I am never going to be interested in buying a new car, and no retarded cash for clunkers problem is going to change that. Currently, both cars we own would probably be able to fall into that category. Would I enjoy getting more money than they are worth out of them... you bet. But I would only upgrade to a late model used car, so that wouldn't really help much.
I can't imagine this was the only factor in Germany's 20% sales increase. Often times random programs like that are given credit for trends that had several factors in the first place!
The insufficient funds fees I've accrued over the years have regularly encouraged thoughts of murder towards those who would think a $35 loss is a slap on the hand for someone in my shoes. Recent problems in my bank have caused me to lose money even when my overall account never went negative from the money I've spent.
But in keeping a cool head I studied up on what was going on and found that check cards suck because of the credit system itself. You authorize money to be taken out, and the authorization take money out before the money is given. Then If something doesn't go through or you cancel an order, you're screwed if you thought more money would be there because of it and didn't wait for everything to resolve first.
A bank teller who explained this to me suggested that buying it all through a credit card might have been better since there's more time to wait and know exactly what you owe and then pay it. So I got to thinking, what if I just put money on the credit card before it was spent and made a check card out of a credit card?
One person above mentioned that she already does this and that it works. I'm a little hesitant, but I think I'd like to have my student loans directly deposited into a credit card account and go with that. Does anyone see a flaw with that idea? Will other loophole charges make their way in even if I never let it go negative? Even when it does, at least 30% monthly interest isn't $105 for most of the reasons that I go into a negative balance.
Xin and AnnJo....Good job! Some people just can't handle a discussion, let alone a debate.
$475 a week...?!?!?!? I make a modest 6figure income working construction. Yes...construction! I myself, most likely, will be one of those who will be filing for Unemployment very soon as my current project will be completed and there is nothing on the schedule for future projects. Receiving $2k a month will make a HUGE impact to my financial stability. To maintain, my savings will decrease by over $3k per month. However, I have developed a strategy for retaining my savings (mostly) and live, by using the unemployment benefit. My only question is.... can I collect if I'm staying out of country?
BTW...I am one of those who would take the full 79 week term, if possible...while I "search" for that near pefect job.
and No...this is not an April Fool's Day posting..Lol!
@Guest Sorry, but it's true. I worked at a company that paid everyone very little money, and everyone's self worth was affected by it, whether they knew it or not. A lot of people don't think they deserve to make X amount of money because this is what this employer thinks they're worth.
I went through it too. When I got my new job and they told me how much they were going to pay me, I was shocked. I couldn't believe it. My eyes started to open and realize that I had been vastly underpaid.
The point is salary doesn't determine how much we're "worth," it affects it greatly.
@AraBIC Student: I'd forgotten about the military and their payscales. Interesting angle...I'm trying to picture my workplace with a chart spelling out exactly how much each position makes....it would certainly be different
The clunkers for cash idea seems like it is wide open for abuse...and frankly, I'm not interested in buying, via my taxes, new cars for the entire population of the United States. What environmental initiatives are we foregoing so that everyone can have shiny new fuel-efficient cars? It seems that there are plenty of other things we could be doing with that money that would have a greater impact than handing people money for a new car.
Not to mention that if we hold onto the cars we have for a long period of time and maintain them properly, even if they are "clunkers", that is still a net gain for the environment -- getting a new car only puts the old car in the trash heap and any environmental savings due to increased fuel efficiency is negated by the new materials that went into the replacement car and the byproducts of the manufacturing process.
I am quite happy with my seven-year-old, 85,000 mile, never-been-wrecked, paid-for vehicle. My car has been sans payments for quite a few years now. I checked the car's value on Kelley Blue Book just the other day. According to KBB, the car is worth only about $4,000.00. Believe it or not, this is actually encouraging to me. This means that if my car gets totaled for some strange reason, I can buy its equivalent for only four grand. As long as I can pick up cars like mine for this kind of price, I will be out of the new car market.
I call this concept, Progress Over Perfection. That it is better to achieve progress than achieving perfection. While you are trying to perfect something before starting or releasing it, you could be making progress or improvements instead. We are all guilty of analysis paralysis to some degree . . .
You could apply this concept to almost every aspect of your life:
Your work life (Where I heard it)
Your relationships (Family and friends)
Your finances (Income, expenses, debt, etc.)
Your lifestyle (Self-Sufficiency)
Your projects (Garden, business, DIY)
The list could go on and on . . .
I just had a fight over this with one of my banks recently. I rushed to the bank and put CASH in to cover. I still got zapped for $35. I showed them the online banking statement they generate that showed I covered, but at the bank they whipped out their "statement" whiched showed the "overdraft". So there we argued about their two "BS" accounting schemes-- the one they give their customers and the one they use to fleece people.
It wasn't until I threatened to sue them in small claims court, explaining that we can both show the various statements and let the judge decide which of the two bank generated statements to use, that the manager finally relented. She also give me a parting threat that my account will be marked to never recieve a credit again . . . to which I replied, "I now know how your "BS" game works, and I will never allow you that pleasure again . . . the bulk of my money will reside in one of my other accounts going forward."
The only salary one needs to worry about is your own. If you feel unappreciated and underpayed ask for consideration, if that fails-- it is time for a change . . . fire them!
I used to be a firm internet believer, until a credit card wouldn't process online and I had to call it in.
The person on the phone gave me a 30% discount that didn't show up on the website... at least when dealing with that company, I'll phone it.
1. expansion of credit is the source of the financial crisis, why expand it more?
2. the average person spends 18% more then with cash
3. increase risk of identity theft
4. they are more work to manage then they are worth
5. rewards are a trick to get you to spend more (and it works)
6. easy to get behind on
7. easy to make a quick bad decision
8. harder to keep track off then a checkbook, because you have to either collect receits or wait for the month statement or syn with the online budgeting software - which is a big investment of time to figure out and usually hard to customize
9. add another monthly bill to worry about
10. fast track to debt, which is financial slavery, not financial freedom
I definitely want to know what my co-workers are getting paid. Fortunately I'm in the military and we have charts that clearly layout what you make at what rank and after being in for how long.
Who is posting comments while they are at work getting paid right now??
Get back to work and mind your own business. And bite your tongues before you are faced with the same financial hardship that faces 5.5 million Americans right now.
He opened his own checking account at Bank of America, you only have to be 14 to have your own checking with them. They call it a "student account". We a kid that has never done banking, he didn't realize that when he went to the gas station to buy a soda that his debit card would work even if there wasn't enough money in the account.
He did this for 3 days, buying stupid little things like candy bars. His NSF fees were over $400.00!!!!!!! I went into the bank with him, talked to the bank manager and said take this stupid overdraft protection off of his account and they wouldn't do it. So I wrote a check to cover the charges (they wouldn't remove any of them) and had to wait a few days for my check to clear. Took my son back into the bank and closed the account immediately--they actually tried to talk us out of it. Went across the street to Wachovia and he opened an account there, where they do offer the same thing, but you can specifically ask that you NOT have that on your account.
have a big advantage over more fact- and reason-based thinkers; all they have to do is label any inconvenient ideas as coming from someone they don't like (Ann Coulter, Fox News, corporate-sponsored media), and that relieves them of any need to listen and consider information on its own merits.
I'll keep an eye on my mailbox for those checks from my corporate sponsors. They seem to be running a little late!
Guest 46 pointed out that the commenters who were very mad at this article could not write proper English. It seems like commenter 72 also belongs in the "can't spell" camp. AnnJo writes very well and she provided a lot of reasonable evidence to support her points, but it is impossible to convert idiots. I found her posts very educational, and I appreciate that she took the time to write her comments on this topic.
ok if you dont want to have to put in the extra codes just do the following:
1. open up the admin prompt
2. type in netsh interface tcp show global to see what the setting is already.
3. Then just skip the other codes and go straight to the one that says netsh interface tcp set global autotuning=disabled
4. then put in the first code and make sure the autotuning says disabled and there you go
Poster 71, AnnJo's information seems very Fox News/CNN oriented. Anderew's post, on the other hand, reminded me of Joe the Plumber. However, no offence to either, Annjo or Andrew, I enjoyed reading your well-written posts. It is nice that you provided sources Annjo. I can't agree with any of your thoughts, but then again, I stopped listening to corporatly sponsered media a while back.
Oh heck, somebody has to look out for the wealthy.
You write:
I've said it before and I'll say it again: we are what you make.
Man, what alternate universe do YOU live in?
If we are what we make, then what are the greedy bastards on Wall Street and in the companies who've caused the financial mess this country is in? Successes? Role models? Good citizens? Get real.
If you're Bernie Madoff, who made and embezzled billions.
Oh, they made a lot so they are "somebodies"? Better than the rest of us, including the president of the united states (all of them) who make far less? You can't be serious.
Get a grip. A salary/what you make represents what company X, or person X, is willing to pay you. At a given moment in time, to do X. Some pay more, some pay less--and it's really not about you, especially in companies where salary levels exist. YOU are always the same person. The value is what someone else perceives--and their need versus the supply of individuals offering the same skills and experience. You may be really valuable to company X, who can't seem to find anyone to meet their needs. But you may be a dime a dozen to Company Y, who has tons of "you." So value is relative.
There are plenty of employed and overpaid idiots in companies, running them and otherwise. And plenty of way more talented, creative and skilled folks languishing without jobs. You think those folks are "less than" because they're not getting paid at the moment? Wow. You need to seriously adjust your attitude.
For every under-qualified and overpaid exec in a Fortune 500 company, who led their businesses into the ground and bankruptcy, but who make a lot of money, there are tons of honorable, hardworking citizens who make very little. ALL work has value, and that value is NOT based on what you're paid.
Let's think about all the fabulously competent doctors and nurses, for example, who are paid less than many grossly self-promoting doctors who are unprofessional and incompetent. Lots of those out there. Money does NOT equal better or even BEST. How naive are you?
Money is NOT a true measure of who you are and what you are "worth." That YOU seem to believe that is really sad. For you. And the millions of others you underestimate.
Our value, our worth is not based on what we own, what we have or what we make in terms of remuneration.
Sorry for the tone with you, but I truly cannot believe you're serious in your equation of what you are paid and what you are worth.
If I took your attitude/position, it would be something like: Hey, this guy does what for a living? He writes for a little online blog? Not a big-name branded media company? He must not be worth much.
But I don't think like that.
FYI: I very much agree with your solid advice to:
Just stay away from the comparison game. All it will do is frustrate you and make your time at work that much more unpleasant.
Companies should consider sharing the salary ranges for given positions and the variables that affect them. There should be no reason NOT to be transparent in a professional organization that does not discriminate.
But we all know there are plenty of reasons why companies do not, and never will, share such information.
I'd really love to see productivity and retention studies for companies that share such information and those that do not. Now, that would be interesting.
I do not know about everybody else, but losing our home and letting it go are not easy endeavors. We have to fight for our rights and not let anyone step on them. We are Senior Citizens and to lose everything at this time of our lives has been particularly devastating. I like the idea of moving forward, but how? To where? It's tough.......
A checking account balance inquiry at the ATM of my credit union shows not your checking account balance, but instead your checking account balance plus your overdraft limit.
So if you have $99.99 in a checking account with a $500.00 overdraft limit when you do an ATM balance inquiry, your balance is shown as $599.99 not the actual checking account balance.
Withdraw $100.00 from your checking account and you'll be subject to fees and interest for tapping your courtesy overdraft protection.
I am never going to be interested in buying a new car, and no retarded cash for clunkers problem is going to change that. Currently, both cars we own would probably be able to fall into that category. Would I enjoy getting more money than they are worth out of them... you bet. But I would only upgrade to a late model used car, so that wouldn't really help much.
I can't imagine this was the only factor in Germany's 20% sales increase. Often times random programs like that are given credit for trends that had several factors in the first place!
The insufficient funds fees I've accrued over the years have regularly encouraged thoughts of murder towards those who would think a $35 loss is a slap on the hand for someone in my shoes. Recent problems in my bank have caused me to lose money even when my overall account never went negative from the money I've spent.
But in keeping a cool head I studied up on what was going on and found that check cards suck because of the credit system itself. You authorize money to be taken out, and the authorization take money out before the money is given. Then If something doesn't go through or you cancel an order, you're screwed if you thought more money would be there because of it and didn't wait for everything to resolve first.
A bank teller who explained this to me suggested that buying it all through a credit card might have been better since there's more time to wait and know exactly what you owe and then pay it. So I got to thinking, what if I just put money on the credit card before it was spent and made a check card out of a credit card?
One person above mentioned that she already does this and that it works. I'm a little hesitant, but I think I'd like to have my student loans directly deposited into a credit card account and go with that. Does anyone see a flaw with that idea? Will other loophole charges make their way in even if I never let it go negative? Even when it does, at least 30% monthly interest isn't $105 for most of the reasons that I go into a negative balance.
Xin and AnnJo....Good job! Some people just can't handle a discussion, let alone a debate.
$475 a week...?!?!?!? I make a modest 6figure income working construction. Yes...construction! I myself, most likely, will be one of those who will be filing for Unemployment very soon as my current project will be completed and there is nothing on the schedule for future projects. Receiving $2k a month will make a HUGE impact to my financial stability. To maintain, my savings will decrease by over $3k per month. However, I have developed a strategy for retaining my savings (mostly) and live, by using the unemployment benefit. My only question is.... can I collect if I'm staying out of country?
BTW...I am one of those who would take the full 79 week term, if possible...while I "search" for that near pefect job.
and No...this is not an April Fool's Day posting..Lol!
@Guest Sorry, but it's true. I worked at a company that paid everyone very little money, and everyone's self worth was affected by it, whether they knew it or not. A lot of people don't think they deserve to make X amount of money because this is what this employer thinks they're worth.
I went through it too. When I got my new job and they told me how much they were going to pay me, I was shocked. I couldn't believe it. My eyes started to open and realize that I had been vastly underpaid.
The point is salary doesn't determine how much we're "worth," it affects it greatly.
@AraBIC Student: I'd forgotten about the military and their payscales. Interesting angle...I'm trying to picture my workplace with a chart spelling out exactly how much each position makes....it would certainly be different
The Writer's Coin | Follow me on Twitter
The clunkers for cash idea seems like it is wide open for abuse...and frankly, I'm not interested in buying, via my taxes, new cars for the entire population of the United States. What environmental initiatives are we foregoing so that everyone can have shiny new fuel-efficient cars? It seems that there are plenty of other things we could be doing with that money that would have a greater impact than handing people money for a new car.
Not to mention that if we hold onto the cars we have for a long period of time and maintain them properly, even if they are "clunkers", that is still a net gain for the environment -- getting a new car only puts the old car in the trash heap and any environmental savings due to increased fuel efficiency is negated by the new materials that went into the replacement car and the byproducts of the manufacturing process.
Yes! How do I get in on this!
I am quite happy with my seven-year-old, 85,000 mile, never-been-wrecked, paid-for vehicle. My car has been sans payments for quite a few years now. I checked the car's value on Kelley Blue Book just the other day. According to KBB, the car is worth only about $4,000.00. Believe it or not, this is actually encouraging to me. This means that if my car gets totaled for some strange reason, I can buy its equivalent for only four grand. As long as I can pick up cars like mine for this kind of price, I will be out of the new car market.
I have been using
http://www.superfiller.com
I have found it to be very accurate (and truly eliminates those who do not qualify for free shipping). Thought I would share that.
Gotta love Amazon's free shipping.
Great post.
I call this concept, Progress Over Perfection. That it is better to achieve progress than achieving perfection. While you are trying to perfect something before starting or releasing it, you could be making progress or improvements instead. We are all guilty of analysis paralysis to some degree . . .
You could apply this concept to almost every aspect of your life:
Your work life (Where I heard it)
Your relationships (Family and friends)
Your finances (Income, expenses, debt, etc.)
Your lifestyle (Self-Sufficiency)
Your projects (Garden, business, DIY)
The list could go on and on . . .
Some of the best things in life are free . . . nice ideas
I'm trying to forgive someone now-- think I will do it for my own well being.
Quality living can be had on a limited budget . . .
Nice post.
I just had a fight over this with one of my banks recently. I rushed to the bank and put CASH in to cover. I still got zapped for $35. I showed them the online banking statement they generate that showed I covered, but at the bank they whipped out their "statement" whiched showed the "overdraft". So there we argued about their two "BS" accounting schemes-- the one they give their customers and the one they use to fleece people.
It wasn't until I threatened to sue them in small claims court, explaining that we can both show the various statements and let the judge decide which of the two bank generated statements to use, that the manager finally relented. She also give me a parting threat that my account will be marked to never recieve a credit again . . . to which I replied, "I now know how your "BS" game works, and I will never allow you that pleasure again . . . the bulk of my money will reside in one of my other accounts going forward."
The only salary one needs to worry about is your own. If you feel unappreciated and underpayed ask for consideration, if that fails-- it is time for a change . . . fire them!
I used to be a firm internet believer, until a credit card wouldn't process online and I had to call it in.
The person on the phone gave me a 30% discount that didn't show up on the website... at least when dealing with that company, I'll phone it.
1. expansion of credit is the source of the financial crisis, why expand it more?
2. the average person spends 18% more then with cash
3. increase risk of identity theft
4. they are more work to manage then they are worth
5. rewards are a trick to get you to spend more (and it works)
6. easy to get behind on
7. easy to make a quick bad decision
8. harder to keep track off then a checkbook, because you have to either collect receits or wait for the month statement or syn with the online budgeting software - which is a big investment of time to figure out and usually hard to customize
9. add another monthly bill to worry about
10. fast track to debt, which is financial slavery, not financial freedom
I definitely want to know what my co-workers are getting paid. Fortunately I'm in the military and we have charts that clearly layout what you make at what rank and after being in for how long.
My question is...
Who is posting comments while they are at work getting paid right now??
Get back to work and mind your own business. And bite your tongues before you are faced with the same financial hardship that faces 5.5 million Americans right now.
And...don't forget to save your money!!
He opened his own checking account at Bank of America, you only have to be 14 to have your own checking with them. They call it a "student account". We a kid that has never done banking, he didn't realize that when he went to the gas station to buy a soda that his debit card would work even if there wasn't enough money in the account.
He did this for 3 days, buying stupid little things like candy bars. His NSF fees were over $400.00!!!!!!! I went into the bank with him, talked to the bank manager and said take this stupid overdraft protection off of his account and they wouldn't do it. So I wrote a check to cover the charges (they wouldn't remove any of them) and had to wait a few days for my check to clear. Took my son back into the bank and closed the account immediately--they actually tried to talk us out of it. Went across the street to Wachovia and he opened an account there, where they do offer the same thing, but you can specifically ask that you NOT have that on your account.
have a big advantage over more fact- and reason-based thinkers; all they have to do is label any inconvenient ideas as coming from someone they don't like (Ann Coulter, Fox News, corporate-sponsored media), and that relieves them of any need to listen and consider information on its own merits.
I'll keep an eye on my mailbox for those checks from my corporate sponsors. They seem to be running a little late!
Guest 46 pointed out that the commenters who were very mad at this article could not write proper English. It seems like commenter 72 also belongs in the "can't spell" camp. AnnJo writes very well and she provided a lot of reasonable evidence to support her points, but it is impossible to convert idiots. I found her posts very educational, and I appreciate that she took the time to write her comments on this topic.
ok if you dont want to have to put in the extra codes just do the following:
1. open up the admin prompt
2. type in netsh interface tcp show global to see what the setting is already.
3. Then just skip the other codes and go straight to the one that says netsh interface tcp set global autotuning=disabled
4. then put in the first code and make sure the autotuning says disabled and there you go
simplified
Poster 71, AnnJo's information seems very Fox News/CNN oriented. Anderew's post, on the other hand, reminded me of Joe the Plumber. However, no offence to either, Annjo or Andrew, I enjoyed reading your well-written posts. It is nice that you provided sources Annjo. I can't agree with any of your thoughts, but then again, I stopped listening to corporatly sponsered media a while back.
Oh heck, somebody has to look out for the wealthy.
You write:
I've said it before and I'll say it again: we are what you make.
Man, what alternate universe do YOU live in?
If we are what we make, then what are the greedy bastards on Wall Street and in the companies who've caused the financial mess this country is in? Successes? Role models? Good citizens? Get real.
If you're Bernie Madoff, who made and embezzled billions.
Oh, they made a lot so they are "somebodies"? Better than the rest of us, including the president of the united states (all of them) who make far less? You can't be serious.
Get a grip. A salary/what you make represents what company X, or person X, is willing to pay you. At a given moment in time, to do X. Some pay more, some pay less--and it's really not about you, especially in companies where salary levels exist. YOU are always the same person. The value is what someone else perceives--and their need versus the supply of individuals offering the same skills and experience. You may be really valuable to company X, who can't seem to find anyone to meet their needs. But you may be a dime a dozen to Company Y, who has tons of "you." So value is relative.
There are plenty of employed and overpaid idiots in companies, running them and otherwise. And plenty of way more talented, creative and skilled folks languishing without jobs. You think those folks are "less than" because they're not getting paid at the moment? Wow. You need to seriously adjust your attitude.
For every under-qualified and overpaid exec in a Fortune 500 company, who led their businesses into the ground and bankruptcy, but who make a lot of money, there are tons of honorable, hardworking citizens who make very little. ALL work has value, and that value is NOT based on what you're paid.
Let's think about all the fabulously competent doctors and nurses, for example, who are paid less than many grossly self-promoting doctors who are unprofessional and incompetent. Lots of those out there. Money does NOT equal better or even BEST. How naive are you?
Money is NOT a true measure of who you are and what you are "worth." That YOU seem to believe that is really sad. For you. And the millions of others you underestimate.
Our value, our worth is not based on what we own, what we have or what we make in terms of remuneration.
Sorry for the tone with you, but I truly cannot believe you're serious in your equation of what you are paid and what you are worth.
If I took your attitude/position, it would be something like: Hey, this guy does what for a living? He writes for a little online blog? Not a big-name branded media company? He must not be worth much.
But I don't think like that.
FYI: I very much agree with your solid advice to:
Just stay away from the comparison game. All it will do is frustrate you and make your time at work that much more unpleasant.
Companies should consider sharing the salary ranges for given positions and the variables that affect them. There should be no reason NOT to be transparent in a professional organization that does not discriminate.
But we all know there are plenty of reasons why companies do not, and never will, share such information.
I'd really love to see productivity and retention studies for companies that share such information and those that do not. Now, that would be interesting.
I do not know about everybody else, but losing our home and letting it go are not easy endeavors. We have to fight for our rights and not let anyone step on them. We are Senior Citizens and to lose everything at this time of our lives has been particularly devastating. I like the idea of moving forward, but how? To where? It's tough.......
A checking account balance inquiry at the ATM of my credit union shows not your checking account balance, but instead your checking account balance plus your overdraft limit.
So if you have $99.99 in a checking account with a $500.00 overdraft limit when you do an ATM balance inquiry, your balance is shown as $599.99 not the actual checking account balance.
Withdraw $100.00 from your checking account and you'll be subject to fees and interest for tapping your courtesy overdraft protection.