The picture on the top is my home away from home, Kuhn's Supermarket. It's your average 1960's-sized supermarket, and has always suited me just fine. I've been shopping there 35 years.
The bottom photo (I took this Saturday) shows the NEW Kuhn's they're nearing completion of, and it's MAMMOTH. It's the size of 3 of the old Kuhn's lined up next to one another, and is slated to open this summer. When I walked to the store on Saturday and saw Mike (the manager) I expressed my surprise and asked what they intend to put in there. One of the cashiers said "We're going to have our own bakery, pizza shop and a big hot foods station, right Mike?" He said yes, and a few more surprises.
I'm excited, but a little nervous too. I know life is all about progress, but do we really need a superstore in my little neighborhood? My belly may be rounder than average, but there's only so much it can hold. I'd love to know what they're going to do with the original store. More to come... stay tuned.
This may sound silly or dumb, but I did something the last two nights and I don't feel great about it. When it comes to tv, I watch the Roku Channel & Peacock for free. I watch HBO Max & Paramount Plus, which I pay for.
I pay an annual amount of $139.00 a year for Paramount ad-free, and $159.00 a year for HBO Max ad-free. They are both coming up for their yearly renewal in March.
So, two nights ago I'm looking around for something new to watch on HBO Max, and wasn't that impressed. Curious, I went to my Accounts page, than my subscription page and saw a "Cancel Subscription" button. Wonder what would happen if I clicked it? So I did.
Right away I got a "Don't Go" pop-up, and an offer of $40 off my next renewal on March 21. I never had any intention of canceling, I was just playing around. But sure, I'll take a $40 discount.
So last night, I'm sitting here watching Paramount Plus and thinking "I wonder if I could do that again?" and went to my Paramount subscription page, saw my annual payment was due March 3 and clicked 'Cancel Subscription'. I got this.
I hit "Redeem Offer" and just like that, my annual price of $139.00 dropped to $69.00 on my billing page.
(If you subscribe to HBO Max or Paramount, and pay an annual amount like I do... you might want to check this out, and save yourself a few bucks too.)
The thing is, I wasn't looking to save and wasn't planning to cancel either. I like both services very much and feel I get my money's worth (especially as I don't have to sit thru any ads). But it was my understanding Paramount Plus was underwater and here I am, squeezing them further? They're just a big corporation, right? I still feel guilty.
Finally, is anyone using TurboTax Online to do their taxes? I'm ready to hurt somebody. I get on there to do my taxes, I keep getting interrupted with "Do you want Expert Help? Say the word!"
After completing the Income portion of my taxes (where they graciously offered to download my investment documents from Vanguard and I accepted) I kept getting "Before we can proceed, you need to review." I checked the various numbers I'd entered with the numbers on the forms they downloaded, they all matched up. But every time I hit proceed, I got "Unable to continue, you need to review."
Finally an emoji of an Asian woman appeared, saying "Expert help is here! Click on me to take over for $59.95!" NO THANK YOU, ASIAN LADY. I gave up and signed off, and went to bed.
As I lay there in the darkness, I wondered if it was something on their end, not mine. I got back up, looked at the online document and what they downloaded. That's when I noticed Turbotax chopped off the "CO" in the payer name.
VANGUARD FIDUCIARY TRUST CO (the Payer Name on my investment form)
VANGUARD FIDUCIARY TRUST (the Payer Name that Turbotax downloaded)
I added "CO" to the Payer Name they downloaded to my tax form, hit enter--and sure enough, the "review" box disappeared. So, they wanted me to pay them an additional $59.95 to locate THEIR typographical error??If that Asian lady emoji had a neck, I'd strangle it--just kidding! Okay, deep breath... relax... back to my taxes.
Dug, I do understand about liking your small grocery store. We have Central Market here (a small natural specialty) that is actually owned by HEB (a large super-store).While HEB is great for some things hard to find elsewhere, I prefer to shop at Central Market for weekly items. But you may enjoy having the bakery, pizza, etc. right there at your fingertips once they remodel or reconstruct.
ReplyDeleteAnd DH uses Turbo Tax every year. As far as I know, he hasn't had a problem with it... and they do ask if you want Expert help, but he always says no.
Hope you're feeling better after recovering from the flu... and not over-doing too soon.
Good morning Rian, and thanks for reading & sharing. I am a little excited for the new Kuhn's for the reasons you said, I just hope it's successful for them as well. Seems to me they're going to need a lot more customers. And nice to read that DH uses Turbotax as well! I like it, but they really keep you on your toes with the "extras" offers. Anyway I hope your eye is doing ok...
DeleteI have used Turbo Tax for a number of years, since our tax preparer HUMAN died. I go through my credit union to get to it, though, not a standard Turbo Tax app. I never let them upload/download/reload any of my documents. I enter every number myself. I never click on help buttons (or so far I haven't) and I work through the whole thing pretty quickly.
ReplyDeleteThis year has a glitch, not in Turbo Tax, but with Terry's department of defense income statement. It didn't show up. After a roundabout commotion with DoD website, he was finally able to order what they call a duplicate. Where the heck did the original go? The duplicate just showed up so I'm hoping to get those numbers entered and be done. I've usually finished by now, submitted my state taxes which provide a refund that will pay the federal tax bill, and gotten that money deposited into my account, just waiting for April 15. Taxes are maddening enough, it's really maddening with the tax prep materials are hassling you.
Thanks dkzody, and I'm glad you got Terry's missing document resolved. And yes, you said it--it's maddening that I'm already paying $200 to file my federal and state, while continually being harassed to opt for more services. I must've hit NO 15 times throughout the prep, and just trying to get my refund direct deposited into my bank account and not a new one they kept trying to set me up with.
DeleteDon't feel the least bit guilty about your reduction in the streaming fees. They certainly don't care about you unless you suggest you're ready to leave. Otherwise they'd be offering you a discount for your loyalty. Whatever happened to customer loyalty benefits anyway.
ReplyDeleteThat's going to be one massive grocery store! Don't be surprised if they move everything so you have to walk from one end of the store to the other to get regular purchases.
Yikes paying $200 to file your taxes. I buy a different version of tax prep here in Canada, and pay $40 that allows me to complete 4 individual tax returns. I think if I wanted to do up to 12, it's about $120. I already know I won't be getting a refund this year, so will wait until near the deadline (Apr 30) to file and send in my payment.
Thank you Maebeme, much appreciated. And gosh I can't imagine paying only $40 to get my taxes done! The IRS used to have a free direct file service I used & liked very much, but that piece of shit Trump ended it this year. Pardon my French.
DeleteI pay an outrageous amount for cable and a couple streaming services but am too scared to cancel. I do watch Network TV for several shows although most of the series I watch are on Apple TV and PBS Passport. I should try that cancel option! Again I pay an outrageous amount to have my taxes done, but I have a rental and gift to my daughters and grandsons, so it's too complicated for me. And now that I read about the upselling that Turbo Tax does, I'm not likely to use them. (I would fall for it) I'm glad you figured out the issue!!
ReplyDeleteThanks very much Margaret! Hey I just had a friend sign up for PBS Passport and they love it, I am thinking about it now too. And YES, "upselling" it's constant throughout the tax prep with Turbotax. The IRS used to have a wonderful direct-file option I liked to use, maybe yours was too complicated for it but I could use it and it was free, but of course that fascist asshole Trump ended it for 2026.
DeleteI have YouTube premium and it went out last night ( widespread). I freaked out, lol. Great info on getting the discounts, and I wouldn’t feel guilty. They just need to restructure where their money goes. We don’t have any local stores where I live, and while I love all the extras, it’s getting harder to walk the whole store in these big ones. I use delivery for my basics. Joyce
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and sharing Joyce, the older I get the more I am looking into delivery. And interesting about YT Premium! 🙂
DeleteAbout 10 years ago, my local small supermarket decided to become my local big supermarket. It took them a few years to do so, but alas, along the way they bought out the shops nearby, including the best coffee shop around (but we have plenty of them), the best takeaway sushi shop (we have plenty of those too, but this one is sorely missed), a good deli and several other shops.
ReplyDeleteAll this to put in lots more stuff that I’m not interested in and making me walk a lot further to find the stuff I want.
I watch Peacock and Paramount plus for free. A friend of mine has a family subscription and I’m part of his family. I don’t feel guilty as, quite often, I prepare lunch for him and his companion (and the A.M.) and supply quality wines.
Perhaps I should tell him about the cancel subscription deal, although I suspect he already knows.
Thanks for sharing Peter, I'm sorry what your own market's expansion cost you. With miine, they only tore down an old YMCA building that I'm not even sure was still in use. And I think that's wonderful how you and your friend take care of one another in regards to food & entertainment. I wish I could do something like that too.
DeleteThis is why I love your blog, we have similar issues and opinions and it's always great to commiserate! I like smaller grocery stores which is why I love Aldi. One plus to mega stores is you get a lot of steps in hiking around looking for stuff.😁 As for tv, we haven't gotten up the nerve to cut the cable yet and are still paying $150/mo for the privilege.😏 Don't feel any guilt for getting a better deal on your streaming. If they weren't making money, they'd go outta business. You should be doing the same thing every year! Everyone I know plays the game. I just did it with Sirius, got 3 yrs for less than $100. I've heard they are having problems too, but I do not care!😂 As for Turbo Tax, I used them for 2 yrs and paid extra for the live human both yrs and BOTH yrs, they gave me bad advice and we got letters from the IRS! We didn't have to pay penalties but the one yr we did wind up paying extra federal taxes because the guy told me to put a charitable deduction in the wrong spot and instead of a deduction, we paid taxes on the donation. The only way to fix was to file a corrected form and I wasn't going through that. So now we pay a woman a mile from our house an exorbitant fee to file our taxes but I don't have the stress and we're supporting a local business. Ha! Now, I feel better that we've commiserated on all these topics.😎😉😁
ReplyDeleteHaha Bobi thanks so much for sharing, I enjoyed that :^) I sure wish I had an Aldi's nearby, everyone I know who shops there loves it. And you're right, I will definitely be getting in some serious steps at this new store! Interesting about your Sirius (I forgot that even existed) and wow about the human connection with Turbotax. I opted for that one year and the woman insisted I could move an IRA withdrawal into my Roth without paying taxes and I KNEW that was wrong. I'm glad you found a local person to take care of that stuff for you!
DeleteI predict you will actually love the new, expanded version of your grocery store, Doug. Believe it or not, my sister and I, despite government urging to file electronically, still use the old fashioned paper forms method. And I resent even paying for the postage stamp! Yep, I'm a skin flinty dinosaur. ❤️❤️🦉
ReplyDeleteThanks very much Florence, and I have to tell you, every time you leave a comment it makes me like you more. Good for you! :^)
DeleteSeveral years ago Krogers built a mega store in a nearby town. It has a deli with an eating area, a Starbucks, I think a chinese restaurant and (originally) a BAR. We heard about this and went over one morning. I was sneaking around to take a picture of the bar and an employee told me not to worry, the bar would open in about ten minutes. Because, I guess, I look like someone who stalks a bar in a grocery store at 8:50 am waiting for it to open so I could drink at the grocery store. Last time we were there - the bar is missing.
ReplyDeleteIt is so huge I don't think I have ever walked the whole store.
We used turbo tax for years until my husband retired. He has a railroad pension and I pressed the button to have them fill it in automatically. Then six months later I got a letter that our return was incorrect. I couldn't get anyone to answer me at Turbo Tax so I contacted a local accountant who spotted the error, fixed it and even got us a refund. So we just go to him now. I do wish we could deduct his fee like we did in the olden days (before 2016).
Thanks very much for sharing Miss Merry, I always enjoy your stories--too funny about your mega-Krogers! By the way, before Kuhn's bought the little supermarket in my neighborhood in the mid-1970s, it WAS a Krogers :^) And I'm glad you found your own accountant to handle your taxes. I used to use the IRS Free File until Fuhrer Trump removed it in 2025.
DeleteI like your pictures of Bellevue. I like Bellevue and enjoyed hanging out there when I did. I am NOT a fan of Turbo Tax they are aggressive and have hidden fees that you don’t see until you are halfway through preparing. This year I used OLT.com. Everything was free and got me a more accurate refund than TurboTax
ReplyDeleteBeth
Thanks for sharing Beth, and I'm glad to hear from you. I think next year I'll look at some alternative tax preps. You are so right about Turbotax.
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