So my state is considering a tax holiday for July 4 and Labor day this year, meaning they will possibly not levy the $0.20+/gallon of gas during the holiday weekend. That's a great relief. consider it's is about $4/gallon right now. Of course this isn't the first that the tax holiday is in effect. Usually you can find it near the time for school to start again. It usually tax free week for school related stuff like clothing and paper products.
I usually may or may not stock up on some stuff. This year, probably kids clothing. But if there is a tax holiday on gas, you bet I am stocking up on gas. We usually have a few gas tanks we keep in the garage for stocking up gas in case a)we run low and have no time to go to t he cheap gas station, b) gas is getting crazy expensive so we buy some more when it's not as expensive, and c) during winter, a snow-in. If there is a tax holiday, we'll be filling those up.
Hopefully our neighboring state will consider that too so our stations won't have crazy lines or maybe they'll consider it in the fall.
What would you do if there's a gas tax holiday?
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
credit cards are my BFF
I don't know why everyone is always giving credit cards a bad rep these day. Credit cards a great. In fact I charge everything I can on a credit card. I even wish I can pay my mortgage or car payment on it. Why because I can get cash back. In fact, I love credit cards so much, I don't even care what the rates they are charging.
"That's INSANE!!" you say, "What about the interest?"
Well, I don't worry about the interest. I never even look at what they are charging for their rate. Why? I pay my credit card in full every month. I never pay any interest on my CC bill. EVER.
Credit cards did not doom America to have bad finances. America doomed America to have bad finances. Most people tend have the thinking of buy it now, pay for it later. OK LATER is fine, but how much and when? The practice of not thinking about how much you can afford at-the-moment leads to thinking you can afford it in the long term. If you can't buy it now with cash, why would you buy it at all? Credit cards get a bad rep because most people do not consider paying for it later in installments means paying more, even if you got it on sale.
I hear people say they have high credit card debt for years. Why years? I understand that if you had some really bad situation and had to rack up a lot of debt. When you can rebuild, pay that debt off should be a priority. If you think of it as a utility bill, it works the same way. You make sure that you don't own the utility company money because they will cut off your utilities, so you make sure they get paid. Put the same reasoning in CC bills and you are sure to not rack up debt waist deep.
In college, I did something stupid. No, not rack up CC debt. In fact, it was the opposite. I called the CC company to lower my limit to the bottom ($200) every time they raised it. This is to ensured my spending didn't go that high, although it was probably not good for my credit score at the time. However, over the next 2 years, I have learned to think about what I spend my money on. Since I didn't like to pay for over charge fees, I was careful about I was buying. If I didn't have the cash for it, I didn't buy it.
Now it's the same. If I can't pay for it, I don't buy it. I don't charge it. If I do buy, I better be damn well willing to write that check and pay for it in full when the CC bill came.
"That's INSANE!!" you say, "What about the interest?"
Well, I don't worry about the interest. I never even look at what they are charging for their rate. Why? I pay my credit card in full every month. I never pay any interest on my CC bill. EVER.
Credit cards did not doom America to have bad finances. America doomed America to have bad finances. Most people tend have the thinking of buy it now, pay for it later. OK LATER is fine, but how much and when? The practice of not thinking about how much you can afford at-the-moment leads to thinking you can afford it in the long term. If you can't buy it now with cash, why would you buy it at all? Credit cards get a bad rep because most people do not consider paying for it later in installments means paying more, even if you got it on sale.
I hear people say they have high credit card debt for years. Why years? I understand that if you had some really bad situation and had to rack up a lot of debt. When you can rebuild, pay that debt off should be a priority. If you think of it as a utility bill, it works the same way. You make sure that you don't own the utility company money because they will cut off your utilities, so you make sure they get paid. Put the same reasoning in CC bills and you are sure to not rack up debt waist deep.
In college, I did something stupid. No, not rack up CC debt. In fact, it was the opposite. I called the CC company to lower my limit to the bottom ($200) every time they raised it. This is to ensured my spending didn't go that high, although it was probably not good for my credit score at the time. However, over the next 2 years, I have learned to think about what I spend my money on. Since I didn't like to pay for over charge fees, I was careful about I was buying. If I didn't have the cash for it, I didn't buy it.
Now it's the same. If I can't pay for it, I don't buy it. I don't charge it. If I do buy, I better be damn well willing to write that check and pay for it in full when the CC bill came.
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