Queercents

Actually I would hope none of us here do this but you never know… I’m talking about those who habitually toss pennies out the car window so they don’t have to deal with them.

Since I ride a motorcycle I get a chance to get a close look at the ground while waiting for traffic lights to change or at stop signs.

Usually I find a couple a week along with the odd nickel and even quarter… and yes I hold up traffic while I bend down and pick them up. (Wave with middle finger to horn honker as I pull off… Money is IMPORTANT!!)

Though I’ve noticed that as the economy has gotten worse the amount of spare change to be had has decreased a bit. I guess some of them have figured out pennies are actually worth something.

To be honest I’ve never understood literally throwing money away. I knew a gentlemen who was born in poverty and died a millionaire who had a simple saying… Read the rest of this entry »

Yes and No… How’s that for a Definitive Answer… LOL.

If you don’t want to read further it can be boiled down to three corollaries:

1. In order to be frugal, a luxury good “must be able to outlast / outperform the total number of cheaper alternatives you can buy for the same given amount of money.”

2. “You must anticipate using the item to the extent that corollary one is fulfilled.”

3. Aesthetics should not be allowed to completely override corollary 2.

It’s really going to depend on what the luxury goods are too. This post is also going to be biased on what “I” consider to be luxury goods. Since quality is subjective I define luxury goods as those that cost at least 10 times that of the equivalent item that will fulfill the same purpose. Read the rest of this entry »

Not that kind of cruising… but I’m glad I got your attention! Cruising as a vacation is one of the more frugal ways to get away… provided you pay attention to how things are run on cruise ships!

I just got back from a 7 day cruise on the Carnival Triumph sailing from Miami with stops in Ocho Rios Jamaica, Georgetown Grand Caymans, and Cozumel Mexico.

I’ve been on 3 cruises, all on Carnival Cruise Lines and enjoyed myself every time… at least based on what “I” thought a cruise should be about… meaning laying about reading, being entertained, and getting my fill of good food.

As an aside, Carnival Corporation, based in Miami, gets high marks for catering to GLBT folk and for coming out in OPPOSITION to Amendment 2 saying it would be unfair to both their employees and guests AND gave money to help fight it. Other cruise lines were against it too but none to my knowledge quite as vocal as Carnival.

On board ship in the Daily “Carnival Capers” that is left in your room you will find usually a notation on where the “Friends of Dorothy” can meet… seems to be the Wine Bar on board that is usually just outside the Disco. On my trip it was 10:00PM every night. Read the rest of this entry »

The essence of frugality… or at least procrastination is what family and friends call it when I wait to purchase something. I call it waiting (or looking) for a bargain.

It is not “procrastination” that is the mind set here, it’s the mind set that your bank balance is more important that the “thing” you want to buy. Only when the “things” value reaches a point in your mind that it is more valuable than the money do you decide to buy. Only us frugal types set an awfully high mental barrier wall around the pile of money and it’s not easy to overcome it.

Actually it’s second nature to us frugals but not easy when you first make the change to frugality… but it’s only a mind set and anyone can make the change if they are intent on it.

Generally, if I see something I want and after due consideration it is something I really want to own and decide to buy it then I usually start looking for either a steeply discounted new one or (depending on the item) an acceptable used.  Sooooo… I might spend a couple of months looking for something or waiting for a sale while my friends keep telling me to, “Stop Procrastinating And Just Buy It.” I keep telling them I’m being frugal (they in turn call me cheap… LOL).  I might also decide while waiting and looking that I really didn’t need it after all. Money saved! Read the rest of this entry »

“But I don’t pay any… I’m Not Rich” you say… Nay, Nay, Fluffay!!… everyone pays Wealth Taxes. Lets start with a definition of what a “Wealth Tax” is:

Tax levied and collected on the Value of Assets of any type, either Income Producing or Non-Income Producing, that you are obligated to pay for no other reason than your ownership of them and that continues to re-occur on a set time interval.

For further clarification on the discussion ANY monies collected by any government entity are considered “Tax”… irrespective of what they are called… a “fee” is still a tax.

There are only a few nations left that collect a Wealth Tax and still have the cojones to call it that… France being the the most visible… their tax is actually called the “Solidarity Tax on Wealth” and it’s triggered at a net asset value of below Euro 800,000.

In the United States, though, using the label “Wealth Tax” would get any politician lynched so they use a whole slew of other names for them. Yes, there are quite of few of them! While many of them are considered “good” taxes and necessary for people to pay, irrespective of what the money is ultimately used for, they are still in the end result taxes on wealth. Read the rest of this entry »

What brought this on you ask? Just the latest in eBay’s new policies for the sellers.

To begin with eBay has always been a stopping point when I’ve been looking for something… be it clothes or anything else.

If for no other reason than it gave me a feel (or used to anyway) for what an item should actually be sold/bought for in the marketplace as well as a place to find hard-to-find-tchotchkes if you’re a collector of oddball things.

However eBay and its captive subsidiary PayPal have instituted a whole bunch of new policies on the sellers in an Ultra-Greedy attempt to increase eBay’s revenue that IMO (and that of MANY others) is sending them down an increasingly slippery slope to their own Financial Armageddon.

First thing they did was REQUIRE all sellers to accept PayPal. They collect a percentage for processing the transaction just like any merchant account at a bank. Read the rest of this entry »

What are you buying online these days? I do most of my “shopping” online usually looking for used.

I start by going to Amazon to find out what the current cheapest price for new is. This works well as Amazon seems to carry just about everything.

Then I run a check on eBay to find out what the Market is actually paying… the trip to Amazon lets me know if the eBay Price is also unrealistic. Like anything else you have to do a little research before you buy something so you won’t be ripped off. Sometimes new at Amazon is cheaper than used on eBay…especially with free Super Saver Shipping over $25.

A final Google of the item name plus the word “price” or “cheapest price” usually gets me some more hits to check out before making my buying decision. Read the rest of this entry »

But over the long term they can cause a LOT of Pain. And as anyone knows even a small chronic pain will eventually cause one to do ANYTHING to make it stop… Birmingham Bus Boycott comes to mind.

So you ask what brought this on… simple… I’m angered and a bit depressed that my home state of Florida was so bigoted enough to pass Amendment 2 (by 63%) that kills any chance of Gay Marriage unless a Federal Constitutional Amendment overrides it.

I should have expected the vote results though… Florida’s population is still predominately older and more under the control of Religious Ideologues. H.L. Mencken (a VERY serious Anti-Semite), a very prolific writer and somewhat anti-religious as well, once referred to the city of Jacksonville in North Florida as “The Buckle Of The Bible Belt”.

The only thing people understand is money… when some hard statistics came out two years ago about the cash inflow from Gay Days in Orlando the next year when the religious types started to complain the business people promptly told them to “Sit Down And Shut Up… You Have NO Idea How Much Money These People Are Bringing In”. The complaints have been somewhat muted since then. Read the rest of this entry »

There are other reasons to go back to work after retiring… other than your “other half” might just kill you if they have to be around you ALL the time.

Some Background: To begin with I retired at 48… considered young to do so… more burned out really… I went from 90 plus hour workweeks to zero in one day. I spent four months around the house catching up on some reading and other things and slowly going stir-crazy… Soooooo…

I went back to work… though this time I’m NOT one of the Bosses (and have declined offers to become part of management at my new employer… the first time two weeks after I hired on). Alleviating stir-craziness was not the only reason for returning to work though… there are three other reasons:

1. First they have Health Insurance that is fairly reasonable in price and is pretty good. While I’m generally healthy I don’t like the idea of taking the chance of sometime in the next 14 years before I’m eligible for Medicare or a medical problem bankrupting me. Read the rest of this entry »

Most of us here are a little (a lot?) obsessive about getting the best price for products… especially those that might be called necessities… like food.

But compulsion to get the best price has a trade off in the overall “experience” of shopping… which may be a Good Thing if it makes you NOT want to shop and spend money.

After all, the places to get the Best Price are NOT Marble Palaces looking like some Spun Sugar Confection from the Arabian Nights with Fawning Servants (Clerks) who await the barest Lift of a Finger to fall Prostrate on the floor in Adoration… and Valet Parking.

My experience has been MOST of the time the “Experience” of “Best Price Shopping” leaves MUCH to be desired.

This post being occasioned by an infrequent trip to Wally World… (OK, Wal-Mart Supercenter, but everyone has a pet name for these places… some NOT printable)… for a replacement Corelle Bowl (couldn’t find one in the Thrift Shop next to Save-A-Lot), more Rechargeable Batteries, Coffee, Malt-O-Meal Cereal, and (Forgive Me Clark Howard For I Have Sinned… head bowed clasping wallet) two DVD’s on Impulse. Read the rest of this entry »