self-employed and stimulus package?

[keziak]

I tried to look up whether we can get a stipend from the stimulus package. What I read seemed to be saying we need to file for unemployment. Is there something else we should be doing, do you know? Do we have to reach the point of no sales to be eligible?

[chapeau-noir]

Here, 19k a year doesn't even cover rent for a one bedroom apartment.  I know if our house wasn't paid off, after retiring I'd have to move elsewhere to even afford a roof over my head and, sadly, that is what is happening here.  People who were born and raised here (or who moved here when teens as I did) can't afford to retire in their home town - they leave, taking a lot of the old spirit of the town with them, to be replaced by Amazonians who work gigs, not jobs and are just here because they're not somewhere else.

[mam98031]

---

@chapeau-noir wrote:

Here, 19k a year doesn't even cover rent for a one bedroom apartment.  I know if our house wasn't paid off, after retiring I'd have to move elsewhere to even afford a roof over my head and, sadly, that is what is happening here.  People who were born and raised here (or who moved here when teens as I did) can't afford to retire in their home town - they leave, taking a lot of the old spirit of the town with them, to be replaced by Amazonians who work gigs, not jobs and are just here because they're not somewhere else.

---

Sadly that is so true.  I don't even know how people starting out can even rent an apartment.  Dang for both our kids we had to co sign for them.  And both of them had very good credit ratings for kids their age.  I made sure of that before they even left home.  They both had their own credit cars and a couple other things to build credit and we taught them the dos and don'ts.  

But the apartment complex around here and I live rurally, they want their income to be 4 to 5 times whatever the rent is for that apartment.  That is crazy stuff.  When I got my first apartment, if that had been a requirement, I would have had to live on the street or in my car.

[tools*]

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

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@atikovi wrote:

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@sin-n-dex wrote:

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@atikovi wrote:

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@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:

BTW this threshold of $75k means a totally different thing if you live in LA or NYC vs living in GA. 

---

Someone making $75K for last few years should have enough saved up for a 6 month emergency fund if they live within their means. 

---

Not if you live in a city where your mortgage payment is over 2K a month. (Friends of mine bought a house for 400K and are paying 1900 a month for their mortgage with 5% down). They make 100K between the two of them, if either of them loses their job, the ship will sink.

---

Could they have bought a $300K house instead? Or wasn't it nice enough, big enough or too far out?

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If it's anything like where I live, 400k just gets you IN to the housing market.  If you want something cheaper, have fun with the 100 mile round trip commute.

ETA:  My 1700 sqft split level, which is 10 miles north of town (Seattle) in an older area, is valued at $750,000.  It's really absurd.

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Where I live, the median house price is $3,000,000. for about 2500 sq ft.

[chapeau-noir]

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@tools* wrote:

---

@chapeau-noir wrote:

---

@atikovi wrote:

---

@sin-n-dex wrote:

---

@atikovi wrote:

---

@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:

BTW this threshold of $75k means a totally different thing if you live in LA or NYC vs living in GA. 

---

Someone making $75K for last few years should have enough saved up for a 6 month emergency fund if they live within their means. 

---

Not if you live in a city where your mortgage payment is over 2K a month. (Friends of mine bought a house for 400K and are paying 1900 a month for their mortgage with 5% down). They make 100K between the two of them, if either of them loses their job, the ship will sink.

---

Could they have bought a $300K house instead? Or wasn't it nice enough, big enough or too far out?

---

If it's anything like where I live, 400k just gets you IN to the housing market.  If you want something cheaper, have fun with the 100 mile round trip commute.

ETA:  My 1700 sqft split level, which is 10 miles north of town (Seattle) in an older area, is valued at $750,000.  It's really absurd.

---

Where I live, the median house price is $3,000,000. for about 2500 sq ft.

---

I don't live in a ritzy area - just an old first ring suburb - a few of the neighbourhoods not far from me are pretty rough.

[tools*]

---

@chapeau-noir wrote:

---

@tools* wrote:

---

@chapeau-noir wrote:

---

@atikovi wrote:

---

@sin-n-dex wrote:

---

@atikovi wrote:

---

@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:

BTW this threshold of $75k means a totally different thing if you live in LA or NYC vs living in GA. 

---

Someone making $75K for last few years should have enough saved up for a 6 month emergency fund if they live within their means. 

---

Not if you live in a city where your mortgage payment is over 2K a month. (Friends of mine bought a house for 400K and are paying 1900 a month for their mortgage with 5% down). They make 100K between the two of them, if either of them loses their job, the ship will sink.

---

Could they have bought a $300K house instead? Or wasn't it nice enough, big enough or too far out?

---

If it's anything like where I live, 400k just gets you IN to the housing market.  If you want something cheaper, have fun with the 100 mile round trip commute.

ETA:  My 1700 sqft split level, which is 10 miles north of town (Seattle) in an older area, is valued at $750,000.  It's really absurd.

---

Where I live, the median house price is $3,000,000. for about 2500 sq ft.

---

I don't live in a ritzy area - just an old first ring suburb - a few of the neighbourhoods not far from me are pretty rough.

---

I don't live in a ritzy area either. Just blocks of moderately sized 19th century townhouses in NYC. (My house is 12' wide x 50' deep, 4 floors, on a 12' x 100' lot.)

[chapeau-noir]

---

@tools* wrote:

---

@chapeau-noir wrote:

---

@tools* wrote:

---

@chapeau-noir wrote:

---

@atikovi wrote:

---

@sin-n-dex wrote:

---

@atikovi wrote:

---

@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:

BTW this threshold of $75k means a totally different thing if you live in LA or NYC vs living in GA. 

---

Someone making $75K for last few years should have enough saved up for a 6 month emergency fund if they live within their means. 

---

Not if you live in a city where your mortgage payment is over 2K a month. (Friends of mine bought a house for 400K and are paying 1900 a month for their mortgage with 5% down). They make 100K between the two of them, if either of them loses their job, the ship will sink.

---

Could they have bought a $300K house instead? Or wasn't it nice enough, big enough or too far out?

---

If it's anything like where I live, 400k just gets you IN to the housing market.  If you want something cheaper, have fun with the 100 mile round trip commute.

ETA:  My 1700 sqft split level, which is 10 miles north of town (Seattle) in an older area, is valued at $750,000.  It's really absurd.

---

Where I live, the median house price is $3,000,000. for about 2500 sq ft.

---

I don't live in a ritzy area - just an old first ring suburb - a few of the neighbourhoods not far from me are pretty rough.

---

I don't live in a ritzy area either. Just blocks of moderately sized 19th century townhouses in NYC. (My house is 12' wide x 50' deep, 4 floors, on a 12' x 100' lot.)

---

That would be a couple of million here in equivalent neighbourhoods - homes once occupied by decently paid working families.   The old clunky rowhouse in Astoria Queens where I lived with my grandparents for a while is probably about a million and a half - two stories and tight accommodation.

It's just absurd all over!  New York and San Francisco is probably the worst, though.

[tools*]

---

@chapeau-noir wrote:

---

@tools* wrote:

---

@chapeau-noir wrote:

---

@tools* wrote:

---

@chapeau-noir wrote:

---

@atikovi wrote:

---

@sin-n-dex wrote:

---

@atikovi wrote:

---

@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:

BTW this threshold of $75k means a totally different thing if you live in LA or NYC vs living in GA. 

---

Someone making $75K for last few years should have enough saved up for a 6 month emergency fund if they live within their means. 

---

Not if you live in a city where your mortgage payment is over 2K a month. (Friends of mine bought a house for 400K and are paying 1900 a month for their mortgage with 5% down). They make 100K between the two of them, if either of them loses their job, the ship will sink.

---

Could they have bought a $300K house instead? Or wasn't it nice enough, big enough or too far out?

---

If it's anything like where I live, 400k just gets you IN to the housing market.  If you want something cheaper, have fun with the 100 mile round trip commute.

ETA:  My 1700 sqft split level, which is 10 miles north of town (Seattle) in an older area, is valued at $750,000.  It's really absurd.

---

Where I live, the median house price is $3,000,000. for about 2500 sq ft.

---

I don't live in a ritzy area - just an old first ring suburb - a few of the neighbourhoods not far from me are pretty rough.

---

I don't live in a ritzy area either. Just blocks of moderately sized 19th century townhouses in NYC. (My house is 12' wide x 50' deep, 4 floors, on a 12' x 100' lot.)

---

That would be a couple of million here in equivalent neighbourhoods - homes once occupied by decently paid working families.   The old clunky rowhouse in Astoria Queens where I lived with my grandparents for a while is probably about a million and a half - two stories and tight accommodation.

It's just absurd all over!  New York and San Francisco is probably the worst, though.

---

Probably $2,000,000-2,500,000 (75% of the value is in the lot). Astoria is really upscale and trendy now, and still the best Greek restaurants in NYC.

[chapeau-noir]

Yes - the neighbourhood had a high Greek population even when my dad was growing up there (20s and 30s) - I recall it still had excellent food when I was staying with the grandparents.  I'd heard it was trendy.

Funny thing - my grandparents rented out the upstairs...to the other set of grandparents.  My cousins had all four grandparents in one house.  I loved that house and was chagrined when it went out of the family.

[cynthealee2]

Where I live, the median house price is $3,000,000. for about 2500 sq ft.

My word... 2500 sq ft is roughly 100K... now I know why I like living in the south...  Though to be honest I bought a bigger house (5 bedroom 2 bath) in a suburb of GA right as the bubble was popping in 2009 for 50K 😉 Nice neighborhood too, was bank owned and they were dumping properties left and right.

I can't stand living in big cities, and the ones in the north give me the willies, y'all live on top of each other literally no grass between the houses, one wall is the same wall to the next house ect. *** shiver ***

[verban.stuff]

Missouri - online merchants included.

Check your state’s Department of Labor news/press releases.

[texasapts]

It is new, self employed people can file for unemployment.  Please read up on it

[mam98031]

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@texasapts wrote:

It is new, self employed people can file for unemployment.  Please read up on it

---

That was established earlier in the thread in certain cases.  There are requirements to getting that benefit and it is not available for everyone that is self employed.  There is a criteria that has to be met.

@texasapts 

[angelsons]

Not true...they just opened it up to independent contractors and self employed.  I just don’t know if any EBAY sellers qualify.  Anyone know?

[mam98031]

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@angelsons wrote:

Not true...they just opened it up to independent contractors and self employed.  I just don’t know if any EBAY sellers qualify.  Anyone know?

---

@angelsons 

Thank you for your concerns and comments.  But this was resolved on the thread last month.  If you had kept reading through the thread, you would have discovered the further info on the subject.

[carolynkaraoke]

Someone should yell eBay to cut their store prices in half or give us 6 months free before we have to shut down! People are not buying like they were and most are purchasing from Amazon now. It's not like they would ever care anyway so i expect to just shut down and use Craigslist Letgo and other free sites!