Those of us that parked/tailgated in the Movie lot what are you going to do this year?

I dunno yet. I REALLY don't want to park at the Convo...

If I understand correctly, a donation of $175 to the HASF gets you a Spirit level membership which allows you to park in the movie lot. NIU website doesn't have this information but I believe somebody posted this a couple days ago.

Maybe "commit suicide" should be an option.

(02-21-2012 01:20 PM)HuskieBowWow Wrote:  If I understand correctly, a donation of $175 to the HASF gets you a Spirit level membership which allows you to park in the movie lot. NIU website doesn't have this information but I believe somebody posted this a couple days ago.

Yes, you need to donate the $175 & pay the $25 for the parking fee.

(02-21-2012 01:23 PM)Dog Fan Wrote:  Maybe "commit suicide" should be an option.

There is an "other" option.

(02-21-2012 01:39 PM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 01:23 PM)Dog Fan Wrote:  Maybe "commit suicide" should be an option.

There is an "other" option.

But, if you select "other", you have to explain. "Commit suicide" as an option preserves anonymity.

(02-21-2012 01:42 PM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 01:39 PM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 01:23 PM)Dog Fan Wrote:  Maybe "commit suicide" should be an option.

There is an "other" option.

But, if you select "other", you have to explain. "Commit suicide" as an option preserves anonymity.

I think I should have put down that you need to explain if you mark "stay at home"

(02-21-2012 01:38 PM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 01:20 PM)HuskieBowWow Wrote:  If I understand correctly, a donation of $175 to the HASF gets you a Spirit level membership which allows you to park in the movie lot. NIU website doesn't have this information but I believe somebody posted this a couple days ago.

Yes, you need to donate the $175 & pay the $25 for the parking fee.

So that's $175 per season plus $25 per game? I thought the other HASF lots were included in the membership fee and there was no additional charge for parking in the lot(s) corresponding to your membership level. Maybe that was an incorrect assumption on my part.

(02-21-2012 02:15 PM)HuskieBowWow Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 01:38 PM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 01:20 PM)HuskieBowWow Wrote:  If I understand correctly, a donation of $175 to the HASF gets you a Spirit level membership which allows you to park in the movie lot. NIU website doesn't have this information but I believe somebody posted this a couple days ago.

Yes, you need to donate the $175 & pay the $25 for the parking fee.

So that's $175 per season plus $25 per game? I thought the other HASF lots were included in the membership fee and there was no additional charge for parking in the lot(s) corresponding to your membership level. Maybe that was an incorrect assumption on my part.

No, $25 for the season.

All the other donor lots charge the $25 fee.

According to DF the way your are remembering it was that way several years ago.

(02-21-2012 02:19 PM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 02:15 PM)HuskieBowWow Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 01:38 PM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 01:20 PM)HuskieBowWow Wrote:  If I understand correctly, a donation of $175 to the HASF gets you a Spirit level membership which allows you to park in the movie lot. NIU website doesn't have this information but I believe somebody posted this a couple days ago.

Yes, you need to donate the $175 & pay the $25 for the parking fee.

So that's $175 per season plus $25 per game? I thought the other HASF lots were included in the membership fee and there was no additional charge for parking in the lot(s) corresponding to your membership level. Maybe that was an incorrect assumption on my part.

No, $25 for the season.

All the other donor lots charge the $25 fee.

According to DF the way your are remembering it was that way several years ago.

Correct. The rationale used by Athletics a few years ago for charging donors and season ticket holders the $20 (now increased to $25) is that more of your donation can be tax deductible. While that is true, the main reason was to generate extra donation revenue.

Heck, it they also charged for the food in the HASF tent, that would make even more of our donation tax deductible!!

(02-21-2012 02:37 PM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 02:19 PM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 02:15 PM)HuskieBowWow Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 01:38 PM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 01:20 PM)HuskieBowWow Wrote:  If I understand correctly, a donation of $175 to the HASF gets you a Spirit level membership which allows you to park in the movie lot. NIU website doesn't have this information but I believe somebody posted this a couple days ago.

Yes, you need to donate the $175 & pay the $25 for the parking fee.

So that's $175 per season plus $25 per game? I thought the other HASF lots were included in the membership fee and there was no additional charge for parking in the lot(s) corresponding to your membership level. Maybe that was an incorrect assumption on my part.

No, $25 for the season.

All the other donor lots charge the $25 fee.

According to DF the way your are remembering it was that way several years ago.

Correct. The rationale used by Athletics a few years ago for charging donors and season ticket holders the $20 (now increased to $25) is that more or your donation can be tax deductible. While that is true, the main reason was to generate extra donation revenue.

Heck, it they also charged for the food in the HASF tent that would make even more of our donation tax deductible!!

I would bet that most of us little people don't make enough to donate enough to anything to enable us to itemize our taxes. So even if I could donate $200 to NIU, I couldn't itemize it as a tax deduction. We always have to just take the standard deduction.

(02-21-2012 02:42 PM)HuskieFootball Addict Wrote:  I would bet that most of us little people don't make enough to donate enough to anything to enable us to itemize our taxes. So even if I could donate $200 to NIU, I couldn't itemize it as a tax deduction. We always have to just take the standard deduction.

Really?!? Since the tax year after I graduated I have never NOT itemized my deductions just due to student loan and mortgage interest. I thought you said you had kids in college & a home business? ...or am I confusing you with someone else?

(02-21-2012 03:02 PM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 02:42 PM)HuskieFootball Addict Wrote:  I would bet that most of us little people don't make enough to donate enough to anything to enable us to itemize our taxes. So even if I could donate $200 to NIU, I couldn't itemize it as a tax deduction. We always have to just take the standard deduction.

Really?!? Since the tax year after I graduated I have never NOT itemized my deductions just due to student loan and mortgage interest. I thought you said you had kids in college & a home business? ...or am I confusing you with someone else?

No kids in college...my oldest son is about to be 31. He was at NIU for undergrad & grad school. My other 2 sons are also not in college. They are actually 28 today. Due to some learning disabilities, they are still in need of some guidance and live at home with us. They are not actually dependents in the tax deduction sense.
As for my business, it is not a home business. We have an actual office in a building and although we are a VERY small business, we are a C Corp. So no, we can't itemize anything on our personal return. Standard deduction for us.

(02-21-2012 05:04 PM)HuskieFootball Addict Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 03:02 PM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 02:42 PM)HuskieFootball Addict Wrote:  I would bet that most of us little people don't make enough to donate enough to anything to enable us to itemize our taxes. So even if I could donate $200 to NIU, I couldn't itemize it as a tax deduction. We always have to just take the standard deduction.

Really?!? Since the tax year after I graduated I have never NOT itemized my deductions just due to student loan and mortgage interest. I thought you said you had kids in college & a home business? ...or am I confusing you with someone else?

No kids in college...my oldest son is about to be 31. He was at NIU for undergrad & grad school. My other 2 sons are also not in college. They are actually 28 today. Due to some learning disabilities, they are still in need of some guidance and live at home with us. They are not actually dependents in the tax deduction sense.
As for my business, it is not a home business. We have an actual office in a building and although we are a VERY small business, we are a C Corp. So no, we can't itemize anything on our personal return. Standard deduction for us.

Not enough mortgage interest to put you over the top either?

That is the key for us since we have been paying over 12k in mortgage interest. Though we just refinanced so that will go down quite a bit.

I park for free. It's a bit of a walk, but doable. Haven't been rained on yet.

Kind of asinine that they are now charging more for a lot that is not full more often than not...

(02-21-2012 05:34 PM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 05:04 PM)HuskieFootball Addict Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 03:02 PM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(02-21-2012 02:42 PM)HuskieFootball Addict Wrote:  I would bet that most of us little people don't make enough to donate enough to anything to enable us to itemize our taxes. So even if I could donate $200 to NIU, I couldn't itemize it as a tax deduction. We always have to just take the standard deduction.

Really?!? Since the tax year after I graduated I have never NOT itemized my deductions just due to student loan and mortgage interest. I thought you said you had kids in college & a home business? ...or am I confusing you with someone else?

No kids in college...my oldest son is about to be 31. He was at NIU for undergrad & grad school. My other 2 sons are also not in college. They are actually 28 today. Due to some learning disabilities, they are still in need of some guidance and live at home with us. They are not actually dependents in the tax deduction sense.
As for my business, it is not a home business. We have an actual office in a building and although we are a VERY small business, we are a C Corp. So no, we can't itemize anything on our personal return. Standard deduction for us.

Not enough mortgage interest to put you over the top either?

That is the key for us since we have been paying over 12k in mortgage interest. Though we just refinanced so that will go down quite a bit.

No mortgage interest. Paid off our house last year. .. thankfully. we've lived in the same house for 26 years now. 12k in interest? Holy crap. When we were making payments we weren't even paying 12K in total payments! Of course we live in a very modest house.

(02-21-2012 07:00 PM)beachboy Wrote:  I park for free. It's a bit of a walk, but doable. Haven't been rained on yet.

Yea, we could park for free but prefer to be able to hang out ...tailgate. When you come from 2+ hours away you want to be immersed in the whole NIU football experience!
Always love rolling into DeKalb during the season... It's just a great feeling!

(02-22-2012 12:32 PM)HuskieFootball Addict Wrote:  No mortgage interest. Paid off our house last year. .. thankfully. we've lived in the same house for 26 years now. 12k in interest? Holy crap. When we were making payments we weren't even paying 12K in total payments! Of course we live in a very modest house.

We have 5 people in 3 bedrooms all sharing 1 bathroom. Its the cost of living in the burbs...and buying a house just before the bubble burst!...

Actually since we refinanced last month our payments for the year will be under 11k but there are still lovely DuPage taxes that will allow me to keep on itemizing for many more years to come.