@4kids2graduate they were very reasonable as well.
@4kids2graduate : "Wondering (like the haircut discussion) if any of your kiddos have mastered (or not) the dry cleaning arena in their respective college areas? "
In keeping with my practice of doing the dry cleaning at home using retail products, and in an effort to take advantage of her newfound pleasure at finding gems at second hand stores, my daughter placed a fabulous ensemble from Japan in a dry cleaning bag and was terribly disappointed to find that it came out in ruinous condition. She texted me and I could feel her despair. I told her to bring it home at winter break and Iād try to work on it.
Just as she had, I used the internet to help me understand the Japanese on the label, sheād already contacted her brother to help her translate, and it looked like my search was yielding the same information. Then I went to an online international care label site and found there were additional, or alternate, instructions available in the symbols, and I used those: handwashing with a fat-laden soap did the trick, and removed the residual spots on her nice little outfit.
I have never had a bad experience doing the home dry cleaning, and was sorry that she had, as now she may not trust it.
So, that is her experience with dry cleaning at college, 4kids. Pretty sure itās not what you were looking for, butā¦
I have to say I never realized you are an āat home dry cleaner,ā @Waiting2exhale, but it fits with your CC moniker in some way.
Add us to the list of kids back home for spring break and needing a haircut!! Bad!! He says there are barbers, but that he needs to get an uber to drive him there and back - so getting a haircut at school is expensive 
Dentist, eye-doctor appointments on the schedule for the week. Plus taxes - kid earned money for the first time last year at his summer job - so we now need to file taxes!
Yes, add us to the haircut (barber of Mom) and taxes list. Drycleaning - apparently the school store takes/gets d/cl for kids from some outside provider.
My D will probably be filing taxes for the first time this year (although she didnāt make enough money for it to be required). Does she have to file if she used funds from a 529 account to pay tuition and received a scholarship? (probably a question for another part of CC)
Funny story re college kid coming home and needing haircut. D came home over winter break and was desperate for a haircut. She normally wears it short but itād gotten to her shoulders and was driving her nuts. Also she said the water at school was āhardā and was hard on her hair. So itās the night before her flight home and she still hasnāt gone to the haircutter. I come home late after 10pm, and sheās already asleep. I go in the bathroomā¦and there is cut hair all over. Hmm, I am annoyed that the bathroom is a mess (usually she is good about cleaning up). She often would trim her hair in HS, so that she cut her hair is not anything Iād think much about. But as I clean up, I notice the hair is really long. Uh oh. This wasnāt an ends trim. Giving yourself a short haircut doesnāt work too well. I got a bad feeling about this. We have to leave for her flight at 11am the next morning. Pull out the phone and do some searching. Whew, there is a barber close by that is open at 9am on Sundays!
Next morning. āSo you were sick of your hair, huh? Letās head to the barber before the flight.ā ā I think it looks pretty good. You think it looks awful?ā It looks like a better than the average self-done haircut, but yeah it still looks like a self-done short hair cut. So yes awful. But I want to be diplomatic. āYou did a good job but your first few self-done short haircuts have to be fixed up. Ok, to mess with your hair but be realistic and get it fixed afterwards while youāre learning.ā I thought that was putting a pretty good positive spin on it! āI hate going to the haircutter.ā āYouāll like this one. Itās the hipster place. All the women have tattoos, funky haircuts and weird piercings. Iāll pay for you and leave. I promise I wonāt hang around and watch or say anything.ā Big success. Nice haircutākind of edgy definitely pixie. Stylist didnāt say a thing about the self-cut. Instead they talked musicals, lol. What an image. My D (who looks pretty staid actually) and the tatooed and pierced hipster stylist singing Frozen songs together in the barber shop.
I wonder how many years until I can pull this story out for a good laugh. Iām guessing not until sheās in her 40s and has her own kids to laugh about. Iāll be 70 then so maybe I should take notes so I remember.
D has cut her own and othersā hair for a few years now (including mine, complimented by a real hairdresser), but opted to pay for a wash and trim this trip home because washing her hair takes a long time (lots of hair, special products, etc.). Weāre filling out taxes for the first time too. H and I have done ours online for years, but apparently you canāt do that for your first time, so weāll slog through an actual paper copy and have the money sent directly to her savings. Her dental visit isnāt until summer, but weāre about to leave for a check up at the docās.
I did Dās first tax return through Turbotax freedom edition last year, it was free too (federal and state).
I think itās better if they file even if they are not required to, for the completion of the FAFSA. I think if you have income but donāt file then there is some kind if non-filing verification needed.
My D has scholarship income thatās taxable because we used it for room and board. She will be taxed on some of that and we will pay her back for it. We still get to claim a tax credit for some of her fees and books, so we still come out ahead.
Iām also filing a tax return for my S, even though he doesnāt owe any tax, because the 2016 tax return will be needed for his first 2018/19 FAFSA next year.
@mommdc: āIām also filing a tax return for my S, even though he doesnāt owe any tax, because the 2016 tax return will be needed for his first 2018/19 FAFSA next year.ā
Fabulously forward thinking!
@mommdc thanks for that link. Whatever link H looked up on the IRS site said first-timers need to file on paper. Your link explains how it works for first time efiling.
DS will be home next week for part of the week. So looking forward to giving him a hug!
He also falls into the āmom cuts his hairā category. Iāll trim it up but, donāt think it will be nearly as wild as it was when he came home at Thanksgiving!
Weāll also work on taxes- uck! even with turbotax I anticipate it will not be pretty. The flip side is I canāt complain about his scholarships- so- weāll pay taxes with (kind of) a smile.
@sseamom, I hope it works for you. I had no problem. The nice thing is she could e-file Federal and State for free. Just make sure you start from the TT freedom edition website and each time to sign in.
My S only works a few hours a week and didnāt have any tax withheld, but I think he can still file a return. Itās nifty when you can use the ālink to IRS toolā in the FAFSA to bring in the tax info automatically.
@bookmom7 if your son has taxable scholarships and other income above $6,300, you might need the parent taxable income to figure his tax on form 8615. So you might need to do your return first.
Scholarships and grants that cover tuition, qualified fees and books, are tax-free. But sometimes you might elect to make some scholarship cover expenses such as room and board, which makes them taxable, in order for parents to claim the American Opportunity Tax Credit or to coordinate with 529.
https://www.irs.gov/individuals/aotc
@eh1234 look to see if you qualify for the AOTC. If so, you might want to allocate some of the 529 money to pay for room and board so that you have about $4,000 in tuition expenses to claim for AOTC.
The scholarship might have to become taxable if not enough qualified education expenses (QEE), i.e. tuition, fees, books are left to offset it. But it might be worth it if you can claim an education credit.
Feel free to post in the FA and scholarship forum
We have new developments in my Dās housing saga. Even though they are on spring break the school called the girl who had the low number and made her an offer and required an immediate response without even giving her a chance to confer with the other girls. Here is what they offered her: demand for 4 person suites was very high this year, but we have excess 3 person suites. We will put an extra bed into a three person suite to convert it into a quad. She said yes. So as of right now, D and her friends are scheduled to live 4 people in a three person suite in Panther (for those of you familiar with Pitt).
D and her friends are all excited because they will be living together but my Mom brain is not so happy. These rooms are set up with one large bedroom that is a double and a smaller bedroom that is a single, They are proposing to put another bed in the single room. Iāve looked at the layout. I donāt know how they will fit an additional bed, dresser and desk in the room that is designed to be a single. I canāt tell how the closets are set up but I wonder about that too. Are two girls going to have to share one closet? D says they will make it all work and they are just happy to be together. I hope the school is not planning on charging the regular price for this room as if the girls had gotten a normal four person suite. Weāll see how this develops.
Thanks @mommdc We donāt qualify for AOTC, Dās scholarship is a reduction in OOS tuition, and the school donāt require filing a FAFSA to get the merit scholarship, so Iām thinking that D can file if she wants her $149 in taxes back, but otherwise, doesnāt need to. (Weāre using 529 for all QEE not covered by the scholarship in the hopes of maybe retiring someday!)
Oh, I can see why your Mom brain would not be too happy. However, Iāll confess your post describing how excited the girls are made me smile.
I hope it all works out, and it turns out to be a fun college story theyāll tell illustrating their great friendship.
@me29034 I can understand your concern but I think who you live with has far more impact on the quality of the arrangement than where you live does. They may be a bit cramped but all the space in the world does not make up for a bad roommate. Letās hope they can put a bunk bed in the single and they split the normal total suite price by 4 instead of 3.
My DS will be in a suite set up as you describe (single and a double bedroom sharing a bath) but the single is the RAās room. There is a closet in the common entry area that is probably intended for coats but could be used by a 4th student if there was one sharing the space. My DS prefers not to study in his room so not having a desk of his own would not be a huge issue for him. I have faith that if people can live in those tiny houses that seem to be in every design magazine lately, 4 smart, creative college girls can live in space originally designed for 3.