only a 5-minute walk from my apartment). I’m just getting anxious about these new variants.
I have leftover meatloaf and spinach risotto again for lunch. Lots of meetings and more organizing spreadsheets in the afternoon. Around 3 pm, I go for my daily ritual - a 20-minute walk around my neighborhood. It’s still raining slightly but I need to get out. Halfway through the walk, I get an email from my apartment manager telling me the apartment will no longer accept debit card payments, direct deposit, or credit card payments for paying rent. In other words, only checks or money orders (?!). Ugh. Our lease is up in 4 months and we will not be renewing our lease. Our last apartment manager was a gambling addict who may have been stealing people’s identities, but by God, he kept things working. Ever since they fired him, this place has been going downhill.
Evening: I check my bank statements to update my budget spreadsheet and realize that I have been billed the wrong amount of rent. They actually charged me less than they should have. I don’t trust my apartment manager not to start charging me a late fee or something for this, so I call them up. They are baffled by how to fix this, which you would think would be the one thing you would want to get right, if you’re renting out apartments.
K cooks dinner – steak with a Roquefort sauce and glazed brussels sprouts. It’s from a French cookbook we recently bought and it is delicious. I work on classwork for my certificate program while he cooks. After dinner, I do the dishes and buy the 13th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race. I watch the first episode – lots of shocking twists and turns! I’m planning to watch the rest of the episodes together with my younger sister, M ($22.01).
Daily total: $22.01
Day 3
Morning: K has an 8 am dentist appointment, so he takes off early. He already paid for the work last month, so there’s no charge. I have a piece of toast for breakfast and get to work checking my emails. It’s 8:20 am and the construction crew building a townhouse next door is blasting mariachi music. I’m glad someone is having fun. At least the sun is coming out.
Someone at work has made a critical error, but it wasn’t me, thank God. I was the one who found out about it, but it’s still going to cause a big old headache for me. I’m ready to be done with this job. K and I go for a run so that I can exhaust myself enough to no longer be furious about said careless error.
Noon: I have leftover spinach risotto and meatloaf again – exciting. I’m busy at work but frankly, not a lot going on other than that. Still no word about fixing my rent payments. I’m not really willing to pursue this any further at this point.
Evening: I start making chili (Turkey Chili from the NY Times) and cornbread (from my new cookbook, Jubilee). K is doing some work on our investments when he announces that, somehow, a transfer was scheduled from our checking account to our savings account of $55k (?!) We obviously don’t have $55k in our checking account, so we start frantically trying to figure out what’s going on. Numerous phone calls later, we still don’t know if that was a hack, if my husband somehow mistakenly scheduled the transfer himself, or if the bank messed it up. Either way, it doesn’t seem like any harm was done since the bank with our checking account just declined the transaction. But it seems really strange and worrisome. We get to work changing the passwords on all of our accounts, just in case it was some kind of hack.
After dinner (and chocolate cake), I have a Zoom happy hour with a local friend. We occasionally see each other outside but it’s nice to have a longer chat from the comfort of our living rooms. We both love murder mysteries, so we signed up for a service where a company sends us letters with clues and we try to solve the mystery together. It’s a fun way to stay connected and look forward to something during the pandemic. The service costs about $15 per month, but I paid for it in lump sum for 3 months, so it’s not included in my budget above. I drink some wine and we vent about work (we work at the same place) before getting started on the puzzle.
Daily total: $0
Day 4
Morning: I sleep in a bit, which is nice. Get up around 7 am. My parents are both getting their 2nd vaccine today – they’re both in their 70s and I am so relieved. I send my mom a “congratulations on being vaccinated!” text and we chat for a bit. I have leftover cornbread with honey and butter for breakfast – soooo good.
Work is not particularly exciting today, but someone sends me a last-minute request for something that does not need to be so urgent. I feel annoyed. Still no word from the interviewers on Monday, and I’m beginning to suspect I wasn’t selected to move forward. Too bad. K pays for a Wordpress website for the year (it’s a work-related website, but sadly his work doesn’t reimburse him). It costs $92.48.
Noon: The mariachi music is particularly loud today. I stand out on my balcony in the sun for a while and watch the workers. It’s been interesting seeing a house go up next door in real time, especially since I’m at home all the time. The workers are balancing on the top of the third story wall without, as far as I can see, anything like a safety line. It seems unsafe, but I presume they know what they’re doing.
We booked a cabin for the upcoming weekend in the Hood Canal region of Washington to do some hiking and birdwatching. I want to be as safe as possible and not go to any grocery stores or risk spreading COVID in any way while I’m there, so I place another grocery order with Whole Foods just for some special treats for the weekend. The cabin has a small kitchen and a grill, so we’re planning to make a fancy steak salad on Saturday. I order chips and hummus, some fancy cheese and meats, Tate’s cookies (I’ve heard a lot of good things about these), a baguette, and the ingredients for the steak salad. I also order a few staples I forgot in our last order, like sweet potatoes, more coffee, and half and half. It comes to $87.41, including tip, but that does include like $30 worth of steak. For some reason, I can’t order a small amount of steak online, so I’m planning to freeze half of it for later. (I include this purchase in our vacation fund budget, rather than under our regular grocery budget).
Around 2 pm, K makes a quick trip to our local wine store to buy an Oregon pinot noir and some port to enjoy at the cabin ($59.45). This store has an outdoor walk-up counter where you can tell the owner what you’re looking for, and he brings you some options (the store is way too small to allow customers to enter during Covid). It’s fun to chat with another human being, even briefly.
Evening: After work, we spend a little time rebalancing our investing and retirement accounts. We decide to put more money into bonds and a little bit into REIT’s as a hedge against a potential crash or recession in the future. Then I start making dinner – Broken Eggs (Huevas Rotas) from the NY Times cooking site. You basically cook the potatoes in a skillet in water, spices, and olive oil, and then sauté them to crisp them up once the water evaporates. Then you add onion, lots of garlic, and finally some eggs. It is delicious. I eat it with leftover cornbread while watching RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13 with my sister – we watch the first two episodes. It’s full of twists and turns. A note about this – we have an elaborate procedure for watching shows together developed during quarantine whereby we start the show at the same with an earbud in one ear, while FaceTiming. I also have chocolate cake, of course.
Later, I get an email that I’ve signed up for HBO on Amazon Prime. I definitely have not. I text my mom, who shares my account, and she tells me she signed up by mistake. I cancel right away and luckily they won’t charge us for it.
Meanwhile, K is doing an online Japanese language class over Zoom. He’s been interested in learning ever since we went to Japan last January. I lived in Japan for 3 years so I was able to take us around to a lot of more obscure places and he really enjoyed the trip – it was a blast.
K starts a YouTube yoga class (from Do Yoga With Me – my favorite channel) and I join him for part of it before bed around 10 pm.
Daily total: $239.34
Day 5
Morning: I get up around 7 am and we go for a run first thing. I prefer running early in the morning because there are fewer people to avoid during COVID. We do a different route today – it’s longer (3 miles) but has fewer hills. It’s a slog, as always, but I feel good when I get back right around 8 am. I jump straight onto my computer to start checking work emails and my husband makes us avocado and egg toast for breakfast - it is absolutely delicious.
We talk about how our bathroom smells distinctly mildewy (yay for being a grown-up because I guess this is what we talk about now) and we buy two big buckets of DampRid on Amazon ($26.60). I’ve found this to be a necessity in Seattle. Mid-morning, I take a break from work and start packing for our trip to the cabin.
Noon: I have leftover potatoes and cornbread for lunch, and my husband has the leftover chili. We finish getting ready to leave and head out right after lunch, taking a half day. The only problem is that I have attend a meeting at 3:30 pm, so we head out hoping to get there in time. Our cabin is near Quilcene in the Hood Canal region of Washington, about a 2 hour drive or a 2 hour ferry ride + drive. We are initially planning to take the ferry both ways, but realize that we mistimed the ferry departure, so we drive the whole way instead. Luckily, there’s little traffic mid-day, and we arrive at our Airbnb around 3:00 pm.
The Airbnb is beautiful! It’s a small cabin handmade by the owner, whose house is next door. It’s very rural, with a beautiful view. It’s tiny, but has a little kitchen and a waterfall-style shower with river rocks on the floor. It’s a great place to get away for a short time. Luckily, it also has good reception and I’m able to sit in on my meeting with no problems. My husband also does a little work, and then at 5 pm we’re free!
In our planning, we decided to get takeout on Friday night, since the little kitchen isn’t designed for any serious cooking. We call ahead to a local restaurant to order burgers (one of only 2 restaurants in the whole town). It’s around 5:30 pm and the place is deserted. It’s a microbrewery, but they tell us they haven’t been making beer since COVID-19 hit. None of the workers are wearing masks when I walk in, but they put them on when they see I’m wearing one. I pick up our order - a few bottled beers and burgers and fries ($49.52 including tip).
Back at our Airbnb, we watch Big Trouble in Little China and enjoy our very messy, but delicious, burgers (it costs $4.39 to rent). The movie is very campy but fun. I love silly action movies, as you will see with my other viewing choices. We wrap up the night in a very exciting fashion, eating chocolate cake and watching old episodes of the original Star Trek.
Daily total: $80.51
Day 6
Morning & noon: When we wake up around 8 am, the weather is looking thankfully clear and even sunny! We were expecting rain, so we’re really glad. We decide to go hiking today, and we head out before even having breakfast, with snacks and lunches packed. Our first destination is a hike called Mt. Zion, but unfortunately, we run into enough snow 2 miles before the trailhead that we decide to turn back. We don’t have any traction for our Subaru and don’t want to risk getting stuck on a very narrow mountain road. Instead, we drive another hour or so to the Lena Lake trailhead, a very popular and less strenuous trail. It’s about 7.5 miles roundtrip with 1200 feet of elevation gain.
By this time, it’s around 11:30, but luckily there is still parking. It’s a great hike up, and we run into relatively few people. We always mask up whenever we pass anyone, as does about 50% of the people we meet. The others… not so much. Around a mile from the lake, we start to run into snow. It’s turned into a beautiful sunny day, and I’m loving seeing all this snow! It’s a bit slippery, but not too bad. We make it to the lake mid-day, and it’s super jammed – there’s only a small viewpoint accessible, so everyone is crowded in there. I feel a bit uneasy with all the unmasked people, but we manage to find a spot away from the crowd and sit down to eat our lunch of apples, chips, and energy bars. There are a ton of robber jays there (Canada Jays) which try to eat our chips. It is fun watching them, but I’m annoyed to see some kids feeding them – it’ll just make them that much more aggressive. Bad trail manners.
On our way back down, we get stuck behind a group of 5 unmasked adults, who refuse to cede the narrow trail to faster hikers. I’m a slow hiker myself, so, to be clear, I’m not angry at slower walkers being on the trail but have some self-awareness and let people pass! especially if you’re going to go hiking in a big group during a pandemic! We finally get back down and head back to our Airbnb.
Evening: Back home, we explore some of the trails our Airbnb host has set up around his extensive property, and then relax on the deck. The sun is breaking through the clouds and it feels wonderful to sit out in nature and feel the sun on my back. We open up a bottle of wine and have a few pre-dinner snacks (more chips and hummus). For this night, we brought ingredients to make a steak salad. Our Airbnb host has kindly set up a charcoal grill for us, so we grilled the steak and toast some bread on the side.
We eat dinner while watching the truly terrible Jean Claude Van Damme movie Bloodsport and finish up the very last of my chocolate cake. It’s amazing that anyone ever let Van Damme act… or should I say ‘act.’ I also have a Tate’s chocolate chip cookie or two, accompanied by a little port. My husband and I are truly very old people at heart, so we finish up the night watching a few episodes of Columbo.
Daily total: $0
Day 7
Morning: Unfortunately, K had insomnia last night, so he sleeps in pretty late. I drink coffee in bed and enjoy looking at the view out our big windows. Once he’s up, we get packed up and write a thank you note for our host. It was a great stay.
One of my big hobbies is birding and K enjoys wildlife photography, so we go out to look for some lifers! (The first time you see a new species of bird). Did I mention we are very old people in (relatively) young bodies? We first go to Dosewallips State Park and see some bald eagles, great blue herons, lots of various ducks, and a flock of Canada Geese, which, strangely, includes a domesticated gray goose. He’s much larger than the Canada Geese and seems to be watching over them. It’s kind of cute. Unfortunately, a lot of the birds are too far from shore to be seen clearly.
Our next stop is Point No Point (I love all the sad & disappointed names that early Westerner explorers gave places in the Washington/Oregon coast), a popular birding spot. We see a ton of birds here, and I can understand why it’s so well-known - Red-Breasted Mergansers, Western Grebes, Common Goldeneyes, Pacific Loons, and a few others I can’t identify yet. Most excitingly though, we see a whole pile of otters! They’re lounging around together on a rock just offshore and a ton of people are watching. We watch as they all slip off the rock and go hunting in the shore. It’s my first otter sighting in the wild, and it’s so cool! We also see some seals and possibly a sea lion. It’s a great spot for wildlife. We eat some snacks (hummus, chips, some sliced meat & cheese) before we head out.
I really want to come back to this area another time and explore further, but K has decided that we need to get back home in time for the Big Game. We take the 3:00 pm ferry back to Seattle ($16.40) and get home around 3:45 pm. I veg out at home while my husband watches football. He’s a Patriots fan but he still loves Tom Brady (??) so he’s happy to see Florida win. I don’t understand sports team loyalties at all, but whatever, I’m glad he’s happy. We order from a new Indian place called Spice Box and get vindaloo, roganjosh, and vegetables pakora – so tasty ($53.96). Happily, there’s enough left over for lunch the next day, since I have no plans for what we will eat yet!
I’m really dreading work the next day, as I know that it will be obnoxious. I want to get out of my job so badly, but it doesn’t look like I’m going on to the next interview stage for the job I interviewed no back on Monday. I’m feeling kind of down about it. I try to stay positive and promise that I’ll apply for at least 2-3 new jobs next week. I bake up some frozen cookie dough I had in the freezer and feel sorry for myself. We end the night by watching another episode of Columbo.
Daily total: 70.36
Food + Drink: $395.23
Fun / Entertainment: $26.40
Home + Health: $26.60
Clothes + Beauty: $0
Transport: $16.40
Other: $170.48
Grand Total: $635.11
I think this week was pretty normal for us. Obviously we spent a bit more than usual due to the weekend cabin trip, but nothing outrageous. Our largest consumer spending category is definitely food and drink – we live in a very busy area of Seattle with tons of restaurants and bars so believe it or not, we actually used to spend even more on eating out. We still try to support our local places by getting takeout or delivery during the pandemic and even occasionally getting a few drinks outside. I spent more than usual on groceries due to stocking up for the weekend away.

Different types of INC offerings:

1. Abuloy/Regular Offering
   
2. Children's Offering
   
3. Locale Funds/Church Offering
   
4. Tanging Handugan/Specialized Offering
   
5. Lingap/Charity
   
6. Lagak/F9
   
7. Pasasalamat/Mid-Year and End-Year Thanksgiving
   

I added what amount I used to give in the Philippines in pesos and Canadian dollars when I moved to Canada
Abuloy/Regular Offering - Average rate: 20-500 pesos/$5-$50CAD. Collected 2 times a week on every service (AM and PM). This is the main fuel source of INC.
Children's Offering - Yes, that child who has no job or any source of income will be required to offer. Amount depends on the parents but averages in between 10-100 pesos/$1-$20CAD. Collected every Sunday. Gotta get that practice ingrained in the children's psyche.
Locale Funds/Church Offering - Average rate: 20-500 pesos/$20-$100CAD. An optional form of offering, in the form of a dropbox. Collected every service. It is used to maintain the locale/district church. (electricity, water, maintenance)
Tanging Handugan/Specialized Offering - Average rate: 100-1000/$20-$100CAD+ Collected every month. A specific offering for their special gatherings, projects, magazines, tv shows, public media, beautification of the church. They could also announce an "emergency" tanging handugan incase they're low on funds.
Lingap/Charity - Average rate: 100-1000+ pesos/$20-$100CAD. Collected every month. Mostly done for PR stunts and publicity. Special offering designed for buying of relief goods/assisting those affected by natural disasters. Now they're using it to build mushroom plantations and farms in Africa in hopes to convert them.
Lagak/F9 - Average rate: 100-1000+ pesos/$20-$50CAD. Collected every Sunday. By the end of the year it will exceed over 5000 pesos/$1000CAD. This is the act of depositing money to the church for the Thanksgiving event. By the end of the year you will receive a receipt stating how much money you've accumulated through the entire year to offer to the church. They do this so the money you will offer for the Thanksgiving will be left untouched. You cannot withdraw the money you deposited. IF YOU ARE PREGNANT THEY WILL IMMEDIATELY REQUIRE YOU OPEN AN ACCOUNT FOR YOUR UNBORN CHILD.
Pasasalamat/Mid-Year and End-Year Thanksgiving - Lagak + Average rate: 500-10,000+ pesos/$50-$300. This is the grand daddy. The big boss. The king of all offerings. Oh, you just received your 13th month pay and Christmas bonus? Christmas is evil. Give that to us. These all go directly to INC central.

The Ottoman rework has been teased for a long time so I know you’ll be happy to hear it is finally here and ready for you to enjoy! Not only that, but the National France rework comes with it two, along with several other new focus trees. We’ve also spent time working on other changes, such as letting you recall volunteers, along with many bug fixes and performance improvements. We hope you enjoy the changes and have fun playing Kaiserreich!
Note: As always this patch isn’t save-game compatible. If you would like to continue your game please use the manual download found here:
- The KR4 team
Changes
Notable Additions

• Completely reworked the Commune of France’s generals, admirals, and military ministers
• Russia’s foreign policy has been overhauled to accompany the changes to the Middle East and the Caucasus
• Added “Recall Volunteers” button
• Expeditionary Forces no longer count towards the division limit

New Focus Trees

• Syria
• Iraq
• Hejaz
• Georgia
• Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem
• Suez International Zone
• Cyrenaica

Reworked/Expanded Focus Trees

• Ottoman Empire
• Egypt
• Tripolitania
• Jabal Shammar
• National France

Tweaked Focus Trees

• Russia
• Russian Socialist Republic
• Romania
• Ireland
• Portugal
• Oman
• Yemen
• Germany

New Events

• Romania
• National France
• Syria
• Iraq
• Hejaz
• Georgia
• Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem
• Tripolitania
• Ottoman Empire
• Egypt
• Cyrenaica
• Jabal Shammar
• Ikhwan

Tweaked Events

• Russia
• Commune of France

New Decisions

• Ireland
• Romania
• National France
• Portugal
• Syria
• Iraq
• Hejaz
• Ottoman Empire
• Egypt
• Cyrenaica
• Jabal Shammar

Tweaked Decisions

• Commune of France
• Russia

New Custom Country Paths

• Ottoman Empire
• National France
• Egypt

GFX

• New focus icons for Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Mittelafrika, Peru, the Union of Britain and Venezuela
• New flags for Alash Orda, the Commune of France, Illyria, National France, the Ottoman Empire and Ulster
• Adjusted the Africa loading screen to match the new situation
• New or updated portraits for:
  • Afghanistan: Amanullah Khan
  • Armenia: Berç Kerestecıyan, Hamazasp Babadzhanian
  • Assyria: Agha Petros, Dawid d’Mar Shimun, Shimun XXI Eshai
  • Austria: Alfred Jansa, Alfred Klahr, Eduard Barger, Erhard Raus, Franz Böhme, Franz Dinghofer, Friedrich Adler, Friedrich Materna, Georg von Trapp, Heinrich Pergler von Perglas, Julius Ringel, Karl Eglseer, Karl Renner, Lothar Rendulic, Ludwig von Eimannsberger, Pierre Ramus, Sigismund Schilhawsky, Wilhelm Miklas, Wilhelm Zehner
  • Belgium: Adelbert I, Georges Timmermans, Jean Baptiste Piron, Maximilien de Neve de Roden, Victor Billet, Victor van Strydonck de Burkel
  • Britain: Anthony Pugsley, Ebeneezer Edwards, John MacCormick, John Strachey, Robert Oliver
  • Bulgaria: Ivan Variklechkov, Kimon Georgiev, Konstantin Bekyarov, Konstantin Lukash, Nikola Hadzhipetov, Nikola Nakov, Sava Ivanov, Teodosi Daskalov
  • Cameroon: Karl Atangana
  • Cyprus: Leontios II
  • Cyrenaica: az-Zubayr bin Ahmad as-Sharif
  • Don-Kuban: Andrey Shkuro
  • Egypt: Abbas II
  • France: André Lemonnier, André Marty, Charles Delestraint, Charles Luizet, Diego Brosset, Ernest Petit, Gaston BIllotte, Georges Blanchard, Georges Catroux, Henri Tanguy, Jacques Sadoul, Joseph Putz, Louis Buisson, Marcel Gensoul, Marie-Pierre Koenig, Philippe Auboyneau, Raoul Castex, Raoul Magrin Vernerey, René Olry
  • Georgia: Ekvtime Takaishvili, Evgeni Gegechkori, Giorgi Bagration, Kakutsa Cholokashvili
  • Greece: Pangalis Tsaldaris
  • Hejaz: Abdullah bin al-Hussein, Abdul Qadir Pasha el-Jundi, Ghazi bin Faisal al-Hashmid
  • Hungary: Árpád Szakasits, Béla Kun, István Bethlen, Oszkár Jászi
  • Ireland: Frank MacDermot, Seán Murray
  • Ikhwan: Nidā ibn Nuhair, Sultan ibn Humaid ibn Bijad, Zaidan ibn Hithlain
  • Jabal Shammar: Abdallah ibn Mitab ibn Abd al-Aziz, Muhammad ibn Talil, Saud al-Subhan
  • Lebanon: Bechara el Khoury, Emile Edde, Emile Boustany, Farajallah el-Helou, Fuad Chehab, Pierre Gemayel, Saeb Salam, Youssef Chmeit
  • Lithuania: Augustinas Voldemaras, Mikas Reklaitis
  • Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem: Esat Sagay, Raghib al-Nashashibi
  • Najd: Saud bin Abuldaziz al-Saud
  • National France: Aimé Doumenc, André Mallarmé, Aubert Frère, Camille Chautemps, Edouard Daladier, Eugène Deloncle, François Darlan, François de la Rocque, Henri Mordacq, George Groussard, Georges Thierry d’Argenlieu, Henri Roger Marie Meric de Bellefon, Jean Decoux, Jean-Marie Charles Abrial, Jean Touzet du Vigier, Louis Franchet d’Esperey, Louis Marin, Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, Marcel Descour, Maurice Grisot, Philippe Leclerc, Pierre Boyer, Pierre Étienne Flandin, Pierre Lelong,
  • Ottoman Empire: Asim Gunduz, Cahit Toydemir, Fahrettin, Hayrullah Fisek, Kazim Orbay, Mehmet Ali Ülgen, Mehmet Hayri Tarhan, Kazim Karabekir, Fevzi Çakmak, Mustafa Kemal, Mustafa Muglali, Nafiz Gurman, Hüseyin Rauf Orbay, Mahmud Muhtar Katırcıoğlu, Nihat Anılmış, Nuri Yamut, Ömer Fahrettin, Osman Fuad, Sukru Okran, Tahsin Yazici
  • Poland: Konstanty Rokossowski, Mikolaj Boltuc
  • Romania: Nicolae I
  • Serbia: Zivko Topalovic
  • Siam: Luang Karjsongkhram, Luang Kriengsakpichit, Phraya Wichitjakkrit, Seni Pramoj, Sindhu Kamolnavin
  • Sweden: Ernst Linder
  • Syria: Adi bin Hassan, Akram Hourani, Aziz Ali al-Misri, Hashim al-Atassi, Husni al-Zaim, Khalid Bakdash, Muhammad Abdel Moneim, Rushdi al-Kikhiya, Said al-Jazairi
  • Tripolitania: Ahmad Faqih Hasan, Bashir Saadawi, Salim Bey al-Muntasir
  • Trucial States: Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, Shakhbut bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
  • West Indies: Eustace Fiennes
  • Yunnan: Lu Han

Music Mod

• Added Ottoman songs: Resadiye Marsi, Ottoman March, Izmir March, and March of the Ottoman Expedition
• Added Indonesian song: Rayuan Pulau Kelapa
• Added Polish song: Marsz Obozowy
• Added Mongolian Song: Chingges Khaanii Magtaa
• Added German Song: Komm Zurück! There’s also a new version of Das Gibt Nur Einmal (It’s the same recording, just with less background noise)
• By request of the French Team, the French music list has been reworked. The new songs are: Ça ira mieux demain, Ce que c'est qu'un drapeau, Cocorico, Debout la France, Hymne de L'Infanterie de Marine, Ils ne la gagneront pas, Ils Reviendront, La France de demain, La Galette, La Royale, Le Chant des Girondins, Le Cuirassier, Le Rêve Passe, Marche des Tirailleurs, Nous autres de la chasse (Us of the Hunt)", La Renouveau, Rhin et Danube,Semons le Grain de la Lumière and a new version of La Marche Lorraine. French songs that have been removed: Partant pour la Syrie (main theme, will be re-added later), Au 31 du mois d'août, Maréchal Nous Voilà, La Victoire est à nous, Aida Triumphal March, La Grenadière, Primer Imperio Francés, Veillons au salut de l'Empire

Mapping

• Ningbo is now a city
• Added Poti and moved Batumi to Trabzon
• Made the Trans-Saharan railway a special crossing
• Split Wales into North and South Wales
• Merged the Barotseland states
• Strategic region updates for Britain and the Congo
• Ifni is now a separate state from Rio de Oro
• Added new border states in Panama and Costa Rica
• Restored the correct borders of Burkina Faso
• Removed Lake Volta, as it doesn’t exist in 1936
• Split Flanders into Antwerp and Flanders
• Split Wallonia into Hainaut and Liège
• Curaçao and Qatar now have ports
• Chinese provinces are now displayed on the state screen

Miscellaneous

• Added a British Exile trait for CAN generals and admirals, showing which leaders will return to GBR when it is formed
• Added coalitions for Uruguay, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Panama
• If Shanqing forms Qing, they can integrate parts of China
• The Manchu Coup is no longer really democratic, and ends elections after 1945
• Japan can no longer annex China for a smaller cost
• Legation Cities now keep their current government when puppeted
• Legation Cities can request allied Chinese concessions
• MacArthur can now secure all of Texas and Oklahoma before the Civil War starts
• Tennessee and North Carolina are now more likely to stay with MacArthur.
• Added a way for Austria to bribe Bulgaria with Macedonia for an alliance if DAB exists after annexing Serbia.
• Added the ability for Austria to give core Serbia to Illyria (it cannot core it).
• Delayed Austria's entry into the WK - they’ll only do it if they’ve chosen their reform path and done the focus, and if Germany has lost Bavaria or has over 30% surrender progress.
• If Canada is invaded by anyone other than America or one of its allies, a non-socialist America will join the war in favor of Canada.
• Anqing and Nanjing Clique Yiguandao/KMT decisions have been improved and cleaned up.
• Rocket artillery and motorized rocket artillery added to companies
• Ireland now starts with an AuthDem Minister of the Interior, instead of NatPop
• Romania's Iron Guard content expanded, especially the middle Legionary tree. King Nicolae I can succeed instead of Michael.
• Michael I is now localized to Mihai, just as other Romanian kings are localised.
• Gave player more control over whether or not Carol II dies in the assassination event.
• Added decisions to Carol's post-unification path
• American Union State can now join the Entente
• Venice now begins with a military malus for a couple of months, when it revolts
• Russia no longer sends volunteers to Xinjiang
• Reduced Kumul's out of supply boni and lowered their starting troop count by 2
• Transylvania can now be granted to a non-aligned Romania.
• Several new event pictures for Russia and the Commune of France
• Removed Volkerschau events
• Portugal’s Colonial Development focuses have been turned into decisions.
• Custom GUI in the stateview that shows which Province Chinese states belong to, similar to the new Ottoman GUI
• The above GUI now shows the status of replacing the governors in the Reestablish Order decision tab for Anqing
• Germany can now influence the Portugal-Mittelafrika peace deal
• Redone the Socialist Anti-Colonial Committee focus for the Commune of France to match with the changes in National France
• Added camels to the Middle East nations, Ethiopia, Somalia and National France
• Internationale and Entente/Reichspakt countries will now embargo each other when joining the faction
• Twilight Struggle is now removed if the Internationale is defeated.
• The Internationale will now collapse if a suitable leader cannot be found.
• Poland now gets claims on Germany upon allying with Russia.
• Majors now have an increased factor towards researching CAS and NAV.
• Moved the Isle of Man to Lanark
• Poland now gets claims on Germany upon allying with Russia.
• Poland can now annex Gumbinnen if it has annexed Konigsberg.
• Can no longer go down to “Disarmed Nation” voluntarily
• Removed Arabian cores on the Levant
• NatPop SIC now more likely to join Entente
• Added a couple of tooltips to three Russian events
• Updated Persia-Russia peace deal
• Ecuador now starts with a mountaineer template
• Smedley Butler now dies after the Second American Civil War
• GEA and RUS will now send lend-lease to the United Front if possible
• Added Aland annexation decision
• Added Romandie annexation decision
• Aland is now demilitarized again at the end of wars
• The Phalanstere's assistance can now be refused.
• AI USA now builds more tanks
• Xinjiang may now be given to the Central Asian Federation
• Updated AI factors for the conscription laws
• Chen Jiongming no longer invites a corrupt Zhao Hengti to the Federalists.
• Legation Cities can now request concessions that their allies hold
• Removed dates from loading quotes
• Chile will now receive Tierra del Fuego if it can't be returned to Argentina by whoever is releasing it.
• Belgium's AT ideas now give piercing boni instead.
• Updated AI factors for the conscription laws.
• Tags that revolt from Andesia now automatically join a faction to work together to crush Argentina
• If Brazil is a puppet or was Balkanized by Patagonia then they too can join the faction to crush Andesia
• When a tag revolts against Andesia it automatically goes to war, no longer can you opt to not go to war
• Andesia now peaces out with the revolters after its full collapse
• The NFA and GBR foci about the British-French relationship are now linked.
• Added unit limit bonuses for the SCW
• Added a small unit limit bonus for Yucatan
• Russia can now invite Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to its faction
• Hawaii can now be granted to GEA
• Added an Ukrainian rename for Kuban
• Some nerfs to the CSA military ideas
• Lithuania will now refrain from rebelling before the WK
• The UK will target in peace conferences, and then no longer release, Malaysia or Sarawak unless decolonised.
• Romania’s Great Game decision category now warns you when you’re losing stability
• Memel can be granted to an allied Lithuania
• “Restoring Napoleon” loading tip replaced with “Restoring monarchies”
• USA can now break the ceasefire if the PSA is losing against a third party
• New unique American designers
• Removed any mentions of Hitler or Heydrich
• Added a dynamic description to the Siamese engineers event
• Reduced the time for Yunnan's war declarations
• The Brazilian Greenguards idea now has a more fitting effect
• Guatemala will now try to get rid of Monroe as soon as possible
• The UK now gets a claim on South Georgia alongside the Falklands
• Russia will now refrain from attacking Japan while Germany is still alive.
• Increased suppression values for armoured cars, camels, and bicycle battalions
• The Third Internationale will now research oil tech more but has fewer bonuses for it.
• Greece now gets Northern Epirus via the Treaty of Budapest.
• Hawaii now gets two destroyers from each purchase
• Russia's military AI should now focus less on Finland and more on EE
• Changed the Russian attack on Germany to be focus-based
• Occitania has been fully removed
• Ukraine's mission to peace out with Germany now cancels if they reach 50% surrender progress
• AI republican Poland will now wait for the WK to join a faction.
• Foreign volunteers to the CSA are modifiable
• Ulster’s parties have been redone
• Transylvania will no longer rejoin a capitulated Romania.
• TAN can now integrate China if led by a Han regime
• The Gruppa di Difesa Della Donna template added for the SRI is no longer locked
• SRI can no longer join the Third Internationale if it declares war on a fellow socialist country before joining the faction
• All SRI decisions to build factories now require PP and civilian_factory_use, and take longer to build; they no longer need to be done only one at a time, however
• The bonuses provided by many SRI economic and military ideas have been significantly nerfed across the board
• Italian focuses which add resources have been moved to decisions, so they can be available to other tags if/when Italy is united
• Legionary Italy now gets its navy back from Venice, upon taking Venice during the revolt

Fixes
Notable Fixes

• Fixed Portugal not joining the Entente if MAF is dead, again
• The Netherlands no longer trade with their enemies
• Fixed Japan's collapse resurrecting a dead Russia in Transamur
• ROM can no longer release Greater Hungary
• ANI Italy actually tries to beat Venice, for real this time

Other Fixes

• America can now actually ask for their vote back in the Legation Council
• Panama’s politics now make more sense
• Fixed Legation Council vote timer appearing for nations not on the Council
• Norway no longer has identical companies
• Austria can still do their Secret Deal path
• If the Left Kuomintang are a puppet then they will only be able to take Army/Navy/Air national foci to prevent your puppet from doing major changes to their government (1st congress etc) without your knowing.
• Removed the white border around the Hunan flag
• Fixed the resolution of the Rassid Arabia flag
• Fixed Persia returning Herat to Afghanistan
• Fixed MAF-released Rhodesia not owning Nyasaland.
• Fixed a number of XSM typos
• Fixed Persia returning Herat to Afghanistan.
• Fixed France not getting claims on Wallonia if they annex all of Belgium
• Fixed the Dutch Revolution news event using the wrong description
• MAF can no longer release its constituents while at war
• The CSA Constitutional Congress popularity gains now reflect the actual politics
• Fixed a Yunnan focus bypassing incorrectly and added extra AI factors to their war foci
• Post-ACW emergency mobilization is no longer locked
• Fixed and improved the Hunan faction joining decisions
• Fixed the post-Great Game trees' availables
• WIF can no longer get spontaneous coups late game or when a conflicting game rule is enabled.
• Fixed Fate of Kurdistan not transferring the states
• The party popularity GUI now correctly reflects the party providing the PP gain
• Fixed the Brazilian volunteer division not being removed when the ACW ends
• Fixed the CAN-CSA peace triggering the Fall of Boston event incorrectly
• Fixed the terrain around Vancouver
• Fixed the endonym for Kisangani/Stanleyville
• Fixed some misleading tooltips in the Unification Conference starter mission
• Fixed Fengtian being able to join Japan's faction when already in it
• Added an alternative response to the Manchu Campaign news event for their enemies
• No more errors from unplanned offensives
• Fixed Natal's tree being unlocked before the Boer War begins.
• Fixed the Peruvian foreign policy foci.
• Fixed frontline bug in Cabinda
• Fixed a SIK decision giving steel while referring to oil deposits.
• Romania can no longer join the Entente if at war
• The LKMT no longer commits suicide by Japan
• Fixed the inverted BHC civil war leaders.
• State modifiers are no longer overlapping in the UI.
• Some fixes and improvements to the Chinese army reform system.
• Mongolia and Tibet can no longer join the Unification Conference
• Some fixes and improvements to the Chinese army reform system
• Mantetsu is now disabled if Japan dies
• Fixed Russia starting an early WK by attacking Ukraine in the middle of their revolution.
• Fixed a Yunnan focus not accounting for the exiled Federalists
• Fixed Fengtian offering Japan protection
• Fixed a wrong scope error in the UK files
• Fixed and optimised a bunch of EGY-ETH rivalry events
• increased AI CAN emphasis on suppressing Quebec
• Fixed and improved the SAF-ENT peace deal
• Riga now checks if it can actually declare war on Latvia in its focus
• Fixed a broken ANQ tooltip
• Canada can no longer get the Fate of New England
• Fixed the spawns of the Romanian legionary volunteers
• Illyria can no longer release Slovenia
• Fixed the SOV Gosplan idea swaps
• Belgium's AT ideas now give piercing boni instead
• Yunnan's demand events now keep the original government when puppeting Hunan
• MYS core is removed from Malabar Coast once the PRF revolt is done
• Fixed an ANQ flag not being cleared and breaking the Conference event
• Fixed a Greek focus not accounting for the Dodecanese and Cyprus
• France now gets partisan bonuses
• Fixed Edwin Barclay's portrait being overwritten by vanilla's
• Fixed a broken failsafe in the LEP Move Quickly missions
• Fixed a misleading Siamese event option
• Fixed GXC not being able to declare war on FNG
• Fixed original United Front member countries leaving the alliance
• Fixed a post-war CSA event firing mid-ACW
• No more irregular provinces in Zambia
• Some rebalancing of the MAF building slots
• Fixed the Peruvian foreign policy foci
• Fixed Serbia coring Anatolia
• Fixed Tang Jiyao leading two parties at once in the UPC.
• Fixed a Yemeni focus only targeting Oman
• Fixed and improved old Egyptian decisions
• Fixed Egypt instantly getting rid of illiteracy
• Renamed Andalucía to a more fitting name
• Fixed Yunnan being able to peace out with Japan due to Burma
• Fixed a duplicate JAP tooltip
• Fixed Stalin being killed by Patagonia while in Russia
• Bolivia no longer gets the Fate of Northern Chile
• Fixed the USA not being able to purge the Longists
• Fixed a number of BOL bypasses
• When releasing Turkish borderlands with annexation decisions, cores are not granted to neighbors when the states are given to them.
• Fixed KR operatives with non-KR portrait references
• Added missing AI factors to a number of GEA decisions
• Transylvania will no longer rejoin a capitulated Romania
• Fixed a BOL war decision being visible when the targets are already owned
• AI and performance improvements for the Swiss NatPop decisions
• Qing now sends volunteers correctly
• Fixed CAN not being able to release a claimed AST.
• Fixed the Democratic CEN elections
• KMT Yunnan can no longer use the generic Form China decision.
• Fixed Sichuan moving its capital to Chongqing when it's already there
• Fixed a Federalist focus not bypassing properly
• Tried to improve the flow of the United Front code.
• Fixed Mongolia not getting its claims when the Ma Clique sues for peace
• Fixed the layout of the Zimbabwe army tree
• Fixed a number of missing Shan icons
• TAN can now integrate China
• Fixed the missing checks for the formation of the Belgo-Dutch research group
• The RKMT will no longer accept Federalist ultimatums
• Fixed the UPC decisions not showing up correctly
• AI Qing will no longer go for war decisions before 1938
• Fixed MAF claiming Sudan
• Fixed Wallonia not getting cores on Antwerp
• Fixed an unlocalised FRA tooltip and improved the checks on the Phalanstere decisions
• Liberia can now be released normally by NFA, GER or GBR.
• Fixed the QIE ally integration decisions being visible while invalid.
• Fengtian's attack decision now invalidates if the conditions are no longer met
• Fixed Poland getting generic PatAut leaders
• Some improvements and a fix to SQI's German Collaboration mechanic
• Slight fix so Chinese tags don't get claims on their cores
• CSA can no longer get rid of its org debuff before winning the ACW
• Fixed a broken PUE idea desc
• Fixed Fengtian being able to invite Japanese companies while at war with them
• SAF's AI will now prioritise attacking direct neighbours when multiple targets are available
• Fixed SIK keeping the Rumors of Discontent idea after winning the war
• Liangguang now joins its targets' wars when puppeting KMT cliques
• Fixed some TEX decisions not appearing correctly
• Fixed a MTG-only ROM event firing for non-owners
• Fixed two RUS loc bugs
• Fixed a mass replace bug in the ENG naval OOB
• Fixed the Beijing Government reverting to the Qing Empire.
• Fixed Finland's suicidal AI
• Fixed a couple of naval variant bugs
• Fixed the broken targeting for albania.50
• Fixed the CSA being released too late in Landon's route
• Fixed the SAF annexation tree switches
• Fixed the loc for the annexation of Dvinsk
• Increased the AI factor for Romania coring Silistria
• Fixed Egypt instantly getting rid of illiteracy.
• Readded a bunch of missing US company logos
• Fixed socialist SAF getting Nuweweld decisions
• Fixed the Ma Clique peace and collapse events
• Countries will now leave the Kaiser Wilhelm Society when no longer in the Reichspakt.
• Fixed the Italian names of PAP's Catholic divisions
• Fixed Russia not taking the Alands.
• Fixed Manchu SQI causing a focus lockout for the LKMT
• Fixed Wallonia not gaining cores on Liège
• Fixed the double Momentum Lost ideas
• The LKMT can no longer attack FNG before doing the prerequisite focus
• Fixed the SZC NPA focus not allowing for joining it instead
• Fixed Austria not getting a core on Burgenland.
• Fixed FNG not getting cores on China when released by Japan
• XSM will now give Chamdo to Tibet when releasing them
• Fixed the traits of a CHI company
• Fix your eyes, you’ve been reading the patch notes for too long
• Fixed the Roads to Riga idea not being removed if Riga dies
• Removed a meme description from the Persian Balochistan focus
• Fixed the DEI focus tree building factories on INS states
• Fixed a missing Sichuan loc entry and a typo
• Fixed Yunnan not getting claims on Sichuan when forming the KMT government
• Fixed Sichuan retaining cosmetic tags when puppeted
• Fixed Japan getting the Fading Sun after annexation
• Fixed Iceland staying in the Reichspakt's wars after breaking free from Denmark
• Upon completion of the Cod War in Iceland, a unit is generated so that they have some form of defence for naval invasions
• Added missing vanilla tooltip about extra aircrews
• GEA will now lose the Vietcong ideas when peacing out with INC.
• Jerusalem's province is no longer a desert
• Fixed Nasir Shah not keeping his original trait when returning to Kumul
• Reduced Kumul's out of supply boni
• Fixed a MEX idea swap not giving any new modifiers
• Fixed the United Front leader's faction not reforming properly if it was not the original leader of the faction
• Fixed the duplicate decisions for leaving the United Front
• Fixed FOP not being properly released by The Revolution Successful
• Added a bunch of backup countries to Wilhelm's death event, so it finally fires correctly
• Fixed the layout of the Zimbabwe army tree.
• Iraq no longer gets a core on Qassim, and Britain no longer claims Kufra
• Jin Shuren's mission to unify Xinjiang is now removed if Sheng Shicai takes over
• Fixed Long Yun's non-civil war takeover not adding the correct ministers.
• Serbia's decision to attack Austria now has ITA- and POL-specific targeting to preempt issues
• Fixed DDR and GRU getting cores on Memel without owning Königsberg
• Fixed all countries in the world going for Grand Battleplan
• Replaced the UoB's concentrated-dispersed focus dichotomy with another idea level, to avoid needing tech triggers
• Fixed the trigger for the Gumbinnen annexation
• Fixed YUN losing manpower in a civil war event without combat
• Removed a deprecated GER focus to invade Denmark (now better handled by a DEN decision)
• Fixed a POR event referencing the wrong year
• Fixed the POL-UKR peace deal having inverted loc
• Fixed a GXC decision taking two years to complete
• Fixed Japan ceding the Legation Cities to Fengtian via their foci
• Fixed SOM being referred to as an empire
• AI Fengtian will refuse to start the Conference if set to pro-Japan in the game rules
• Fixed the peaceful HOL revolution not loading the socialist tree
• Fixed the Harass Political Enemies decision for Romania decoupling the influence values
• Fixed Serbia attacking Austria during the Venetian war
• Fixed Serbia joining two factions at once
• Fixed RUS not getting resistance on LAT and EST states
• Austria's event to return lands now checks for any puppet- and ally-held areas as well
• SAF is no longer arbitrarily restricted from releasing Namibia or Mozambique
• Fixed Canada not getting the Fate of America
• Fixed SOV's tree being blocked by a player finishing the war too quickly
• Fixed missing infantry equipment bonus to camels (vanilla bug), by adding a new subcategory of mounted infantry (includes camels and cavalry)
• Added missing bicycle and amtrak bonuses to some techs
• Replaced `var:faction_leader` with the new `faction_leader` scope.
• Added missing hardness bonuses to rest of motorized battalions from mech 1
• Your soldiers now can learn both, how to ride a horse and how to shot from AT-rifle (vanilla bug of infantry AT weapons not applying to cavalry, and cavalry not being in category “all infantry”)
• Adjusted airtech window grid to vanilla standards, removing the need to use scrollbars to see scout planes while using FullHD. You can now see all planes in same time
• The Andesian Rebellion events now have localization
• SRI attack decisions will now disappear if the target no longer exists
• If syndicalist France is released after annexation, it is puppeted to the releaser if no faction exists for it to join
• Removed the duplicate SRI decision to join the Phalanstere
• SRI socialist welfare idea now costs consumer_goods_factor instead of adding it
• Additional units are no longer transferred from Legionarry Italy to Venice upon the revolt breaking out; any Italian units left in Venice are teleported away
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Hello Reddit community, I see lots of posts on here speculating about what the market is like in the GTA so I figured I'd share my (very long) account of what it was like selling and buying in this market over the last 6 months. Maybe it will come in handy for someone. I fully expect to get roasted for some bad decision I made, because that's what usually happens to me on Reddit. :)
This is extremely long.... Maybe I'm showing off, maybe I'm insecure about whether I did well or not, maybe I like writing, maybe I think this info could help other people. It's probably a combo of all 4, as well as other stuff. The read is probably worth it for someone who is about to buy or sell in Toronto, but it might not be worth it to anyone else. You've been warned. Ha.
TL;DR at the bottom if you want to skip the whole thing.
I figure I'll post in PersonalFinanceCanada as well as TorontoRealEstate, as both subs have helped me a lot in the past, and both seem to deal with this sort of content. Backstory: I work in an industry that doesn't really exist outside of Toronto, so living anywhere else has never been a discussion. That, coupled with the fact that we (my wife and I) absolutely love this city. We've both been here for over 20 years now. I know that isn't a popular opinion (to love Toronto) but in pre-pandemic times (and hopefully post, with a vengeance) we thrived on the restaurants, the live music scene, theatre... a lot of our friends are here... I realize there's a trend towards shitting on Toronto (even more than usual) lately, and we don't kid ourselves that we live in a city that everyone is just dying to get into. We don't kid ourselves that we're basically living in NYC, or even a version of it. But for us, it's about location, location, location, and that location (for us) isn't Mimico, or Ajax, or Whitby, or Hamilton. Different strokes, different folks.
Wife makes about 80k, I make about 120k. I bought a loft in Toronto in 2008 for around 350k with 80k down. Inb4 "must be nice to have rich parents" ... they never helped me financially. Paid about half of the mortgage off over the last decade. We had a kid a couple of years ago, decided the loft had been great to that point, but it was time to get a yard. Also the maintenance fees became ridiculous at the loft ($700/month, no security, no concierge, and rising every year). There are some who would say "yes but it also costs a lot to maintain a house". Not $8400 / year it doesn't, not even close, and if you're paying that much every year to maintain your house then something is very very wrong.
So the problem was, we wanted to sell our loft at a time when that market had softened, and we wanted to buy a semi-detached house at a time when that market had taken off. Decided to move forward nevertheless, let's see what happens.
Got pre-approved for a mortgage in July (840k max), ended up with a rate of 1.79 fixed, 5 years. I should mention, that was the final number we ended up with in November. You can do better now of course, and we could have done a bit better then, but our bank was working with us and at the end of the day we went with them. Additionally we received a $2500 cash bonus incentive for going with them. Five years from now, who knows. For whatever it's worth, they were amazing. I was dealing with two of them directly, I had a new question every day, I was extremely high maintenance, and they were extremely responsive, and polite. I realize this should be how it is, and that brokers can answer questions too, but I thought I'd mention it.
My hope was we could sell the loft for 950k. This would give us a "profit" of 750K, which would mean about a 600k down payment on the new place, after realtor fees, land transfer tax, lawyer fees, moving fees, and a fairly substantial (by our standards) cash holdback for all new furniture and some cosmetic renos on the new place if necessary.
Interviewed a few agents, based on friend recommendations. The best one wasn't the cheapest one. One was willing to take a hit on commission because we'd be buying and selling with them, but the one we wanted to hire wouldn't budge from 5 percent. I realize there are many, many posts that say that agents are wayyyyy overrated. I see both sides. If you're confident in your own knowledge of the market, then yes, all you need is a lawyer. We weren't.... My wife had never bought or sold, and I had only bought the one loft property over a decade ago. In short, we needed some hand-holding, or at least we thought we did, which is really all that matters. Also, as has been pointed out on this sub before... anyone who invested in the Toronto market over a decade ago will probably care slightly less about saving a percent on realtor fees, etc, because they made so much on their initial investment over the last ten years. It's gauche, and I do realize that money saved is money earned, but there you have it.
We liked a lot of things about this agent, but one thing I'll mention is that the staging and photography / 3D video services were "free". Of course that's in quotes because of course we paid for it in the commission, but my point is that our loft was staged absolutely beautifully. And photographed beautifully. The designer and photographer were by no means bargain basement. Anyway, as it turns out, it takes a lot of time and effort to get a place ready to be staged. Took us the entire month of August to get our loft ready. It's time well spent though, because really what you're doing is purging and packing, which are things you'll have to do for the move anyway. So it isn't wasted effort.
Rented a storage locker here in the city, and used the suv to move box after box to the locker. Sold a bunch of stuff on craigslist. Donated a bunch of stuff.
During this month (August), we were also looking at houses. Very exciting process... we were coming from a 1200 sq ft loft. Not small by any means, but when looking at 1800 - 2000 sq ft semis with backyards, well, it's an upgrade. I honestly had no idea what to expect in terms of what kinds of houses we'd be looking at.... Physically standing in... within our budget. Maybe our expectations were low, who knows. But we were pleased.
Went back and forth with the agent many times about whether we should sell first or buy first. She suggested that with a long closing, either is acceptable, and gave us the upsides and downsides to both srategies. I told her my fear was that we'd buy a house, and then we'd be unable to sell the loft, and/or unable to sell it for the price I wanted to get, due to how soft the condo market had become. She told me that she didn't think we'd have trouble selling the loft. Ultimately, the decision was mine. Not in a "it's your funeral" kind of way, but rather, there were pros and cons to both approaches, she had explained them, and now I had to do what I felt was best.
So, of course we took the more exciting path, and we put in some offers! Saw a couple of semis we liked (all while still purging our loft, pre-staging, pre-listing) and went after them. In one case, the house was listed for 1.2 and went for 1.4. We were unwilling to go higher than 1.35. Not because we didn't think it would go for more, but because we didn't think it was worth more. I realize they're worth whatever the market dictates, but to us, this was not quite a 1.4m Toronto home. It was beautiful, had parking (a must for us), backyard, good neighbourhood, but the basement was only half dug out. Not in terms of height, but rather, it was a usable finished basement that only went half the footprint of the house, and the rest was crawlspace.
I should mention that we had seen about ten houses by this point. And that the ones we put offers on probably received about 6 to 10 other offers. Both homes underlisted (listed for a price much less than what they wanted), and both had set a particular date as an offer night.
In the other case, the house was listed for 1.3 and we offered our max of 1.4. We had our own inspection done on this house, actually. They offered their own inspection documents (in fact, every house we looked at did). And it was a very recent inspection from a reputable company, as was typically the case. However, this house had a severely leaning front pillar, and I wanted my own inspection done. Other than the pillar it was an incredible house. Turns out the whole exercise was pointless, it went for 1.55. Soooooo not even close. Ha. The lessons I learned here: every house listed at 1.2 during this time period goes for 1.4. So, when I see 1.2, I should think 1.4. And I should not look at any house listed above 1.2. I see it often mentioned here that it's doesn't matter how far above "list" a house sells for, because people can list a house for one dollar if they want. All that matters is comparibles, trends in the neighbourhood, etc. Totally agree. And at that time, that was a listing trend so reliable you could set your watch to it. Likely still is.
Also, the inspection that I had done ended up highlighting the same issues as the one provided by the seller. There wasn't any big conspiracy where the seller-provided inspection omits things. No. As long as the inspection is performed by one of a handful of reputable companies (as the vast majority are) then it doesn't matter if the seller has it done, or the buyer, as long as it was done within a month or so of list. And if you both do it, you're wasting money. In fact, some of the inspections provided by sellers revealed so many problems, it seemed as though -- if anything -- the inspectors were out to get the sellers, not the buyers. Ha.
Nevertheless, for these two offers we made in August, it was exciting. Exciting to get the bank drafts for the deposits, to press all the buttons on the docusigns on our smart phones, and then wait for the call to tell us if we got it. I don't recall the exact details but I think in one case it was "can you go up any?" and we were unwilling to, and in the other case it was "you didn't get the house". I don't recall being a serious part of any real bidding war at any point, probably because I was unwilling to engage in one, and my max was my max, plain and simple. It will either get the job done or it won't.
By this point (end of August) we had our loft fully purged to the point where it was ready to be staged and photographed for listing. Our agent paid for the moving company to move in the new pieces of furniture, and the designer worked her magic. (As an aside, we liked the staging of our loft so much that we hired the designer to help us furnish our new home, as well as design a built-in for it). Place looked great. We decided we were going to list with a 90-day close, in order to give us a good amount of time to continue house hunting. We had seen many houses we liked that went within our budget, so we were pretty confident that finding (and landing) the right house was likely to happen in that timeframe.
Listed the loft for 50k less than we actually wanted for it. Set an offer date. Immediately had a number of showings booked. A day and a half later we had a bully offer (an offer which does not wait for offer night). 940k. We wanted 950 as our target number so we countered with that, they agreed, and the place was sold. Could we have made more if we'd let it go to offer night? Who knows. Maybe there would have been a mad rush on the place, or maybe the people who bought the loft were actually our buyers. It's a hard loft, not one of these condos that developers add the word "loft" to. So there is a bit of a romantic quality to it... it's beautiful, and the people who are meant to have it will fall in love with it. But it isn't for everyone. So who knows what would have happened on offer night.
Clock ticking now on finding somewhere to live! I should mention that our target neighbourhoods were (in no order) St Clair W, Bloor West Village, the Danforth, Leslieville, The Pocket, Dufferin Grove, Christie Pits, and Wychwood. So kind of all over. It seemed to us that there was slightly more value to be had in the east end of the city. We saw a house in "Playter Estates" that we really liked actually. It ended up going for our budget of 1.4, but we didn't actually bid on it because the neighbourhood wasn't quite us. It felt a bit too stiff, too "keeping up with the joneses", if that makes any sense.
The same day we decided to pass on the Playter Estates house, we looked at a house in "Magical Land". Ha. I mean, if any creepy Redditors wanted to figure out where I live they probably could with all this info, but I figure I'll stop short of naming my actual neighbourhood. Suffice to say it's one of the ones I listed earlier. And to creepy Redditor: please don't bother sleuthing, I'm not worth your time! :)
Anyway, driving into that neighbourhood was a breath of fresh air. Again, this part is all personal preference, but for us Magical Land had the exact right combo of: value (thin, at best, but compared to some other parts of the city... but sure, a bit of value). A bit of grit. Not much, but enough. The bars, cafes, great walkability, good schools, parks, safety.... Aging hipsters pushing strollers and walking dogs. Still up for wild nights out, but home by 2am instead of 4am, to relieve the babysitter.
I digress.
So, we'd found our ideal target neighbourhood and focused all of our attention there. Semi up for sale at 1.2, we had a look, we liked it a lot. A lot!!! But again, not 1.4 a lot. Not our max. Beautiful place but really not much backyard, and only room for one car parking (we have two). This was, again, to me, a 1.35m home. Suspecting it would probably go for 1.4, we put in our offer of 1.35 nevertheless. It went for 1.4. And oddly, we weren't offered a chance to go to 1.4 ourselves. We were just told "no". We were starting to get mildly discouraged. Not entirely discouraged, but mildly. That was our third house we had bid on and lost. What kept us from full discouragement was the knowledge that -- in two out of three cases -- we had not lost because we couldn't afford the house, but rather because we were unwilling to go to our max in order to get it.
Nevertheless it was a bit depressing. The sad phone call. By this point it was probably towards the end of September, and listings were starting to slow down a bit. At least, the type of listings we were most interested in. This seems like a good time to say that we had no regrets re: our agent. We'd probably seen about 15 to 20 houses by now. Bid on a few and lost. I realize that she was very handsomely compensated for her work, but she was, in fact, working. We weren't the lowest-maintenance clients. We had endless questions, thoughts, and suggestions, at all hours of the day and night, and she was always immediately responsive. We never felt pressured to make decisions. Never got any eye rolls when we'd ask her to draw up the paperwork on a 1.35m offer, after she told us it would go for 1.4. She got us a record price for the sale of our loft (mind you, the loft itself did most of that work, but I give her credit for the selling strategy and for the team she hired to stage and photograph it). She also recommended a great lawyer for us, which will become a factor soon enough in this saga. HOWEVER she didn't give us a present, which we though was odd. All of our friends received a gift from their agent at the end of the process, usually of significant value. It's unfortunate this wasn't the case with ours, after the amount of business we gave her.
So anyway, we had lost out on yet another house. People say that house hunting is an emotional experience, and I was seeing this first-hand. Not in myself so much, but my wife was getting bummed out, she was really picturing us in every house we bid on, imagining what it would be like living there, getting excited, etc etc. But it wasn't happening.
Next day, a semi comes up for sale one street over. 1.2m. We go to see it on a Saturday morning. This is, to us, a house worthy of our max. Freshly reno'd, big lot, great curb appeal, a beautiful street, 3 bathrooms, mudroom, 2 car parking, big deck, big yard (by Toronto semi standards), brand new basement reno, new deck, new front porch. Closing date is close enough to ours that we'd be able to make it work. They have an offer date set for the Monday but we decide to try a new approach: bully offer. Off to the bank I go yet again to get the deposit draft and we submit the offer. That evening we get the usual call from our agent, and she pretends to have a neutral voice but we can hear it right away: we got this one. And we did.
Similar to how we sold our loft to a bully because they gave us the number we actually wanted, we got this house by bully offering the number that the seller actually wanted. Because who knows what might happen on offer night. Would they get that number? Higher? Lower? Who knows. So why not lock up their target number. (of course, my opinion is that we would not have gotten this house had it gone to offer night, but I'm aware of my own bias here).
For whatever it's worth, their agent later told us that other agents had clients who had planned on doing the same thing (bully on the weekend) but didn't get their shit together in time. So it turns out my immediate rushed trip to the bank on the Saturday afternoon was worth it. We were able to act fast, because we now had enough experience in the market to know what to bid, and to be able to do it quickly and confidently. We've kept an eye on listings since (because we like pain) and there hasn't been a whole lot out there. We feel pretty lucky. I know that people always say "we lost those other houses, but that's because we were always meant to be in this one". I'm not sure about "meant to be" but I'm certainly happy with where we landed. There was a semi in our neighbourhood listed at 1.4 recently, and it was tiny. And I mean tiny. W. T. F., they cannot be serious in this case. So, either the trend has changed in the last 6 months and people are starting to list at the price they're actually hoping to get in a blue sky world, or prices have just kept... going... up. Doesn't really matter as we aren't in it to flip it anyway. Just interesting.
Also of interest, this whole thing sort of hinged, in a way, on the buyers of our loft being able to sell their condo, at a historically awful time to be selling a condo in Toronto. They did a great job staging it, and it was in a boutique building, listed at a reasonable price, but it wasn't selling. And they did the right thing, they dropped the price. Wasn't selling. Dropped the price again. Wasn't selling. At this point, we were within a few weeks of closing (both of my properties closed within days of each other, I bridged for two days). And our thought was: will our buyers be able to finance the purchase of our loft? They had bought with no conditions (as did we, as does everyone in Toronto, if anyone tells you you're crazy to buy with no conditions, then they have no idea what they're talking about when it comes to the market in Toronto). They had bought with no conditions, but that didn't mean this wouldn't somehow become our problem, anyway.
So I arranged a phone call with our lawyer, who was excellent. Very reassuring, and walked me though the various outcomes.
1) they'll probably sell the condo. The fact that they'd dropped their price several times and had set an offer date (the upcoming Monday) indicated that they understood the gravity of the situation, and the need to finance their purchase of our loft by closing. That said, she advised that I didn't need to rush to cancel insurance, utilities, etc. on the loft quite yet. If they wouldn't be able to close, I'd have to call all those places back and reactivate. So I was to get new insurance for the new home set up, but would advise them not to put in the cancellation order on the loft until I told them.
2) they don't sell their condo, and they secure their own (expensive) private financing so they're able to carry both properties themselves. From our perspective, this would be no different than if they sold the condo.
3) they back out of the deal with us. This was unlikely because it would put them in a bad spot financially, but if the market at the time gave them 200k less than they thought they'd be able to get a couple years from now, then maybe it'd be worth it to them to cough up 100k for backing out of the deal. In effect they'd be "saving" 100k by doing so. In this case, we'd get bridge financing to carry the new home and the loft, and we'd re-list and sell the loft again. Then we'd sue our current buyers for the deposit cheque, our bridge fees, the difference between what we get for the loft by selling it in december vs what we agreed upon with them originally, as well as any other added expenses (utilities, property tax, insurance etc). They would pay for 65 percent of our legal fees, and we'd pay for 35 percent (which is dumb). So if legal fees are, say 15k (our lawyer's example) then we'd be paying 5k (which is dumb, because absolutely none of this would be our "fault" ). However, because we'd keep their deposit cheque, we'd still be coming out well ahead. In effect, we'd make more money if they walked away from the contract, but it's a big headache and we shouldn't be rooting for this outcome, despite the extra cash.
She did also mention that they still have 3 weeks, which in real estate is an eternity, so she was pretty confident they'd sell the condo.
And they did, on the Monday offer date, for significantly less than they'd hoped for, but for an amount they were willing to work with. Phew.
So. We've been in the new house for a couple of months. So far, so good. The house is freshly reno'd in many respects, but we repainted, tore out lighting fixtures and had potlights installed all through the main floor, had the kitchen counters and sink replaced/upgraded, and are having a built-in fabricated and installed for the living room. Additionally I've done many, many smaller repairs and tweaks myself... I will spare you the details, as this has gone on quite long enough. All of the reno expenditures come out of the holdback amount we kept from the sale of the loft. The new furniture (which is still in the process of being delivered, slowly but surely) comes out of that holdback amount, as well.
TL;DR... sold a loft in Toronto in Sept for a record building price. Listed at 50k under target price, set an offer date, and sold to a bully offer. Used same agent for buying and selling, and paid her the full 5 percent. Saw about 20 houses, bid on four of them. Paid 200k over list price for the house we ended up buying, because every house was being listed at 200k under true market value. Probably still is. Got the house by submitting a bully offer ourselves, ahead of the offer date. Had a bit of a scare when it looked like our buyers might not be able to close, we spoke with our lawyer and she explained the various outcomes. They were able to close.

There are a lot of awesome referral opportunities out there, these are my personal favorites! Gemini, Crypto.com, and N26 are global offers, the rest are US only.

Stocks

• Webull: BONUS IMPROVED!! 4 free stocks (2 worth $2.50-$250 just for opening an account, and 2 worth $8-$1600 each for depositing $100). Expires January 15th at midnight est.
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• M1 Finance: $10 for opening a brokerage account and making a $100 deposit.
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• Round: $20 for opening a brokerage account and making a $500 deposit. Alternatively, you can make $100 for doing a $10,000 deposit (iOS only)
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• SoFi Invest: $50 for $1000 deposit from any source, and $25 worth of bitcoin for buying $10 worth of bitcoin on SoFi Crypto.
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• Personal Capital: $20 for opening a new account and linking a qualified investment account (e.g. taxable brokerage, 401k, IRA, 529, etc) worth at least $1000. No deposit required!
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Banks

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• SoFi Money: $50 for depositing $500 from any source.
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• SoFi Money: $50 for depositing $500 from any source.
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• Radius: $50 for opening a Rewards Checking account and depositing $500 for 90 days. You must use my referral code when prompted during account signup to get the bonus. - TLAM9428D4
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• Oxygen: $25 for opening an account, depositing $200, and doing 5 debit card transactions within 60 days (can just buy 5 $1 Amazon GC's reloads, they don't care what the purchase is). PM me for a link.
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Cryptocurrency

• Voyager: Free $25 worth of Bitcoin for trading $100 on the app. Use referral code "AMA60T” in the “Reward Code” field when you create your Voyager account". Open these link from mobile:
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Credit Cards

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Other

• Root: Free $25 for downloading the app, and allowing it to track your driving for 3-4 weeks. (Need to keep your phone on while driving so it can give you a quote. You can simply reject the offer and take the $25 bonus anyway).
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  • https://fetchrewards.onelink.me/vvv3/referraltext?code=JU1GW
• Raise: Free $5 credit towards your first gift card if you sign up using a referral code, you can get an extra $5 off your first gift card purchase. I used it to buy a $10 Uber gift card, combined with their 2% discount, I only paid $4.80 for a $10 gift card!
  • https://www.raise.com/raise-rewards/AMADEO0427

--Details on each offer below--

Stocks-

Webull

Webull is a commission free stock trading platform/app which is giving out 4 free stocks (2 worth $2.50-$250 for opening an account, and 2 worth $8-$1600 each for depositing $100). That's a MINIMUM of $21 in free stock! Expires January 15th at midnight est.
Webull is available on iOS and Android, or you can use their website.
Referral link- https://act.webull.com/kol-us/share.html?hl=en&inviteCode=PUnH4ruayL3j

Public

Public is another commission free stock trading app which gives you a free stock (valued up to $50) when you create an account via a referral link. No initial deposit is required.
Available on iOS or Android only.
http://share.public.com/rayruiu

Dough

Dough is a commission free stock trading app which gives you a free stock (valued $2- $200) when you open an account via a referral link. No initial deposit is required, though you need to deposit $25 in order to make your first withdrawal (you can also withdraw your initial $25 too).
Available for iOS or Android only.
Open this link from your smart phone-
https://dough.com/referrals?referral=XPSSX6DFNF&referredby=Mila

TradeUp

TradeUP is a commission free stock trading app which gives you a free stock (valued $2.50-250) for opening an account via a referral link. No deposit required.
Additionally, they will give you a second stock (valued $8-$1000) for making a $100 deposit.
Available for iOS or Android only.
https://tradeup.marsco.com/activity/market/us-open-price/#/share?invite=6NDX1U

Robinhood

Robinhood is a stock trading platform/app which gives you a free stock (valued $2.50 - $200) when you open an account via a referral link. No initial deposit is required.
Available on iOS and Android, or you can use their website.
https://invite.robinhood.com/amadeor3/

Acorns

Acorns is an online investing app (iOS or Android) which is offering a free $5 bonus for simply opening an account via a referral link, depositing $5, and keeping the money in the account until the 15th of the following month. You can then withdraw the money and close the account, fee free!
If you keep the account longer, they may charge you a $3 fee, so be sure to close it after the 15th on the following month from when you signed up.
Acorns is available on iOS and Android, or you can use their website.
https://www.acorns.com/invite/TLBCPD/

Moomoo

Moomoo is a commission free stock trading app which gives you a free stock (valued $10-$1000) for opening an account via a referral link and making a $500 deposit.
Moomoo is available on iOS or Android only.
https://j.moomoo.com/000LR3

M1 Finance

M1 Finance is an investing account, like Robinhood or Webull. If you open an account using a referral link, deposit $100 to a brokerage account, and keep that initial deposit in your account for 30 days, you will get a free $20 bonus that posts within 14 days.
M1 Finance is available on iOS or Android only.
https://m1.finance/J6aLCt6SRGdW

Round

Round is an online auto-investing app (iOS only) which is offering a free $20 bonus for simply opening an account via a referral link and depositing $500. Alternatively, you can get $100 if you deposit $10,000.
Round is available on iOS only.
https://app.investround.com/inviteCode/amadeo-r360s0

SoFi Invest

SoFi gives $50 for anyone who signs up for a SoFi Invest account via a referral link and deposits $1000. This offer stacks with the SoFi Money $25 offer (see details above), so you can do both!
Plus, you can get another $25 cash bonus when you buy $10 or more of crypto like Bitcoin, Litecoin or Ethereum. That's a total of $75 cash bonuses with SoFi Invest!
https://www.sofi.com/share/invest/2498539

Personal Capital

Personal Capital is a finance tracking website similar to Mint but tailored for investment accounts. If you open an account and link a qualified investment account for tracking (e.g. taxable brokerage, 401k, IRA, 529, etc) with more than $1000 in it, they will give you a free $20 amazon gift card within a couple weeks.
Accounts that do not qualify as valid investment accounts include bank, credit or debit card, Paypal, Stash, Acorns, Kapitall, Groundfloor, WageWorks HSA, Coinbase, digital currency exchanges, and manual investment accounts. Robinhood works!
https://share.personalcapital.com/x/oGFEyl

Banks-

Porte

Porte is a bank/app which pays you a $50 bonus for opening an account via a referral code, and making a $500 direct deposit. There are no catches, and you can close the account at any time fee free as soon as you register their debit card (gotta wait a few days to get it in the mail).
A "direct deposit" technically means that they want you to deposit the money right from payroll, Social Security, or other direct payment, but you can actually meet this requirement simply by transferring in $500 from virtually any source including bank accounts, cashapp, etc.
Referral link- https://portebanking.app.link/es7KK8Fb69

SoFi Money

SoFi is a bank/app that give out $50 for anyone who signs up for a SoFi Money (bank) account using a referral code and deposits $500 from any source. So all you have to do is open an account with a referral link, deposit $500, and then instantly collect the bonus and then take it all back.
You can close the account at any time with no fees-
https://www.sofi.com/invite/money?gcp=e65d8ea1-fd35-40bc-b801-547c3fc6e749

First Tech Federal Credit Union

First Tech FCU is a bank that gives you a free $100 bonus for opening an account and depositing $250 for 30 days. There are no fees, and you can close your account any time fee free. The $100 posts 30 days after you do the $250 deposit and you can then immediately withdraw all the money + the bonus and keep the bonus.
During account signup, say you want to meet eligibility by joining the "Financial Fitness Association", they pay for your $8 membership for you so that anyone nationwide can open an account
https://refer.firsttechfed.com/s/AMADEO

Red Stone Federal Credit Union

Red Stone Federal Credit Union is a bank that gives you a free $100 bonus for opening an account and doing 4 debit card transactions with their card in 30 days. There are no fees, and you can close your account any time fee free. The $100 posts 30 days after you do the $250 deposit and you can then immediately withdraw all the money + the bonus and keep the bonus.
You will get your $100 bonus within 90 days of meeting the above requirements. Keep your account open until you get the bonus.
During account signup, say you want to meet eligibility by joining the "Financial Fitness Association", they pay for your $8 membership for you so that anyone nationwide can open an account. This deal combo's well with the First Tech FCU offer listed above for this reason, you can get FFA membership from one and then easily just use it for both offers.
https://www.redfcu.org/specials/refer-a-friend/redeem.html?first=AMADEO&last=RUIU&referralCode=RUI855220

Chime

Chime is a bank/app which pays you a $75 bonus for opening an account via a referral code and making a $200 direct deposit. There are no catches, and you can close the account at any time fee free as soon as you register their debit card (gotta wait a few days to get it in the mail). Offer ends January 7th at midnight!
A "direct deposit" technically means that they want you to deposit the money right from payroll, Social Security, or other direct payment, but you can actually meet this requirement simply by transferring in $200 from virtually any source i.e. bank accounts, cashapp, etc.
https://chime.com/milazadrozny

Radius

Radius is a bank which pays you a $50 bonus for opening an account via a referral code and making a $500 deposit from any source. There are no catches, and you can close the account at any time fee free. You need to keep your account open for at least 90 days after depositing the $500, and keep the $500 in there for at least 60 days to be eligible to keep the bonus. So in other words, you can open the account, deposit $500, leave it in there for 60 days, then withdraw the $500 if you wish, and keep the account open for at least another 30 days to get the $50 bonus.
You need to enter my referral code when prompted during account signup top get the bonus, its TLAM9428D4
https://open.radiusbank.com/?utm_source=referafriend&utm_medium=narmi&promocode=9umylb

Wings

Wings Financial Credit Union is a bank offering $50 for opening a checking account, setting up eDocuments, and either doing 5 debit card transactions of $5 or more (anything counts, including Amazon GC reloads), OR a direct deposit of $300+ in 60 days.
No fees, can withdraw and close account any time.
https://www.wingsfinancial/newcustform/109cb9ea

Aspiration

Aspiration is an online bank which is offering a free $50 bonus for simply opening an account via a referral link and spending $250, and an extra $100 for $1000 spend in 3 months.
So all you have to do is open a “Spend & Save” account using a referral link, spend $250/1000 using their debit card within 3 months, and then you will get $50/150 posted to your account! There are no fees to worry about! You can close the account fee free whenever you want!
https://my.aspiration.com/app/token/referral/232Y47KAE4OG8Y8W/

Stash

Stash is a finance app that gives out $20 for anyone who signs up for the Stash (bank) or Stash Invest account via my referral link and deposits at least $5 from any source (payroll, another bank account, PayPal, etc.) So all you have to do is open an account with a referral link, deposit $5, and then the bonus will post to your account!
The app will ask you to open a paid account, but you can simply open a "beginner" account for $1 a month, and then close your account after 1 month after you get your $20 bonus.
https://get.stashinvest.com/amadeowpr10

SkyOne

SkyOne is a credit union which will pay you a $25 bonus for opening a checking account with a referral link, making a $5 opening deposit, and keeping your account open for at least 30 days.
This credit union services the SoCal area, but anyone nationwide can sign up if you follow the steps detailed below. People are normally required to make a donation to a local charity to qualify for a local credit union bank account when they don't live in the area, but SkyOne will actually pay for a donation to the "Surfrider Foundation" themselves because they want everyone on the US to be eligible! In other words, you don't have to spend a dime! Simply click ("None of the above? We've got you! SkyOne will make a one-time donation to one of the following non-profits") on the eligibility page when signing up.
https://refer.skyone.org/amadeoruiu3

Premier Members Credit Union

Premier Members Credit Union is a credit union which will pay you a $50 bonus for opening a money market account with a referral link, and making a $5 opening deposit. They will also require you to open a savings account alongside the money market account, which also requires a $5 opening deposit.
They are located in Boulder Colorado, but will allow anyone to create an account with them as long as you make a $5 donation to one of their local charities (they walk you through it during account signup). That's a total profit of $45!
And you can close the account at any time, fee free!
referral link (please remember to use my referral code during the account setup too)- https://www.pmcu.org/referred-by-a-friend/VFVJEVQQQ/

Oxygen

Oxygen is a mobile banking app that will pay you $25 for opening an account, depositing $200, and doing 5 debit card transaction within 60 days (You can just buy 5 $1 Amazon GC's reloads, they don't care what the purchase is. Lots of different ways to easily getr this). PM me for a link.

N26

N26 is a banking app (iOS/Android) which will pay you $10 for opening an account and spending $10 or more on a single purchase using their debit card.
The account has absolutely no fees and can be closed at any time. Account signup only takes a few minutes. You need to fund your N26 account from another bank with enough money to make the $10+ purchase. The debit card is shipped to you immediately after account signup. You receive the $10 bonus in the form of a statement credit.
N26 is available on iOS or Android only.
https://n26.com/amadeor4364

Cryptocurrency-

Voyager

Voyager is a crypocurrency trading app (iOS/Android only) which will pay you $25 in free bitcoin for trading $100 on the app! Make sure to use the referral code "AMA60T" in the “Reward Code” field when you create your account. The bonus posts within a couple of days, from my experience.
Referral link-
iOS- https://apps.apple.com/us/app/voyager-buy-bitcoin-crypto/id1396178579
Android- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.investvoyager

Constant

Constant is a cryptocurrency P2P investing platform which will give you $10 for signing up using a referral link, verifying your ID (pass KYC), and depositing $10.
So all you have to do is open an account using a referral link, verify your ID, deposit $10 via any means, and then you will get a $10 bonus that posts instantly and you can withdraw to your bank immediately. No deposit required.
https://www.myconstant.com?r=annoyedproduct

Celsius

Celsius is a cryptocurrency investing platform which will give you $20 for signing up using a referral code and depositing $200 worth of cryptocurrency. You must keep your deposit in the app for 30 days to get the full $20 bonus. You can then withdraw the full $240 and close your account fee free.

• https://celsiusnetwork.app.link/101697ce8c

Crypto.com

Crypto.com is a cryptocurrency investing platform which will give you $25 for signing up using a referral link, and "staking (aka, buying and holding) 1000 CRO (their special cryptocurrency, worth approximately $170) for 6 months. You need to apply for their "Ruby Steel" debit card when applying, its a 0 risk debit card, no credit impact, no fees. Combo's well with the Celsius promo if you need a platform to send cryptocurrency from, and you can send the $25 bonus crypto to celsius instantly.

• (enter referral code 66v69rwt76 if not pre-filled)
  • https://platinum.crypto.com/66v69rwt76

Gemini

Gemini is a cryptocurrency trading app/websitewhich will give you $10 worth of bitcoin for signing up using a referral link and buying/selling $100 worth of cryptocurrency.
Unlike the other offers listed here, this one can be used anywhere in the US (except NY), as well as Puerto Rico, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. This bonus posts VERY quickly, within a day or two.
https://gemini.com/share/rllzke26

Coinbase

Coinbase is a cryptocurrency trading platform which will pay you $10 in free bitcoin for trading $100 on the platform!
I would be grateful if you used my referral link- https://www.coinbase.com/join/ruiu_8
They will also give you $12 worth of the "Orchid" cryptocurrency (which can be immediately re-sold for cash) if you watch 3 short videos and answer 3 easy questions.
https://coinbase.com/earn/oxt/invite/t0wvs4k2

Credit Cards-

Chase Freedom

Chase will pay you $200 for signing up for a Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card with a referral link and spending $500 it within the first 3 months. This is one of the best credit card bonuses in the industry!
All you have to do is sign up for a Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card using my referral link, spend $500 within the first 3 months, and then get your $200! You can cancel the card at any time with no fees or penalties.
https://www.referyourchasecard.com/18/ONLMEFPEFJ

Discover IT

Discover will pay you $50 for signing up for a Discover IT credit card with a referral link and making ANY purchase using it within the first 3 months. This is one of the easiest credit card bonuses in the industry!
All you have to do is sign up for a Discover IT credit card using my referral link, make ANY purchase using it within the first 3 months, and then get your $50! You can cancel the card at any time fee free.
https://refer.discover.com/s/hhti4m

Other-

Root

Root is an auto insurance app(iOS/Android) that will pay you $25 to download their app, let it track your driving for 3-4 weeks, and then offer you an auto insurance policy based on your driving data. You can easily ignore their policy offer, take the bonus, and walk away with the $25 bonus which then then go to your PayPal account, sent as a check, etc.
https://rootbonus.com/AmadeoRuiu

Worthy Bonds

Worthy Bonds is a finance app(iOS/Android) that will give you a free $10 bond to download their app, and open an account using a referral code. You never have to deposit any money into the account to get the bonus. You can sell the bond and take out the money after 90 days. The bond will also earn 5% yearly interest while you wait to withdraw.
The app may give you a popup saying the bonds are sold out (its a page with a celebratory emoji that pops up). I got this too. They make this popup because they sold out of a certain type of community bond, but have replaced it with a new one for referrals. In other words, you will still get your free bond. Just make sure you hit "next steps", set your initial purchase and monthly contributions to $0, and proceed. It should then credit the free bond immediately.
https://worthybonds.com/?r=etyji

SoFi Loans

SoFi loans is offering a $300 bonus for people who opens a new personal loan or refinance an existing student loan.
You should research the pros and cons of student loan refinancing before you consider this option, You can lower your interest rate, but lose some benefits from the federal government. Whether this is worth it to you will depend on individual circumstances.
There's also the option of taking out a SoFi loan.
www.sofi.com/share/2498539?src=copy

Fetch

Fetch Rewards pays roughly 5 to 10 cents (7.5 cents on average) for most receipt scanned. My personal favorite scanning app! Accepts e-receipts if you connect your email/Amazon. Can scan up to 28 receipts in any given 7 day period. $3 minimum payout.
They also give a $2 bonus for signing up using a referral code (open this link from your phone).
https://fetchrewards.onelink.me/vvv3/referraltext?code=JU1GW

Raise

Raise is a discount gift card website, that offers a $5 credit towards your first gift card if you sign up using a referral code. They have gift cards like Amazon or Uber on their site, so its pretty easy to find something you would have needed anyway.
www.sofi.com/share/2498539?src=copy
​
Thank you for checking out my referral post! As you can probably tell, I spend a lot of time searching the web for referral offers. If you would like, feel free to sign up for my mailing list and I will send new referrals that I come across directly to your inbox.
https://mailchi.mp/c52908afbf15/moneywhisperers-latest-finance-tips-latest-finds
I've also put together a small blog with those as well as the referrals listed below. I'd love it if you check it out. Thank you!
https://www.youngmoneywhisperer.com/home

There are a lot of awesome referral opportunities out there, these are my personal favorites! All these offers (besides Gemini) are US only.

Stocks

• Webull: BONUS IMPROVED!! 4 free stocks (2 worth $2.50-$250 just for opening an account, and 2 worth $8-$1600 each for depositing $100).
  • https://act.webull.com/kol-us/share.html?hl=en&inviteCode=PUnH4ruayL3j
• Public: 1 free stock worth up to $50 just for opening an account, no deposit required.
  • Open this link from your phone: http://share.public.com/rayruiu
• Dough: 1 free stock worth $2 - $200 simply for opening an account. No deposit required ($25 deposit required before first withdrawal, but you can then withdraw that too).
  • Open this link from your smart phone:
  • https://dough.com/referrals?referral=XPSSX6DFNF&referredby=Mila
• TradeUP: 1 free stock worth $2.50-250 just for opening an account, and an optional second stock worth $8-$1000 for making a $100 deposit from any source.
  • https://tradeup.marsco.com/activity/market/us-open-price/#/share?invite=6NDX1U
• Robinhood: 1 free stock worth $2.50- $200 for opening an account. No deposit required.
  • https://invite.robinhood.com/amadeor3/
• Acorns: $5 for $5 deposit from any source (additional steps required, please see below details).
  • https://www.acorns.com/invite/TLBCPD/
• Moomoo: 1 free stock worth $10-$1000 for making a $500 deposit.
  • https://j.moomoo.com/000LR3
• M1 Finance: $20 for opening a brokerage account and making a $100 deposit.
  • https://m1.finance/J6aLCt6SRGdW
• Round: $20 for opening a brokerage account and making a $500 deposit. Alternatively, you can make $100 for doing a $10,000 deposit (iOS only)
  • https://app.investround.com/inviteCode/amadeo-r360s0
• SoFi Invest: $50 for $1000 deposit from any source, and $25 worth of bitcoin for buying $10 worth of bitcoin on SoFi Crypto.
  • https://www.sofi.com/share/invest/2498539
• Personal Capital: $20 for opening a new account and linking a qualified investment account (e.g. taxable brokerage, 401k, IRA, 529, etc) worth at least $1000. No deposit required!
  • https://share.personalcapital.com/x/oGFEyl

Banks

• Porte: $50 for depositing $500 from any source.
  • https://portebanking.app.link/es7KK8Fb69
• SoFi Money: $50 for depositing $500 from any source.
  • https://www.sofi.com/invite/money?gcp=e65d8ea1-fd35-40bc-b801-547c3fc6e749
• Chime: $50 for $200 direct deposit (can easily get around direct deposit requirement, please see details below).
  • https://chime.com/milazadrozny
• SoFi Money: $50 for depositing $500 from any source.
  • https://www.sofi.com/invite/money?gcp=e65d8ea1-fd35-40bc-b801-547c3fc6e749
• First Tech Federal Credit Union: $100 for depositing $250 from any source.
  • https://refer.firsttechfed.com/s/AMADEO
• Red Stone Federal Credit Union: $100 for using their debit card 4 times in 30 days.
  • https://www.redfcu.org/specials/refer-a-friend/redeem.html?first=AMADEO&last=RUIU&referralCode=RUI855220
• Radius: $50 for opening a Rewards Checking account and depositing $500 for 90 days. You must use my referral code when prompted during account signup to get the bonus. - TLAM9428D4
  • https://open.radiusbank.com/?utm_source=referafriend&utm_medium=narmi&promocode=9umylb
• Wings Financial Credit Union: $50 for opening a checking account, setting up eDocuments, and doing 5 debit card transactions of $5 or more (anything counts, including Amazon GC reloads), OR a direct deposit of $300+ in 60 days. No fees, can withdraw and close account any time.
  • https://www.referlive.com/wingsfinancial/newcustform/109cb9ea5300f9a4bb2a6884eac831077a4/4/11101268SY4BYUZ
• Aspiration: $50 for spending $250 with their debit card within 3 months, and extra $100 for $1000 spend in 3 months.
  • https://my.aspiration.com/app/token/referral/232Y47KAE4OG8Y8W/
• Stash: $20 for $5 deposit from any source.
  • https://get.stashinvest.com/amadeowpr10
• SkyOne: $25 for opening an account and keeping the account open for 30 days. (additional steps required, please see below details).
  • https://refer.skyone.org/amadeoruiu3
• Premier Members Credit Union: $50 for opening a money market account and making a $5 deposit + $5 donation.
  • https://www.pmcu.org/referred-by-a-friend/VFVJEVQQQ/
• Oxygen: $25 for opening an account, depositing $200, and doing 5 debit card transactions within 60 days (can just buy 5 $1 Amazon GC's reloads, they don't care what the purchase is). PM me for a link.
• N26: $10 for opening an account and making a purchase of $10 or more using their de bit card.
  • https://app.n26.com/referral/amadeor4364

Cryptocurrency

• Voyager: Free $25 worth of Bitcoin for trading $100 on the app. Use referral code "AMA60T” in the “Reward Code” field when you create your Voyager account". Open these link from mobile:
  • IOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/voyager-buy-bitcoin-crypto/id1396178579
  • Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.investvoyager
• Celsius: Free $20 for depositing $200 worth of cryptocurrency.
  • https://celsiusnetwork.app.link/101697ce8c
• Crypto.com: Free $25 for "staking" (buying and holding) 1000 CRO (approximately $170) for 6 months. (enter referral code 66v69rwt76 if not pre-filled)
  • https://platinum.crypto.com/66v69rwt76
• Gemini: Free $10 worth of Bitcoin for trading $100.
  • Account Signup: https://gemini.com/share/rllzke26
• Constant: Free $10 for opening an account, verifying your identity, and depositing $10.
  • https://www.myconstant.com?r=annoyedproduct
• Coinbase: Free $10 worth of Bitcoin for trading $100. They will also give you $12 of the "Orchid" cryptocurrency (which can be re-sold for cash) if you watch 3 1-2 minute videos and answer 3 easy questions about that cryptocurrency. (might get waitlisted, I had to wait a month before getting off it)
  • Coinbase: https://www.coinbase.com/join/ruiu_8
  • Orchid: https://coinbase.com/earn/oxt/invite/t0wvs4k2

Credit Cards

• Chase Freedom: Free $200 for signing up for a Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card and spending $500 within 3 months.
  • https://www.referyourchasecard.com/2f/ONLMEFPEFJ
• Capital One Quicksilver: Free $200 for signing up for a Capital One Quicksilver credit card and spending $500 within 3 months.
  • https://capital.one/2V8xwY0
• Discover IT: Free $50 for signing up for a Discover IT credit card and making ANY purchase within 3 months (even $1).
  • https://refer.discover.com/s/hhti4m

Other

• Root: Free $25 for downloading the app, and allowing it to track your driving for 3-4 weeks. (Need to keep your phone on while driving so it can give you a quote. You can simply reject the offer and take the $25 bonus anyway).
  • https://rootbonus.com/AmadeoRuiu
• Worthy Bonds: Free $10 for opening an account, no deposit required.
  • https://worthybonds.com/?r=etyji
• SoFi Loans: Free $300 for refinancing a student loan or taking a personal loan.
  • www.sofi.com/share/2498539?src=copy
• Fetch Rewards: Receipt scanner app, rewards you 5 cents each for receipts from most major chain stores. Fetch has a $2 bonus for using a referral link and scanning your first receipt (open this link from your phone).
  • https://fetchrewards.onelink.me/vvv3/referraltext?code=JU1GW
• Raise: Free $5 credit towards your first gift card if you sign up using a referral code, you can get an extra $5 off your first gift card purchase. I used it to buy a $10 Uber gift card, combined with their 2% discount, I only paid $4.80 for a $10 gift card!
  • https://www.raise.com/raise-rewards/AMADEO0427

--Details on each offer below--

Stocks-

Webull

Webull is a commission free stock trading platform/app which is giving out 4 free stocks (2 worth $2.50-$250 for opening an account, and 2 worth $8-$1600 each for depositing $100). That's a MINIMUM of $21 in free stock!
Webull is available on iOS and Android, or you can use their website.
Referral link- https://act.webull.com/kol-us/share.html?hl=en&inviteCode=PUnH4ruayL3j

Public

Public is another commission free stock trading app which gives you a free stock (valued up to $50) when you create an account via a referral link. No initial deposit is required.
Available on iOS or Android only.
http://share.public.com/rayruiu

Dough

Dough is a commission free stock trading app which gives you a free stock (valued $2- $200) when you open an account via a referral link. No initial deposit is required, though you need to deposit $25 in order to make your first withdrawal (you can also withdraw your initial $25 too).
Available for iOS or Android only.
Open this link from your smart phone-
https://dough.com/referrals?referral=XPSSX6DFNF&referredby=Mila

TradeUp

TradeUP is a commission free stock trading app which gives you a free stock (valued $2.50-250) for opening an account via a referral link. No deposit required.
Additionally, they will give you a second stock (valued $8-$1000) for making a $100 deposit.
Available for iOS or Android only.
https://tradeup.marsco.com/activity/market/us-open-price/#/share?invite=6NDX1U

Robinhood

Robinhood is a stock trading platform/app which gives you a free stock (valued $2.50 - $200) when you open an account via a referral link. No initial deposit is required.
Available on iOS and Android, or you can use their website.
https://invite.robinhood.com/amadeor3/

Acorns

Acorns is an online investing app (iOS or Android) which is offering a free $5 bonus for simply opening an account via a referral link, depositing $5, and keeping the money in the account until the 15th of the following month. You can then withdraw the money and close the account, fee free!
If you keep the account longer, they may charge you a $3 fee, so be sure to close it after the 15th on the following month from when you signed up.
Acorns is available on iOS and Android, or you can use their website.
https://www.acorns.com/invite/TLBCPD/

Moomoo

Moomoo is a commission free stock trading app which gives you a free stock (valued $10-$1000) for opening an account via a referral link and making a $500 deposit.
Moomoo is available on iOS or Android only.
https://j.moomoo.com/000LR3

M1 Finance

M1 Finance is an investing account, like Robinhood or Webull. If you open an account using a referral link, deposit $100 to a brokerage account, and keep that initial deposit in your account for 30 days, you will get a free $20 bonus that posts within 14 days.
M1 Finance is available on iOS or Android only.
https://m1.finance/J6aLCt6SRGdW

Round

Round is an online auto-investing app (iOS only) which is offering a free $20 bonus for simply opening an account via a referral link and depositing $500. Alternatively, you can get $100 if you deposit $10,000.
Round is available on iOS only.
https://app.investround.com/inviteCode/amadeo-r360s0

SoFi Invest

SoFi gives $50 for anyone who signs up for a SoFi Invest account via a referral link and deposits $1000. This offer stacks with the SoFi Money $25 offer (see details above), so you can do both!
Plus, you can get another $25 cash bonus when you buy $10 or more of crypto like Bitcoin, Litecoin or Ethereum. That's a total of $75 cash bonuses with SoFi Invest!
https://www.sofi.com/share/invest/2498539

Personal Capital

Personal Capital is a finance tracking website similar to Mint but tailored for investment accounts. If you open an account and link a qualified investment account for tracking (e.g. taxable brokerage, 401k, IRA, 529, etc) with more than $1000 in it, they will give you a free $20 amazon gift card within a couple weeks.
Accounts that do not qualify as valid investment accounts include bank, credit or debit card, Paypal, Stash, Acorns, Kapitall, Groundfloor, WageWorks HSA, Coinbase, digital currency exchanges, and manual investment accounts. Robinhood works!
https://share.personalcapital.com/x/oGFEyl

Banks-

Porte

Porte is a bank/app which pays you a $50 bonus for opening an account via a referral code, and making a $500 direct deposit. There are no catches, and you can close the account at any time fee free as soon as you register their debit card (gotta wait a few days to get it in the mail).
A "direct deposit" technically means that they want you to deposit the money right from payroll, Social Security, or other direct payment, but you can actually meet this requirement simply by transferring in $500 from virtually any source including bank accounts, cashapp, etc.
Referral link- https://portebanking.app.link/es7KK8Fb69

SoFi Money

SoFi is a bank/app that give out $50 for anyone who signs up for a SoFi Money (bank) account using a referral code and deposits $500 from any source. So all you have to do is open an account with a referral link, deposit $500, and then instantly collect the bonus and then take it all back.
You can close the account at any time with no fees-
https://www.sofi.com/invite/money?gcp=e65d8ea1-fd35-40bc-b801-547c3fc6e749

First Tech Federal Credit Union

First Tech FCU is a bank that gives you a free $100 bonus for opening an account and depositing $250 for 30 days. There are no fees, and you can close your account any time fee free. The $100 posts 30 days after you do the $250 deposit and you can then immediately withdraw all the money + the bonus and keep the bonus.
During account signup, say you want to meet eligibility by joining the "Financial Fitness Association", they pay for your $8 membership for you so that anyone nationwide can open an account
https://refer.firsttechfed.com/s/AMADEO

Red Stone Federal Credit Union

Red Stone Federal Credit Union is a bank that gives you a free $100 bonus for opening an account and doing 4 debit card transactions with their card in 30 days. There are no fees, and you can close your account any time fee free. The $100 posts 30 days after you do the $250 deposit and you can then immediately withdraw all the money + the bonus and keep the bonus.
You will get your $100 bonus within 90 days of meeting the above requirements. Keep your account open until you get the bonus.
During account signup, say you want to meet eligibility by joining the "Financial Fitness Association", they pay for your $8 membership for you so that anyone nationwide can open an account. This deal combo's well with the First Tech FCU offer listed above for this reason, you can get FFA membership from one and then easily just use it for both offers.
https://www.redfcu.org/specials/refer-a-friend/redeem.html?first=AMADEO&last=RUIU&referralCode=RUI855220

Chime

Chime is a bank/app which pays you a $50 bonus for opening an account via a referral code and making a $200 direct deposit. There are no catches, and you can close the account at any time fee free as soon as you register their debit card (gotta wait a few days to get it in the mail).
A "direct deposit" technically means that they want you to deposit the money right from payroll, Social Security, or other direct payment, but you can actually meet this requirement simply by transferring in $200 from virtually any source i.e. bank accounts, cashapp, etc.
https://chime.com/milazadrozny

Radius

Radius is a bank which pays you a $50 bonus for opening an account via a referral code and making a $500 deposit from any source. There are no catches, and you can close the account at any time fee free. You need to keep your account open for at least 90 days after depositing the $500, and keep the $500 in there for at least 60 days to be eligible to keep the bonus. So in other words, you can open the account, deposit $500, leave it in there for 60 days, then withdraw the $500 if you wish, and keep the account open for at least another 30 days to get the $50 bonus.
You need to enter my referral code when prompted during account signup top get the bonus, its TLAM9428D4
https://open.radiusbank.com/?utm_source=referafriend&utm_medium=narmi&promocode=9umylb

Wings

Wings Financial Credit Union is a bank offering $50 for opening a checking account, setting up eDocuments, and either doing 5 debit card transactions of $5 or more (anything counts, including Amazon GC reloads), OR a direct deposit of $300+ in 60 days.
No fees, can withdraw and close account any time.
https://www.wingsfinancial/newcustform/109cb9ea

Aspiration

Aspiration is an online bank which is offering a free $50 bonus for simply opening an account via a referral link and spending $250, and an extra $100 for $1000 spend in 3 months.
So all you have to do is open a “Spend & Save” account using a referral link, spend $250/1000 using their debit card within 3 months, and then you will get $50/150 posted to your account! There are no fees to worry about! You can close the account fee free whenever you want!
https://my.aspiration.com/app/token/referral/232Y47KAE4OG8Y8W/

Stash

Stash is a finance app that gives out $20 for anyone who signs up for the Stash (bank) or Stash Invest account via my referral link and deposits at least $5 from any source (payroll, another bank account, PayPal, etc.) So all you have to do is open an account with a referral link, deposit $5, and then the bonus will post to your account!
The app will ask you to open a paid account, but you can simply open a "beginner" account for $1 a month, and then close your account after 1 month after you get your $20 bonus.
https://get.stashinvest.com/amadeowpr10

SkyOne

SkyOne is a credit union which will pay you a $25 bonus for opening a checking account with a referral link, making a $5 opening deposit, and keeping your account open for at least 30 days.
This credit union services the SoCal area, but anyone nationwide can sign up if you follow the steps detailed below. People are normally required to make a donation to a local charity to qualify for a local credit union bank account when they don't live in the area, but SkyOne will actually pay for a donation to the "Surfrider Foundation" themselves because they want everyone on the US to be eligible! In other words, you don't have to spend a dime! Simply click ("None of the above? We've got you! SkyOne will make a one-time donation to one of the following non-profits") on the eligibility page when signing up.
https://refer.skyone.org/amadeoruiu3

Premier Members Credit Union

Premier Members Credit Union is a credit union which will pay you a $50 bonus for opening a money market account with a referral link, and making a $5 opening deposit. They will also require you to open a savings account alongside the money market account, which also requires a $5 opening deposit.
They are located in Boulder Colorado, but will allow anyone to create an account with them as long as you make a $5 donation to one of their local charities (they walk you through it during account signup). That's a total profit of $45!
And you can close the account at any time, fee free!
referral link (please remember to use my referral code during the account setup too)- https://www.pmcu.org/referred-by-a-friend/VFVJEVQQQ/

Oxygen

Oxygen is a mobile banking app that will pay you $25 for opening an account, depositing $200, and doing 5 debit card transaction within 60 days (You can just buy 5 $1 Amazon GC's reloads, they don't care what the purchase is. Lots of different ways to easily getr this). PM me for a link.

N26

N26 is a banking app (iOS/Android) which will pay you $10 for opening an account and spending $10 or more on a single purchase using their debit card.
The account has absolutely no fees and can be closed at any time. Account signup only takes a few minutes. You need to fund your N26 account from another bank with enough money to make the $10+ purchase. The debit card is shipped to you immediately after account signup. You receive the $10 bonus in the form of a statement credit.
N26 is available on iOS or Android only.
https://n26.com/amadeor4364

Cryptocurrency-

Voyager

Voyager is a crypocurrency trading app (iOS/Android only) which will pay you $25 in free bitcoin for trading $100 on the app! Make sure to use the referral code "AMA60T" in the “Reward Code” field when you create your account. The bonus posts within a couple of days, from my experience.
Referral link-
iOS- https://apps.apple.com/us/app/voyager-buy-bitcoin-crypto/id1396178579
Android- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.investvoyager

Constant

Constant is a cryptocurrency P2P investing platform which will give you $10 for signing up using a referral link, verifying your ID (pass KYC), and depositing $10.
So all you have to do is open an account using a referral link, verify your ID, deposit $10 via any means, and then you will get a $10 bonus that posts instantly and you can withdraw to your bank immediately. No deposit required.
https://www.myconstant.com?r=annoyedproduct

Celsius

Celsius is a cryptocurrency investing platform which will give you $20 for signing up using a referral code and depositing $200 worth of cryptocurrency. You must keep your deposit in the app for 30 days to get the full $20 bonus. You can then withdraw the full $240 and close your account fee free.

• https://celsiusnetwork.app.link/101697ce8c

Crypto.com

Crypto.com is a cryptocurrency investing platform which will give you $25 for signing up using a referral link, and "staking (aka, buying and holding) 1000 CRO (their special cryptocurrency, worth approximately $170) for 6 months. You need to apply for their "Ruby Steel" debit card when applying, its a 0 risk debit card, no credit impact, no fees. Combo's well with the Celsius promo if you need a platform to send cryptocurrency from, and you can send the $25 bonus crypto to celsius instantly.

• (enter referral code 66v69rwt76 if not pre-filled)
  • https://platinum.crypto.com/66v69rwt76

Gemini

Gemini is a cryptocurrency trading app/websitewhich will give you $10 worth of bitcoin for signing up using a referral link and buying/selling $100 worth of cryptocurrency.
Unlike the other offers listed here, this one can be used anywhere in the US (except NY), as well as Puerto Rico, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. This bonus posts VERY quickly, within a day or two.
https://gemini.com/share/rllzke26

Coinbase

Coinbase is a cryptocurrency trading platform which will pay you $10 in free bitcoin for trading $100 on the platform!
I would be grateful if you used my referral link- https://www.coinbase.com/join/ruiu_8
They will also give you $12 worth of the "Orchid" cryptocurrency (which can be immediately re-sold for cash) if you watch 3 short videos and answer 3 easy questions.
https://coinbase.com/earn/oxt/invite/t0wvs4k2

Credit Cards-

Chase Freedom

Chase will pay you $200 for signing up for a Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card with a referral link and spending $500 it within the first 3 months. This is one of the best credit card bonuses in the industry!
All you have to do is sign up for a Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card using my referral link, spend $500 within the first 3 months, and then get your $200! You can cancel the card at any time with no fees or penalties.
https://www.referyourchasecard.com/18/ONLMEFPEFJ

Capital One Quicksilver

Capital One will pay you $200 for signing up for a Capital One Quicksilver credit card with a referral link and spending $500 it within the first 3 months. This deal is basically the same as the Chase Freedom card mentioned above.
All you have to do is sign up for a Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card using my referral link, spend $500 within the first 3 months, and then get your $200! You can cancel the card at any time with no fees or penalties.
https://capital.one/2V8xwY0

Discover IT

Discover will pay you $50 for signing up for a Discover IT credit card with a referral link and making ANY purchase using it within the first 3 months. This is one of the easiest credit card bonuses in the industry!
All you have to do is sign up for a Discover IT credit card using my referral link, make ANY purchase using it within the first 3 months, and then get your $50! You can cancel the card at any time fee free.
https://refer.discover.com/s/hhti4m

Other-

Root

Root is an auto insurance app(iOS/Android) that will pay you $25 to download their app, let it track your driving for 3-4 weeks, and then offer you an auto insurance policy based on your driving data. You can easily ignore their policy offer, take the bonus, and walk away with the $25 bonus which then then go to your PayPal account, sent as a check, etc.
https://rootbonus.com/AmadeoRuiu

Worthy Bonds

Worthy Bonds is a finance app(iOS/Android) that will give you a free $10 bond to download their app, and open an account using a referral code. You never have to deposit any money into the account to get the bonus. You can sell the bond and take out the money after 90 days. The bond will also earn 5% yearly interest while you wait to withdraw.
The app may give you a popup saying the bonds are sold out (its a page with a celebratory emoji that pops up). I got this too. They make this popup because they sold out of a certain type of community bond, but have replaced it with a new one for referrals. In other words, you will still get your free bond. Just make sure you hit "next steps", set your initial purchase and monthly contributions to $0, and proceed. It should then credit the free bond immediately.
https://worthybonds.com/?r=etyji

SoFi Loans

SoFi loans is offering a $300 bonus for people who opens a new personal loan or refinance an existing student loan.
You should research the pros and cons of student loan refinancing before you consider this option, You can lower your interest rate, but lose some benefits from the federal government. Whether this is worth it to you will depend on individual circumstances.
There's also the option of taking out a SoFi loan.
www.sofi.com/share/2498539?src=copy

Fetch

Fetch Rewards pays roughly 5 to 10 cents (7.5 cents on average) for most receipt scanned. My personal favorite scanning app! Accepts e-receipts if you connect your email/Amazon. Can scan up to 28 receipts in any given 7 day period. $3 minimum payout.
They also give a $2 bonus for signing up using a referral code (open this link from your phone).
https://fetchrewards.onelink.me/vvv3/referraltext?code=JU1GW

Raise

Raise is a discount gift card website, that offers a $5 credit towards your first gift card if you sign up using a referral code. They have gift cards like Amazon or Uber on their site, so its pretty easy to find something you would have needed anyway.
www.sofi.com/share/2498539?src=copy
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Thank you for checking out my referral post! As you can probably tell, I spend a lot of time searching the web for referral offers. If you would like, feel free to sign up for my mailing list and I will send new referrals that I come across directly to your inbox.
https://mailchi.mp/c52908afbf15/moneywhisperers-latest-finance-tips-latest-finds
I've also put together a small blog with those as well as the referrals listed below. I'd love it if you check it out. Thank you!
https://www.youngmoneywhisperer.com/home