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Here's a different one. Back in the 90's credit card companies and banks were all aflutter to get their credit cards in students' pockets like myself. They were so easy to get, that corresponding with the advent of online trading, people would take these cards, take the max advance possible, and at that point it was 3% or $50/$75 whichever was less.
While I didn't partake in the .com mania, I did collect enough of those cards that after school I realized that I could actually advance myself enough money to pay off my student loans and have still more cards open to transfer the balance once the 0% rate expired. While i'd lose the tax deductibility of the interest....I'd also be losing most of the interest.
It didn't go flawlessly. Bank of America especially loved to rip rates much higher on a whim, and played games with their apply date/due date/payment periods, but it definitely saved me money and I was able to pay off the loans even before the standard term. Eventually they all did away with their fee cap and let it be a straight percent. A couple are still at 3 but most have gone to 4 or 5. BOA still winning the a-hat point category, especially with variable rates that were quick to go up and never fell when interest rates were cut again.
Though I did cheer when Obama made it not possible for credit card companies to play their period games. That was needed.
While I was nervous about something happening and suddenly I had all this debt in short term financing, it worked out. Plus, if I needed to go bankrupt, then my student debt actually would be washed away because it was no unsecured CC debt. Did the same trick later to get home downpayment amounts.
Kudos for playing the system and beating them at their own game. I never took out a student loan. What I did do once was buy a car, paying for the bulk of it on a CC that gave cash back, then flipping that to one that had a zero percent promotion, taking the money that I would use to pay it off and putting it in an interest bearing account, and hitting the payoff two weeks before the rate was upped. I think I made about $200 on that deal, rather than paying 15% interest on a financing loan.
I remember when the cash advance rates were 0% with NO fee. At one time I had about $50K outstanding in CC debt, all from cash advances. Of course all that cash went into an interest bearing account at 4% or so and was paid off before any interest kicked in. The good old days.
When they started charging a fee, I quit doing that.
As kid I "collected" stamps from everyone who did not use them. That and returning glass bottles and egg cartons was a nice up to my pocket money.
I picked up a lot of bottles. 2 cents a bottle when I first started, later 5 cents, eventually 10, I think. No one bought egg cartons that I knew of. We bought eggs from a farm couple and returned cartons to them next trip. Later, I worked summers on tobacco farms, like many kids in our area.
Husband tells me stinging nettles are surrounding a home he is working on. He is taking a ton home for me. I will blanch them, then juice them with the other veges we juice. The remaining I will lay out to dry out to use as tea
They have a high calcium content and are free. We are going to start foraging since we go hiking anyhow
i saved a ton of money on my car insurance, i fled the scene. ha ha
We saved $50 a year (though we pay yearly) by taking me off the policy, that's it. I coudn't pass the test due to eyesight issues. He's paying well over $100 a month for only 2 vehicles. We hardly ever drive and live out in BFE on backroads so the only risk is an animal running out in font of us, not really any car accidents
We saved $50 a year (though we pay yearly) by taking me off the policy, that's it. I coudn't pass the test due to eyesight issues. He's paying well over $100 a month for only 2 vehicles. We hardly ever drive and live out in BFE on backroads so the only risk is an animal running out in font of us, not really any car accidents
here in nyc we pay 2300 a year for one car , two drivers 2023 lexus rx500h .
that is only 600 a year more for a 80k car then when i had a 2018 subaru
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mathjak107
here in nyc we pay 2300 a year for one car , two drivers 2023 lexus rx500h .
that is only 600 a year more for a 80k car then when i had a 2018 subaru
I pay $186 every 6 months for liability on my $35 car. (That's a lot!!!) Fortunately, I only keep 15 of my 50+ vehicles insured FT, and just trigger the others 'as-needed' / when used.
Obsolete ways to save money
Used to roll balances on CC while building homes, then paid off with margin acct or HELOC (used to be able to deduct interest on HELOC that was not related to primary home improvements.)
Those box top coupons were so enabling ... I acquired an awful lot of kitchen equipment and tableware from Betty. Wish they were still around!
Interesting. I never heard of them!
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I acquired an awful lot of kitchen equipment and tableware from Betty. Wish they were still around!