ok so I just upgraded to general last month and I know I got more privileges now but im honestly still confused about the actual frequencies I can use on 40 meters. like I know there's a portion that's phone and a portion that's CW but every chart I find online looks slightly different and some of them say things like "band edge" which I dont really understand either.

my elmer told me to stay away from the very edges of my allocation but didn't really explain why. is it a legal thing or just a courtesy thing? and is the ARRL band plan the thing I should be following or is that just a suggestion? sorry if this is a dumb question I just dont want to accidentally transmit somewhere I shouldnt

not a dumb question at all, this trips up a lot of new generals. so the FCC part 97 rules are what actually matter legally, the ARRL band plan is more of a gentlemens agreement on top of that. for general on 40m your phone privileges start at 7.175 MHz and run up to 7.300, and CW you can use most of the band but check the actual part 97 table to be sure.

the band edge thing your elmer mentioned is real and important. the issue is your signal has a certain bandwidth, so if you park your dial right at say 7.175 and your SSB signal is maybe 3kHz wide, part of your audio could be splashing below into territory you're not supposed to be in. most people just leave a little cushion, like set up at 7.178 or so and you're fine. technically it's a legal issue if you go outside your allocation, not just courtesy. the radio doesn't always know where the edges are, that's on you to manage.

yeah what he said. also worth knowing that 40m gets weird at night with all the international broadcasters and stuff bleeding in from shortwave so even if you're technically in the right spot it can be a mess. i spent like 20 minutes calling CQ around 7.250 one evening wondering why nobody answered and then realized there was a spanish language broadcast station basically on top of me lol. anyway the band plan stuff is worth printing out and taping near your rig for a while til it just becomes second nature