Wow this tv lasted a whole year

[R8ers]

My fault, Sanyo junk owned maybe a year on power strip
52 INCH LCD Black screen No sound ,Green power light blinks on and off, checked another tv, other tv worked fin on DTV box....

Theres about 1000 bucks thrown in the trash....

Could somebody recommend a nice tv.... 52-55 inch that will last more than a year?

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Mr. Plow

Wife & I have a few cards between us. I've been bad about them for awhile and just recently decided it was time to put a stop to it - I've got her card paid down almost to $0 and then going to start on mine. Going to start using them monthly for a few things and then pay them off each month. But it'll be nice to have something to fall back on when the inevitable emergency happens and we need $4000 right now.

My personal experience is that you can save up $4,000 in cash pretty easily if you don't have debt.

I don't begrudge people a credit card. I would advise anyone to become debt free. From there, once all finances are completely under control, go ahead and use credit cards for the points or whatever. Just pay them off every month.

People who bag on Dave Ramsey are missing the point. Donald Trump isn't calling his show. He's getting calls from people who have lost control of their financial lives, generally for no reason other than being sloppy.

Not everyone needs to go on P90X, and not everyone needs to go full-blown Dave Ramsey. That doesn't mean that they aren't effective plans.

[rageeumr]

I'm not going to post any account info, but at the end of February I received a statement credit of $1,081 from American Express. I paid my balance off every month and never paid a single finance charge. So AmEx paid me $1,000+ for the convenience of using their card.

That might sound like pennies to someone who has six figures in the bank, but I think it's pretty stupid to pass on free money.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I'm not going to spend an hour going back month-by-month, but here's my most recent one my primary card.



And before you ask, yes, I'll be paying the full $4923 when it's due. Right now, it's still earning me interest for another week.

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but it looks like you had a $2364 balance from last month.

Do you cash out stocks every month to pay your credit card bill, or do you pay out of your checking account? Assuming that you pay out of your checking account, I don't see where you are making any money on the float.

[Mr. Plow]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

My personal experience is that you can save up $4,000 in cash pretty easily if you don't have debt.

I don't begrudge people a credit card. I would advise anyone to become debt free. From there, once all finances are completely under control, go ahead and use credit cards for the points or whatever. Just pay them off every month.

People who bag on Dave Ramsey are missing the point. Donald Trump isn't calling his show. He's getting calls from people who have lost control of their financial lives, generally for no reason other than being sloppy.

Not everyone needs to go on P90X, and not everyone needs to go full-blown Dave Ramsey. That doesn't mean that they aren't effective plans.

Exactly. I want to get ourselves as debt free as I can. I know that all of our issue is because I tend to be the "Ohhhhh, I want to buy that" type of person. I've gotten better at that issue, and now I'm working on getting the debt we have (which isn't much) eliminated.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Mr. Plow

Exactly. I want to get ourselves as debt free as I can. I know that all of our issue is because I tend to be the "Ohhhhh, I want to buy that" type of person. I've gotten better at that issue, and now I'm working on getting the debt we have (which isn't much) eliminated.

I've heard people say things like, "fat people don't lose weight until they hate being fat more than they enjoy eating". It works the same way with money. Once you reach a point where you hate being in debt more than you enjoy living beyond your means, it's pretty easy to get out of debt. Once you are totally out of debt for a while, you can regroup and reassess your financial plan.

[rageeumr]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but it looks like you had a $2364 balance from last month.

Do you cash out stocks every month to pay your credit card bill, or do you pay out of your checking account? Assuming that you pay out of your checking account, I don't see where you are making any money on the float.

Not my account, but I'll answer anyway.

The $2,364 is the ending balance from last month. That is the amount that must be paid in the grace period (which I think is now legally mandated at 21 days IF the card offers a grace period) to avoid finance charges. You can see he made that payment plus some additional (likely paid off the "current balance" at some point during the month) so he avoided any finance charges.

[CrazyPhuD]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but it looks like you had a $2364 balance from last month.

Do you cash out stocks every month to pay your credit card bill, or do you pay out of your checking account? Assuming that you pay out of your checking account, I don't see where you are making any money on the float.

Don't keep significant cash in a checking account. Keep it in a savings and transfer when needed. While not as good as it used to there are still plenty that pay 1-1.5%. You always need some degree of liquidity anyway.

[Simply Red]

Zenith's are good.


just joking.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by CrazyPhuD

Don't keep significant cash in a checking account. Keep it in a savings and transfer when needed. While not as good as it used to there are still plenty that pay 1-1.5%. You always need some degree of liquidity anyway.

So if someone charges $20,000 per year with an average float of 15 days while earning 1.25% interest, they make $125 per year. It seems like more trouble than it's worth, but that's just me.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but it looks like you had a $2364 balance from last month.

Do you cash out stocks every month to pay your credit card bill, or do you pay out of your checking account? Assuming that you pay out of your checking account, I don't see where you are making any money on the float.

The $2,364 was the statement balance. Unless you aren't using the card, that'll never be zero.

As for the nuts and bolts, it doesn't really make a HUGE difference, but I pay out of a 1.5 APY savings account on the due date from the credit card company (and not before). Doing it that way is probably worth maybe $20-$30 in interest over the course of the year. Not a huge deal, but since it's easy to do, why not?

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by DaFace

The $2,364 was the statement balance. Unless you aren't using the card, that'll never be zero.

As for the nuts and bolts, it doesn't really make a HUGE difference, but I pay out of a 1.5 APY savings account on the due date from the credit card company (and not before). Doing it that way is probably worth maybe $20-$30 in interest over the course of the year. Not a huge deal, but since it's easy to do, why not?

Makes sense. I'm not saying that you shouldn't do it. I just want to be clear that the rest of the world who isn't taking advantage of the float isn't missing out on an embarrassment of riches or anything.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

So if someone charges $20,000 per year with an average float of 15 days while earning 1.25% interest, they make $125 per year. It seems like more trouble than it's worth, but that's just me.

I don't disagree with that. It's really not a big deal though. When I make the payment online, I just change the due date. That's really all it takes.

To be clear, though, my philosophic difference with R8ers is much more about the "never use credit cards" idea (due to the rewards and benefits) than the "when to pay your credit card bill in the course of the month." The latter is a matter of pocket change. The former can be very significant.

[Mr. Plow]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

I've heard people say things like, "fat people don't lose weight until they hate being fat more than they enjoy eating". It works the same way with money. Once you reach a point where you hate being in debt more than you enjoy living beyond your means, it's pretty easy to get out of debt. Once you are totally out of debt for a while, you can regroup and reassess your financial plan.

Don't get me wrong, we don't have a lot of debt (less than $9,000), but I am to the point of being tired of having it there. It'll be nice to get it down to a # that we can pay off each month.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Mr. Plow

Don't get me wrong, we don't have a lot of debt (less than $9,000), but I am to the point of being tired of having it there. It'll be nice to get it down to a # that we can pay off each month.

Is that just the unsecured debt? Do you have car payments or anything on top of that?

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I don't disagree with that. It's really not a big deal though. When I make the payment online, I just change the due date. That's really all it takes.

To be clear, though, my philosophic difference with R8ers is much more about the "never use credit cards" idea (due to the rewards and benefits) than the "when to pay your credit card bill in the course of the month." The latter is a matter of pocket change. The former can be very significant.

I've heard him hedge on that a little bit and say that credit cards are okay if you don't carry a balance. Of course, I've heard him say the opposite as well.

I only use a debit card, and I've been debt free other than my mortgage for a couple of years now. I don't think I will ever take out another loan unless I buy another house. I'd love to get my house paid off as well and just pay cash if I ever move, but I've still got a long way to go in that regard.

I have a degree in Finance, and I understand that a lot of my counterparts don't like the idea of having a paid-for house, but I also know how many broke financial gurus there are out there. A lot of financial plans are great in theory, but human nature gets in the way more often than not.