Wasted Money or How to Save Money

[Peter 315]

Mass sales tax state Nh no sales tax state State Supreme Judicial Court Ruled in Favor of Client, Town Fair Tire, Inc., in Case Involving Collection of Use Taxes: Sullivan & Worcester LLP

 

[fried1765]

Mass sales tax state Nh no sales tax state State Supreme Judicial Court Ruled in Favor of Client, Town Fair Tire, Inc., in Case Involving Collection of Use Taxes: Sullivan & Worcester LLP

That is good news....good information.
Thanks!

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Many years ago WA State tried to have the State Patrol nab out of state buyers of large purchases by stopping and inspecting trucks and trailers at the first truck weigh station inside the state line. It created so much hate and discontent that it died almost as fast as it started. They still may but don't know they still do but they had a scheme to pay a percentage of collected tax to whistle blowers for solid info on evasion of sales/use/excise taxes. This rumor came out of the attempt by the state to intercept liquor sales from Nevada in that folks swore up and down someone at the NV liquor stores alerted the WA State Patrol when tour buses loaded up all the riders purchases into the belly bus compartments. I had a couple friends caught in this entrapment. Stop the bus, inspect the loads, NV tax stickers, dump all the booze roadside, give them back the empties, and write a healthy ticket.

An earlier poster mentioned big on-line retailer Amazon, they quit fighting the states; I believe they now have a business license in all states and collect the taxes on all their transactions the ones broker. That probably created several full time accountant jobs.

It would be interesting to know how much the Gov admin overhead is required to enforce and collect taxes. Now that WA has privatized liquor sales the taxes are a lot higher
with levies at the wholesale and the consumer level.

Ron
Ron

Ron

 

[bdog]

I use a credit card for my business. Paid in full every month with 2% cash back. We charge well into the six figures a year for business expenses. Every year around November I redeem my cash back and it completely covers Christmas for our family of four.

I have read the studies on people spending more on credit than with cash. I am not sure I believe it. In some instances maybe. If you are buying a new tv on credit and they say you ca get a bigger one for $3 a month more people might jump at that before they would shell out extra cash but I don’t think people at grocery stores, gas stations, restraints etc spend more just because they are using a card.

Debt is dumb and I do follow a lot of Dave Ramsey’s teachings and am 100% debt free but a lot of his advice is geared toward people who have no self control. I have had and used credit cards for the past ten years and have never once carried a balance or paid them a penny.

Another thing I really like are hotel reward programs. With my business I book around 500 hotel room nights a year. With their reward programs I literally have over a month of free nights that the family uses for vacations and such.

 

[fried1765]

I use a credit card for my business. Paid in full every month with 2% cash back. We charge well into the six figures a year for business expenses. Every year around November I redeem my cash back and it completely covers Christmas for our family of four.

I have read the studies on people spending more on credit than with cash. I am not sure I believe it. In some instances maybe. If you are buying a new tv on credit and they say you ca get a bigger one for $3 a month more people might jump at that before they would shell out extra cash but I don’t think people at grocery stores, gas stations, restraints etc spend more just because they are using a card.

Debt is dumb and I do follow a lot of Dave Ramsey’s teachings and am 100% debt free but a lot of his advice is geared toward people who have no self control. I have had and used credit cards for the past ten years and have never once carried a balance or paid them a penny.

Another thing I really like are hotel reward programs. With my business I book around 500 hotel room nights a year. With their reward programs I literally have over a month of free nights that the family uses for vacations and such.

EXACTLY CORRECT!

I do not eat more food, buy more gas, go to restaurants more often, buy more tires/batteries, or pay for more auto repairs, etc., because I use a credit card.
Like you "bdog", I too have NEVER PAID a penny in interest, but over the years, have instead BEEN PAID...THOUSANDS!
I have never figured out why credit card companies (3) keep me around, but I just LOVE it that they do.
I do wish that I could also pay my real estate tax bills with a CC.
I recently paid nearly $18,000 USD, for an out of country hospital bill, with my credit card.
I was out of pocket $3800 for my deductible, but was credited with almost $360 cash back, that being based on the nearly $18,000 FULL payment amount charged to my card! LOVE IT!
Medicare does not cover out of country hospitalization, but my supplemental health insurance company, reimbursed ( $14,386) 80% of the total cost, per policy. I got 2% back ($287 of the almost $360 total) on that $14,386 reimbursed amount, money that was actually returned to me by the insurance company.
Thus my final TOTAL outlay was $3800, but I got $360 cash back!
Oh how I LOVE my cash back cards !!!

 

[Steppenwolfe]

I haven稚 heard about that law if it exists. Online retailers don稚 collect sales tax unless they have a location in your state. I don稚 think someone who negotiates a lower price committed tax fraud. I think technically the seller committed tax fraud.

Nope... it is the buyers responsibility to pay the sales tax. Call your state Dept of Revenue.

 

[RNeumann]

This just popped up in my YouTube home page and I thought of this thread-

What the Credit Card Companies Don't Want You To Know - YouTube

 

[Oaktree]

Mass sales tax state Nh no sales tax state State Supreme Judicial Court Ruled in Favor of Client, Town Fair Tire, Inc., in Case Involving Collection of Use Taxes: Sullivan & Worcester LLP

Had to chuckle about this line in the linked article:
"The action by DOR prompted a border war between Massachusetts and New Hampshire. New Hampshire recently passed a new law prohibiting retailers from sharing private customer information with Massachusetts auditors".


There has been a "border war" between Mass. and N.H. for as long as I can remember with various Mass. agencies trying to nab people buying big ticket items or booze here where there's no sales tax, especially in Salem & Nashua. Liquor stores here in N.H. are state run, and tend to be "conveniently" located right on heavily traveled highways just this side of the state line.

 

[JohnSm33]

We are credit adverse and never carry a balance.

That said, you really can't exist if you have to travel for business without a card.

I liked the American Express and Discover through Costco... not thrilled with the new one.

For many years I would have to turn in my work expenses every two weeks... during times of expansion I was able to rack up a lot of airline miles... last year I got an official company card... more trouble than it is worth and not always does it work but that is a different story.

I think realizing where you money goes is just as important as knowing where it comes from... some are excellent at making money but can't hold onto it... others are super frugal but miss opportunities for income.

Realizing that you have choices is the first step in my thinking...

One thing I detest is reoccurring bills... probably why I never have had cable or cell phone and that cell service is spotty here.

I manage rentals and to a last one... my low income families all spend a lot of TV... some spend $2,000 a year... it boggles my mind.

A more simplistic approach is to "Pay" yourself first... set a portion aside from each paycheck as if you don't even have it...
https://koko.bet/sports/
My very first real job was $50 a week at age 12... payday was every Friday... $20 to my savings, $20 each week to my folks for room and board a couple of bucks to with holding and about $6 left for me to spend... kind of followed this my entire life... using savings only for things like buying property.

I like how you tie personal discipline with financial awareness. “Pay yourself first” is such timeless advice; most people underestimate how powerful consistent saving really is. Totally agree that tracking where the money goes matters just as much as where it comes from.

 

[paulsharvey]

We are debit only right now as far as cards we carry, although wife has the Amazon buy now, lay later which is basically a virtual credit card. I have considered switching to credit only. What I think the trouble is, debit and credit...

There are pains with debit only, so, anything over $1000, you have to call, during reg business hours, and get pre approved to use your money, or go to the bank and get cash. Last Friday, to pay for my concrete, i had to do COD, with an envelope of cash.

 

[Hay Dude]

Anyone use “Zelle”?

 

[paulsharvey]

Anyone use “Zelle”?

No, our bank doesn't use that or Plad; which is kinda a pain when doing home fiancing or vehicle stuff. My understanding is they are merging with another CU, and once that is done, Zelle will be available

 

[ponytug]

Anyone use “Zelle”?

One of our financial institutions used to offer Zelle, and discontinued it due to fraud issues, not further specified.

Personally, given the risks, I'm not wild about it.

https://cybernews.com/identity-theft-protection/zelle-scams/

All the best, Peter

 

[71bronco]

My daughter pays me her cell phone bill which is on our family plan thru zelle. No problems for 2years now

 

[ultrarunner]

Renters now mostly pay with Zelle in property I manage.

It was not my idea but few have checking accounts and buying money orders isn’t their thing.

I said I will stop if fees are imposed.

 

[RSKY]

We use credit cards for everything. We are going to a Sam's Club today and most of what we buy will be paid for with Sam's cash we have earned mainly thru gas purchases. Sam's card gives 5% back on fuel up to $2500 a year. Restaurant meals get you 3% back, Sam's purchases 2% back, everything else 1% back. For nearly everything else I still use the Fidelity card which give 2% straight into my main IRA. Online we use Discover. For some reason I get the impression that Discover is safer for online purchases. We keep up with the quarterly changes in what Discover returns 5% on and change accordingly. When you are retired and on a fixed income this is something that you need to keep up with.

I have cut the number of store cards down from six to three. When they quit giving discounts I dropped them. Lowes gives 5% back, and the wife uses two store cards that give back a percentage or some other perk that makes them worthwhile. When grands get a little bigger these too will probably get dropped.

ALSO, and the main point about using credit cards, we pay off the cards every month and never carry a balance. On the tenth of each month I sit down and pay them off online from a checking account. A quick scan of each account and I can be finished in just a few minutes. Well, takes longer because I also check investment accounts at the same time.

RSKY

 

[not2old]

RSKY glad you saw the light. The secret to using credit cards is to pay them in full every month. The credit card companies still make money from the merchants but not from you. You profit from their cash back schemes if you avoid their outrageous interest rates. We charge all of our stuff to a card associated with Krogers. Each quarter we get > $100 back that is used to shop at Krogers. Food is good, especially when it's free.

My annual cash back runs from $400.00 to over $800.00 now that I'm retired. I used a credit card when possible buying materials for my business and the cash back my last year of work was over $3000.00

 

[WinterDeere]

Anyone use “Zelle”?

Yes. I have a few monthly recurring bills (personal, not business) that I pay through Zelle. It works, in principle. No issues. I access it through my online banking interface. It's admittedly a little crude and clunky, porting Zelle thru online banking, but I've never had any problem with it.

I prefer it in some ways to Paypal or Venmo, both of which have been more prone to hacking. I actually had my bank set up a separate savings account to which I linked PayPal and Venmo, so that they can never link thru to my primary checking. I'll just dump $2k - $4k at a time into that separate savings account, for use with PayPal and Venmo, protecting my primary accounts from any hacks on these services.

 

[WinterDeere]

This whole thread is about saving money on unnecessary expenses, which speaks to my own inner deamons. I'm always looking to save everywhere I can, sometimes to counterproductive levels.

My wife has taught me over the years to think less about savings, and focus more on earnings. Every hour spent on savings might be replaced by a similar time investment in earning twice as much. It runs against my nature, throwing away any money, but when the time that would've been spent on that can be devoted to earning more...

 

[not2old]

This whole thread is about saving money on unnecessary expenses, which speaks to my own inner deamons. I'm always looking to save everywhere I can, sometimes to counterproductive levels.

My wife has taught me over the years to think less about savings, and focus more on earnings. Every hour spent on savings might be replaced by a similar time investment in earning twice as much. It runs against my nature, throwing away any money, but when the time that would've been spent on that can be devoted to earning more...

Income taxes have come down a bit since I retired so I might do things a bit differently if I was still working. I used to be in the top tax bracket, paying 53% on last dollar earned so I concentrated on spending less rather than earning more. If I saved $100.00 by doing something myself rather than hiring someone, I'd have had to earn over $200.00 to have that $100.00 left after taxes.