Get Rich Slick

If there’s one good thing about the recession and millions of people being unemployed it is the fact that people who do have a job are desperate to keep it and as such are going out of their way to help people out.    I went in to Home Depot this weekend to look at grills since my old one has essentially rusted away after 10 years of use.   I saw a couple of models that I liked and didn’t go there to actually buy one but just to compare models and research prices on the net.

As I looked around, a HD rep came over and asked if I needed any help.   I asked a few questions and ultimately ended up buying the grill that I liked since it was supposedly on “sale” for the Super Bowl weekend.   The HD rep actually help me get the grill down from the shelves and load it into a flat-bed trolley.  He also helped pick out a cover for it by measuring the grill and making sure I had the right one so that I wouldn’t have to return it.

It has been a long while since I got that level of service at Home Depot and it was a pleasant surprise.

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Which currency will be the first to bust?  I honestly don’t know but it’s becoming clear to me that a big bust in currencies is coming.   I know several doom and gloomers have been predicting the demise of the USD for a while but we’ll need to see a few smaller currencies bust first before we ever got to that point.  Ironically, the biggest threat right now might be the Chinese currency.   There is no doubt you’ve either seen or read of how China has huge swaths of buildings sitting empty and idle.   The central planning economy is sucking in resources and not really producing anything of value.   At some point, the cash runs out and all that’s left is a hollow center.

It’s amazing how quick the Euro is falling apart with the sovereign debt problems of Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain and the UK isn’t exactly in the best health either.    I had a draft of this post written in July 2009 and I’m just now getting around to publishing it because the problem is being exacerbated by debt problems all over the world and the clock is ticking.    I have no doubt that a major default somewhere around the world will lead to a domino effect and the world will likely rally to the US dollar.  I’m just hoping it happens by March 2010 because that’s when my call options on USD expire!

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There should be a show on TV called “Banking Makover” along the lines of the Home Makeover show.   The premise of the show should be normal everyday struggling Americans being freed from the shackles of big banks and being moved to small community banks and credit unions.   Personally, I’ve begun my own bank make over journey.   Unfortunately it’s going to take at least 30 days if not more to move all of my accounts.   I’ve already sent letters to Bank of American and HSBC advising them of my displeasure with their little cartel and my intention to shut down all my accounts.

I’m in the process of slashing and burning my accounts at Chase but I’ve got so much money and things tethered to those accounts that it is going to take a while to undo but once done, I won’t be going back.   Hopefully, I’ll post an update by the end of the month but to give you a taste, it takes two payroll cycles to move from one bank to another and although I only had a small amount of my paycheck going to Chase, it’s going to take a whole month to unravel that process!

If you’re angry about the bank bailouts, bank bonuses, and the fleecing of the American taxpayer, I would encourage you to move your money to a credit union or community bank.   So far, my credit union has given me a credit card with a low 7% interest rate compared to the ridiculous rates at the big banks.  It’s not a bad deal altogether.    As an added bonus, my credit union offered to move my remaining auto loan over to the credit card.  This will create two bonuses for me:

1. The title to my car will be released to me -- I’ve switched from a secured loan to an unsecured loan.

2. I ended a business relationship with a big bank and will not be paying them any more interest.

Before you fret about paying the credit card interest rate, I don’t plan on paying interest on more than a month or two since I’ll pay that off once all my money has settled after all the moves.

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I was just amazed when I saw this article about the city of Phoenix implementing a sales tax on groceries!   If any astute readers can tell me what they see wrong with the logic, you’ll win a coveted RichSlick kudos!   I’ve given you a hint (see bold words).

Desperate to save police, fire and other city jobs, a divided Phoenix City Council on Tuesday approved a sales tax on grocery items that will generate tens of millions of dollars a year.

The 2 percent food tax will take effect April 1 and expire after five years, though Mayor Phil Gordon said the council has the option of reversing its decision after it hears from the public during 15 budget hearings planned for this month.

The tax on milk, meat, vegetables and other food purchased by shoppers will generate an estimated $12.5 million for the fiscal year that ends June 30. It will raise another $50 million for fiscal 2011. Food purchased with food stamps will not be taxed.

Uh, excuse me here but where is really the desperation in this scenario?   So the city’s brilliant plan is to make it difficult for people to buy food that they need to survive so they can have bureaucrats and other “essential” services survive?  Is this the worlds greatest oxymoron or what?

Long before we had police, fire or city officials, we had land and labor that meant food but somehow we’ve now inverted that logic where people must starve in order for police, fire and city officials survive.    I can tell you what is going to happen, the people of Phoenix are simply going to drive to Mesa or any other nearby town that doesn’t have this silly tax and the city of Phoenix will end up losing revenue.

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Well I meant to write this post on the 31st of January but I’ve been too busy with MBA school, work, projects, family and more.  But on the 31st I weighed myself and lost a whopping 18 lbs in one month!   I seem to have hit a plateau for now but I’ve also been eating a bit more carbs than I should be.    If I hope to lose another 10 lbs in February since it is a shorter month and I will inevitably fall off my Atkins wagon during Valentines Day as I go out to eat or otherwise celebrate the holiday.    I have to keep up my writing before it falls into complete disarray.

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Well it looks like nincompoop was re-confirmed to the Federal Reserve and that means that I need to use the nuclear option: Closing down all my big bank accounts!   I wanted to do it this week but I’ve been too busy to shuffle money around so it will need to wait till next week.    If you want to see some change in the financial system, I would encourage you to move your money to a credit union or a community local bank!

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I picked up TurboTax over at Costco.  The box clearly states that it will work on PC and MAC.   Unfortunately, my Mac won’t read the CD.  Here’s the crazy thing.  I can boot up a virtual machine running Windows XP on the mac and it reads the CD fine in Windows?   WTF?

I’m trying to load the damn thing in Windows XP and I have been waiting over 20 minutes for the damn “updates” to take place and nothing is happening.  What’s going to end up being my solution?  I’ll probably have to download a hacked version from the net despite the fact that I’ve already paid for this stupid product.

I’m wondering if this CD has some type of copy protection scheme or if there are no Mac files on it whatsoever.   When I read the CD in Windows I don’t see anything remotely looking like Mac files so perhaps I’m trying to squeeze blood out of a rock.

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I walked into the credit union office and requested to open a new account.  The standard process was fairly mundane except when we came to the part where the rep asks me if I want a debit (visa/mastercard) branded card.   I said no, I want a plain ATM card.  “Sorry, we don’t offer those anymore.”

It must have been a fairly new policy because the form she gave me had a check box with “ATM Card” written right on it and I pointed that out to her and she said that they just don’t offer them anymore.

Well it’s no problem for me as I have basically stopped using ATM’s after Chase ruined them and I generally have other methods to obtain cash when I need it.  There is no way in hell I’m ever using a debit card as long as credit cards are around.   Why in hell would I want to risk losing funds from my bank account when I can lay that loss off on the credit card company?

Ultimately, I’m glad the credit union didn’t issue an ATM card since that means there’s only a couple of ways to get money out of there so perhaps it is a new layer of security to keep my money semi-safe.

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Wow, just days after I wrote this post about Facebook, another article was sent to me about some privacy issues and this one pertains to personal finance:

Want a bank loan? Get yourself more Facebook friends — but make sure they pay their bills on time.

Banks are beginning to look at user accounts on Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites to determine if an applicant is loan-worthy, raising privacy concerns as well as questions over whether a person’s online friends, likes and dislikes can actually measure their financial stability.

Everything a person does publicly on their social-networking accounts can be found by market researchers if the user’s privacy settings allow it. Researchers are now looking at a person’s online conversations, the groups they join, products they look at and even who their friends are to determine loan-worthiness.

“The presumption is that if your friends are responsible credit cardholders and pay their bills on time, you could be a good credit customer,” reports WTOP News in Washington, DC.

This gives a whole new meaning to “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

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Change you can believe in?  Well it’s turned out to be chump change and if that nincompoop Bernanke is re-confirmed I will close ALL of my big bank accounts which currently include Chase, Bank of America and HSBC.   I’ve already opened a new credit union account and plan on moving my money there as soon as this foolishness continues.  I’ve also applied for credit card through the credit union so I can dump my big bank accounts as well.    The only way we’re going to get any real reform here is to suffocate the system and I’m doing my part.

I’m still totally disgusted that Geithner hasn’t been fired for his role in the whole AIG 100% payout and everyday new revelations show the ridiculous activity of these idiots.

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