DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
Religious Convictions
HTML https://religiousconvictions.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: Secular Discussions
*****************************************************
#Post#: 3004--------------------------------------------------
Money
By: Kerry Date: August 28, 2015, 11:02 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
For the first time in my life, I've created a budget for myself.
I've been taking more of an interest in money since I got the
second job.
I have various taxes to pay before the end of the year; and that
means I can't pay as much on the credit cards as I'd like.
Last year, I couldn't pay one tax until December at the last
minute after some of my paper customers gave me money for
Christmas. I have three credit cards; and two pay cash back
on purchases, but that doesn't help me much good if I'm carrying
balances and paying interest. I need to pay off the Barclay
card first since it is one of the cards that pay cash back on
purchases. If I can get it paid off, then I'll use that card
for all my gas and shopping and try my level best to pay it off
in full every month. I had been doing that until I ran into
unexpected expenses and couldn't. Now there's a balance on it
and I'm paying interest.
The plan then it to tackle the other card which pays cash back.
The card that doesn't pay cash back has a lower interest rate,
so that works fine. I'll make minimum payments on it or a
little over the minimum.
I even checked my IRA. There's not a lot in it; but most of it
was not in stock, and the stock I do have in it hasn't gone down
much. Indeed I like the stock so much, I think I may buy more
of it since it went down in price. Buy low, sell high, they
say. The stock was paying over 10% annually in dividends.
The interest rate in the "money market fund" is pathetic.
There's roughly 11 times as much money in the money market fund
as in the stock; but I make about 9 times as much money from
the stock. I can't see the interest rate on the money market
fund; but it has to be less than half a percent.
I'm actually fairly good at picking stocks. I may look around
to buy some other stock if I can figure out how to log in to my
account. I almost NEVER buy stock that doesn't pay dividends.
I do NOT buy glamor stocks. A company has to have REAL ASSETS
and know how to make money before I'll buy its stock. I also
have NEVER bought a foreign stock. I may in the future, but
you can be sure it won't because it's in vogue at the time. The
meltdown in Chinese stocks was predictable. I can't believe
what happened there. The Chinese government seems to be
catching "market fever" from the West. Rising stock prices
doesn't always mean your economy is sound.
I think I sold that electric stock shortly before the market
crash -- in 2008? I can't remember now when I sold it; but I
do know when the market went down big time, it was nothing to
me. I believe when I sold it, the sale was pure profit -- I
had gotten more back in dividends than I had paid for it
originally. Oh yes, I've made some mistakes too.
I used to own some stock in an electric company. The company
has solid assets. It produced real electricity unlike Enron.
It also had a record of paying dividends; but it ran into a
problem and the price took a dive. There was nothing really
wrong with the company in the long haul. That's when I bought
it. Yes, of course, it got over the temporary problem and
started paying dividends again. Then the price went flying up
real high. You got to sit like a vulture on a tree looking for
companies in trouble -- but temporary trouble. It's amazing to
me how people panic and sell stocks at the whisper of bad news.
I also like to know exactly how a company makes its money.
What product or service do they sell? You can be sure I
wouldn't have bought Apple stocks recently if I had been buying
stocks since so much of their growth depended on sales in China;
and China looked like a ticking time bomb to me. When the
Chinese market took its dive, I was surprised that it took so
long for Apple shares to take their dive.
I also have to change how I bank. I have two banking accounts.
Eventually I may get rid of one. First of all it charges me
$10 a month if my average balance is under $1000. My checks
for delivering papers go there; and most of my online payments
are also out of it. The pizza store doesn't have direct
deposit; so I think I'll probably drive there and deposit them.
I may also deposit some cash too since I make tips and gas
money. The good thing about that bank is they pay 1.5%
interest even on low balances.
I won't deposit too much cash though since my mechanic gives me
a discount if I pay cash. I forget what percent he says credit
cards take out of the payments he receives. So I'm saving him
that fee when I pay cash, and he cuts me a break too.
#Post#: 3006--------------------------------------------------
Re: Money
By: Helen Date: August 29, 2015, 12:49 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Wouldn't it be better to cancel two of the credit cards and work
at paying off the one you keep?
Or can't you move everything on to one card? A friend of mine
did that. Someone helped her put all her cards on to one and she
is just working at paying the one off.
The only time I have ever paid interest is when we had a mail
strike and did not get a bill.
Stupidly I didn't go to the bank and ask how much I owed...so I
got dinged for interest. With my personality I break out in a
cold sweat if I owe anyone money! My hubby gets cross with me
because I always pay every bill the day after I get it in the
mail. He is just the oposite...he refuses to pay any bill until
the very last day before it is due!! :)
#Post#: 3009--------------------------------------------------
Re: Money
By: Oneoff Date: August 29, 2015, 3:26 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Distil the question of ‘wealth’ down through ‘capitalism’ (which
is largely a form of gambling), and down through ‘exploitation’,
until you end up with ‘greed’.
Who then dares to truly embrace “I have learned in whatsoever
state I am, therein to be content”?
HTML http://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy123/artisational/Smileys/9baa3f2a-aedf-48a8-8e3d-33ba18919f1b_zpsc142c524.jpg
#Post#: 3010--------------------------------------------------
Re: Money
By: Kerry Date: August 29, 2015, 6:33 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=Helen link=topic=345.msg3006#msg3006
date=1440827342]
[size=12pt]Wouldn't it be better to cancel two of the credit
cards and work at paying off the one you keep?
Or can't you move everything on to one card? A friend of mine
did that. Someone helped her put all her cards on to one and she
is just working at paying the one off. [/quote]
I owe more than the credit limit on any one card. What will
happen, I think, is that when I pay off one card, they'll send
me an offer to transfer balances to their card -- at a lower
rate of interest.
[quote]The only time I have ever paid interest is when we had a
mail strike and did not get a bill.
Stupidly I didn't go to the bank and ask how much I owed...so I
got dinged for interest. With my personality I break out in a
cold sweat if I owe anyone money! My hubby gets cross with me
because I always pay every bill the day after I get it in the
mail. He is just the oposite...he refuses to pay any bill until
the very last day before it is due!! :)[/quote]If you get
interest on money in your checking account, he's right to say
you should pay it at the latest possible. My problem lately
is remembering to pay bills. Somehow I seem to mislay them.
I thought I had mislaid my gas bill; but I got it in yesterday's
mail and paid it right away. I guess I'm becoming like you
-- I used to put off paying; but now I'm afraid I might forget.
I may go to "auto pay" once I get my finances straightened out.
If I can be sure there will enough money in the bank to do it,
it might make sense. You can set that up to pay on the day due;
and that's what I would do if I can get interest on money in my
checking account. What I may do is move bills one by one over
to that bank account.
I had to change my cell phone plan. I almost never used that
phone before. The only reason I kept it was for emergencies
while out driving on my paper route. But I'm using it a lot
now. If customers don't answer their doors, I call them; and
I have to call the store too sometimes if problems come up. I
have that set up to be charged monthly to a credit card -- that
gives me a 1% rebate. Once I get one cash-back card down to
zero, I'll check to see how many other monthly bills I can
charge to it. I can set up my phone bill to get charged
automatically to a credit card. That's about $90 a month for
the land line and internet. That would be 90 cents a month in
my pocket.
One of my banks is trying to give me a Discover card. I can get
back 1.5% cash back on that -- and extra cash back if I use it
every month and more cash back if I deposit the cash back into
my bank account. That would make the range between 1.5% and
1.8% on all my purchases. If I charged all my gas to that
card, it could really add up.
#Post#: 3011--------------------------------------------------
Re: Money
By: Kerry Date: August 29, 2015, 7:48 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=Oneoff link=topic=345.msg3009#msg3009
date=1440836803]
Distil the question of ‘wealth’ down through ‘capitalism’ (which
is largely a form of gambling), and down through ‘exploitation’,
until you end up with ‘greed’.[/quote]Banking with HSBC can be a
gamble. Payments can go missing. But then crossing the street
can be a gamble. Markets don't have to be as risky as you may
suppose though. I tend to be conservative when picking stocks.
The stock I have now is in a company that deals with financing
real estate. They have real assets that aren't going to
evaporate. The electric company stock I owned had facilities in
several countries; and even if the economy slows down, electric
companies are still going to sell some electricity.
Untoward risks enter the picture when greed and fear get
involved. Those are two of the most powerful human motivations;
and if you can be blasé about it, so much the better. If
people are putting money into stocks that they can't afford to
lose, they're doing it out of greed; and if the price of the
stock starts going down, odds are they'll panic and sell.
[quote]Who then dares to truly embrace “I have learned in
whatsoever state I am, therein to be content”?[/quote]
I say even God can be restless and bored. Something has to be
happening, or the situation is intolerable. If God had been
content before creation, nothing would exist. Can you imagine
how horrible it would be for God, to be alone, alone, alone, for
eternity? If John was right when he said God is Love, then it
would have been impossible for God to be content without "the
other" to love.
#Post#: 3050--------------------------------------------------
Re: Money
By: Kerry Date: September 5, 2015, 7:07 am
---------------------------------------------------------
I applied for the Discover card and it should arrive shortly.
What I do with it will depend on the credit limit.
I also intend to start putting a little money into my Kiva
account monthly. I just put a little in today. If I make more
than projected by working at Dominos, maybe I can add more each
month. It's not the smartest thing to do when I had credit
card debts; but I think it may be the right thing to do. I
won't be making any money by lending it at Kiva; but I also
won't be losing much either. If I ever get in severe financial
trouble down the road, I can get most of it back. I'd just have
to wait for the people to repay the loans and then not lend it
again. I can look at the Kiva account almost like a savings
account. I need to look into things more to see if I can set
it up so they can keep all the money in it if I die.
I'm also considering changing the brokerage house that handles
my IRA. The one I have now charges an annual fee; and I think
the fees they charge for trading are a little high.
#Post#: 3051--------------------------------------------------
Re: Money
By: bradley Date: September 5, 2015, 10:33 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Consolidation loans to change your several credit card balances
is an easy way to lower your overall payment, but it may take a
bit longer to pay it off then.
#Post#: 3052--------------------------------------------------
Re: Money
By: Kerry Date: September 5, 2015, 8:29 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=bradley link=topic=345.msg3051#msg3051
date=1441467221]
Consolidation loans to change your several credit card balances
is an easy way to lower your overall payment, but it may take a
bit longer to pay it off then.[/quote]I have to consider several
factors. The interest rate is zero for a year, I think. That
means more of each payment would go towards reducing the
principle since nothing was being charged in interest; but if
it's not paid off in a year (I think it's a year), I'd be paying
a higher rate than what I'm paying now.
If I do transfer balances, I also have to be sure not to keep
charging stuff on that card. Payments often go towards the
things that were charged; and when the year of zero interest is
up, the interest rate skyrockets.
#Post#: 3053--------------------------------------------------
Re: Money
By: Oneoff Date: September 6, 2015, 2:09 am
---------------------------------------------------------
No scripture rings more true than the one that tells us that "in
the world of mammon (usury) there is no such thing as a free
lunch". All that is offered is differing variants of the means
of making profit.
#Post#: 3057--------------------------------------------------
Re: Money
By: Kerry Date: September 8, 2015, 6:58 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Here is one way of making more of a profit -- making slightly
less money for doing less work and spending less on expenses.
The Sunday papers are shifting to Saturdays; and my rate of pay
is staying the same on those, so that breaks even. The six
other days are going now to five. For each customer on my
route, I'l be making one cent less a week; and I won't have to
buy as much gas, so that will actually raises my income while I
will be worker fewer hours!
*****************************************************
DIR Next Page