Are prices like this everywhere?

[jyoutz]

Gas here in Mid Tn $3.08, but diesel is $4.79. Once the draw down from strategic reserves ends in Oct., I wonder where gas prices are headed then.

My local tire shop mounted and balanced four p235 75/r15s for $60 about a month ago, but the shop is underpriced relative to everyone else.

Probably walking on thin ice here (Mossy, don't spank me please) but nothing will improve and energy prices will continue to climb and food prices as well, until we get a regime change in DC. Simple fact.

The fed chair continues across regimes. The current fed that is jacking with the rates was appointed by the past regime.

 

[Snobdds]

I watch economic indicators concerning credit card debt versus pay back and credit card debt has reached an all time high because people are using plastic to bridge the gap between their liquid assets (cash on hand) when purchasing items like food and fuel.

Problem with that is, the finance charges on most credit cards is tantamount to legalized loan sharking and people that are maxing out their cards will be financially indebted to the credit card issuer forever and if they don't make the minimum payment (which is the forever part) their credit gets ruined.

I don't play that game. My credit card (which I use quite a bit) gets paid in full every month. Credit card companies make it (profit) many different ways, from portal fees imposed on merchants to finance charges imposed on consumers as well as late payment fees. Heck of a game and the consumer is on the loosing end of the stick....

Don't pay off a credit card in full each month, leave some balance. Building credit costs money and if you pay off a card each month, you're not building credit. You need to have some credit outstanding to build credit.

Dave Ramsey has actually made a lot of people dumb...

The better way to build credit is to take out a personal loan and put that money into a money market. Then make the minimum payment to keep a credit balance on yourself ongoing. Only borrow an amount you can pay off in the next 12 months, like 3 grand. Just keep doing this every 12 months and you will have a credit score of 820+. You will make back those finance charges on the low rate you get on a big ticket item.

 

[jyoutz]

Don't pay off a credit card in full each month, leave some balance. Building credit costs money and if you pay off a card each month, you're not building credit. You need to have some credit outstanding to build credit.

Dave Ramsey has actually made a lot of people dumb...

The better way to build credit is to take out a personal loan and put that money into a money market. Then make the minimum payment to keep a credit balance on yourself ongoing. Only borrow an amount you can pay off in the next 12 months, like 3 grand. Just keep doing this every 12 months and you will have a credit score of 820+. You will make back those finance charges on the low rate you get on a big ticket item.

Good advice for young folks. Most of us here have decades of credit history with mortgages, etc…

 

[MossRoad]

Probably walking on thin ice here (Mossy, don't spank me please) but nothing will improve and energy prices will continue to climb and food prices as well, until we get a regime change in DC. Simple fact.

I guess you could take that discussion to the front porch, since you know the rules.

 

[MossRoad]

Don't pay off a credit card in full each month, leave some balance. Building credit costs money and if you pay off a card each month, you're not building credit. You need to have some credit outstanding to build credit.

Dave Ramsey has actually made a lot of people dumb...

The better way to build credit is to take out a personal loan and put that money into a money market. Then make the minimum payment to keep a credit balance on yourself ongoing. Only borrow an amount you can pay off in the next 12 months, like 3 grand. Just keep doing this every 12 months and you will have a credit score of 820+. You will make back those finance charges on the low rate you get on a big ticket item.

Who needs credit when you have cash?

Seriously. Borrowing money at a rate higher than what you're earning in a money market coupled with the loss of value from inflation to try and build a credit score is bad advice.

We've had zero debt since 1995. Yet our credit scores are outstanding.

 

[MossRoad]

We have a kid that just paid off their master's degree, has a nice car, lives in a nice townhouse duplex that they rent, has two years of rent saved in their bank account, a decent ROTH IRA balance for the age of 29, and makes just $35K per year. How is that possible?

How about paying as you go, live below your means, etc.? What a concept.

 

[Snobdds]

Who needs credit when you have cash?

Seriously. Borrowing money at a rate higher than what you're earning in a money market coupled with the loss of value from inflation to try and build a credit score is bad advice.

We've had zero debt since 1995. Yet our credit scores are outstanding.

Because you get to write off the interest. Duh.

You get to write off interest on mortgages, interest on investment properties, student loan interest, business credit card interest etc...

 

[Snobdds]

We have a kid that just paid off their master's degree, has a nice car, lives in a nice townhouse duplex that they rent, has two years of rent saved in their bank account, a decent ROTH IRA balance for the age of 29, and makes just $35K per year. How is that possible?

How about paying as you go, live below your means, etc.? What a concept.

It's never about how much you make, it's about how much you save.

 

[2manyrocks]

Except that you can't save very well when inflation is eating up the value of people's savings.

Am I the only one who doesn't like having a former lawyer for investment bankers as chair of the Fed when all of his predecessors for the past 40 years were ph.d economists with substantial experience working directly in economics?

 

[MossRoad]

Because you get to write off the interest. Duh.

You get to write off interest on mortgages, interest on investment properties, student loan interest, business credit card interest etc...

You don't get to write off the interest unless you pay more in interest than the standard deduction. DUH!

That's $25,900 for a married couple filing jointly for 2022.