For the power upgrade


Hydro has a flat fee they charge, they'll come out n turn the power off/on

The city will require permits (handled by electrician) and may have demands of their own

Your electrician will have a fee to install the new panel, and run the wires to your house (could be expensive, mine charged $5.5k)

All in all it cost me about $7K+ to go from 100->200 plus a couple other things

since we're on the talk of cameras, how about smart doorbell / lock suggestions?

I talked to my electrician quickly about this because an EV or plugin is in the cards in a few years. The problem for us is potentially the connection between the house and the garage as it might be the case that the power line goes to the house, and then goes underground to the garage. Our garage is elevated on concrete so adding a bigger line may not be the easiest thing to do.

ya it'll depend on the size of your underground conduit to the garage (hopefully there's a conduit and not a buried cable :lol )

i figure it's a matter of if there's space for another feed, or maybe pulling the existing out and a larger feed (if it'll fit) to a new sub panel in the garage.

IMO if you’ve got the dough you go with an entire Nest setup. From what I’ve seen it’s about the best you can do for wireless stuff

Add in one of those nest home control units snd you’ve got a pretty slick DIY setup

+1 with HondaRacer, when you're looking at all this smart tech stuff, it's best to stick with one system. Just like your power tools.

That said, I absolutely refuse to pay for subscription fees and I don't care about China listening to me. The Nest doorbell cameras have a low base price of $99, but a hefty subscription fee.

I use the Eufy 4K battery powered doorbell camera. Works great, video is clear night and day. Battery life is kind of bad at 3 months, but I have it on the most power intensive settings. It charges via USB-C. The hub doesn't have expandable storage so you'll have to delete like you would on a dash cam. I paid around $350 for mine on Black Friday I think

You could go with the wired version, but I didn't like the placement of it - my existing doorbell is on the left wall to the door. I wanted to see down the porch and what not.


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Some door bell cameras require a specific voltage as well. So if you have a multi meter maybe pull off the old door bell and check the current voltage. If you don’t have what’s required you’ll need to mess around with the door bell transformer as well

damn they are indeed pricy systems :lol

i was thinking of a 'non subscription' doorbell like eufy, but then a camera system like wyze as wyze seem like good value.

i had the same problem with smart plugs, i had a few diff brands and end up having several apps and it's a PITA messing with, especially when i change wifi passwords

if i remember correctly skybell doesn't have a sub. not sure if they have one now.

Didn’t realize Nest had a sub service

Anyone have recommendations for a place that can mount new tires onto new wheels with installation?

Can anyone recommend a company that can drop off a giant garbage bin and pick it up? Doing some house cleaning and have a lot of stuff to toss like old carpets, scrap wood and metal, old disassembled Ikea furniture, old mahjong tables, etc.

Preferably some service where I just dump everything I need to in a bin that's too inconvenient for me to recycle or need to bring to the waste transfer centers.

Sounds like a job for E-40six :smug:

UGH I hate subscriptions also.

I like the WYZE system. They have amazing camera's for the price and doorbell. I haven't used their doorbell as I have a CCTV system already, but we use wyze at my parents house/grandmas house and we love it. I suspect their doorbell camera will be just as good.

I heard great things about eufy as well.

I'm using a wyze camera as well. It's simple, affordable, has all the motion triggering features etc and saves to a microSD card. Footage is also accessible remotely via the app and saves triggered Events etc. Best part, no subscription fee.

Looking to get some automotive related posters for my garage and basement. I would be framing them.

Any good recommended sources?

Looking for F1 type posters, and other Ferrari/Porsche/Mercedes related posters specifically.

ie:
https://automobilist.com/mclaren-x-g...mited-edition/

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e8/dc...8a749653aa.jpg

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/1908...olution-poster

Etsy has alot but looking for other reputable sources to browse.

I've been using a Skybell for 3+ years now. Still no subscription for cloud stored videos, and still going strong.

For security cameras I have a Wifi camera system from Amazon, similar to the Lorex stuff Costco sells. Records to a HDD, and I can view over the internet on demand. Good peace of mind when away.

My skybell always glitches. Just today, motion sensor + doorbell ring. Tap the notification and the app doesn't even open. I opened the app and I can't find it in the history. I'm using it with android and app is updated.

Weird. I use on iOS, don't have any glitchiness

I just compared to the wife's iOS and we miss the same footage in the history. I wonder if it's the particular model. Skybell_hd_4_0_100010F and connection quality is 75%

Does anyone manage their own corporation?
I'm looking for some advice.

I have a small side hustle that generates about $1,500 per month in profit.

I don't need the money from that business, and I'm wondering if I should just incorporate the business so I can hold the money in the corporation and I can invest it and let it grow. Right now I'm claiming it on my personal taxes on the t2125 form, so I'm getting taxed accordingly as it's just adding to my personal income.

The idea is if I keep it in a corporation I would not be subject to the same high personal income tax and I can grow it within the business and be more tax efficient. Then if I needed the money I can draw it out as dividends?

I do my own personal income taxes and filling the t2125 isn't difficult for me. If I incorporate, will that add a lot of extra work?

Just wondering what your thoughts are.

Thanks

Not an accountant, so not an advise

However, unless you are looking to expand it into a scale where it makes a lot of sense in incorporate it (write stuff off, small business tax advantage vs. personal bracket... etc), you need to look hard on the actual savings vs. new responsibilities of having a corporation.

Yes, it can be self-managed... that's the short answer. The long answer is that depending on what you do and how thing are progressing, you might need to bring in accountants, bookkeepers, lawyers... etc to have a proper setup.

I have a small business, it generates less than yours does, originally it was incorporated but I dumped it in the end back to sole proprietorship because I wasn't worried about being sued and because the accounting costs are a massive bite out... and you still get taxed on your investments in a corporate account, it's just... less tax.

Have to weigh it out... for me I was like fuck this I'd rather have the money to spend and I hated seeing $2k+ go to the accountant every year.

I would estimate that you would be saving/deferring ~$7,000 per year if you incorporate and don't withdraw anything, such as dividends, from the Corporation. Then there are the accounting fees and filing corporate annual reports. Maybe ~$2,000 per year. So a net tax deferral/savings of ~$5,000.

You have more money left over to invest because of the low 11% corporate tax rate too.

Incorporation for this "small" amount of savings seems like it isn't worth it to me since a bad year/season of your side gig could eliminate most of the benefits. If you can consistently and reliably earn ~$35k+ net income before tax and not needing to dip into those funds, then take a hard look and consider incorporating.


Otherwise, continue with what you're doing :)


just the thoughts of a random internet guy