Could You Stay in Business or No?

Hardest part is when I'm sitting around home I'm thinking of things I need, or tell myself I need, that cost money, enough days in a row with nothing else to do and I'll talk myself into it.

 

It is amazing how little you really need.

I Finally had to break down and bought 2 rechargeable battery packs and a shockproof case and charge cord to get another year of life out of my Old Ipad 3.

That drastically affected the monthly budget of beer and wine, pizza and steak while I hideout on the beach for the winter in Florida .

 

It's amazing what you'll spend on stupid stuff if you let yourself, then there's the chrome, if I took a month off I'd probably talk myself into new stainless rear fenders. That stainless fully enclosed rear light bar I spent 1500 bucks on was the best money I've ever spent though, no more corroded rotten pigtails back there anymore.

 

I have no problem spending money when I am making money . Especially on tools and or the equipment that is making you money.

Personal expenditures I'm thinking eye surgery with a lift. A new fangled electronic Heart and maybe one of them ##### pumps might make the list too.

 

If your not spending any money by not going anywhere then you can't go totally broke

 

If your house budget plus savings exceed your monthly costs and outflow (Spending) you are solvent. And can continue for a little while.

Once your expenses exceed incoming wages, benefits, cash or whatever assets you sold off at he pawnshop... then you are broke.

I remember in 2007 we saw alot of rich dumping stuff to raise cash. There was a vizo 32 incher that showed up in the baywindow of one as I passed by with 200.00 in my pocket. We pulled in, they waived the sales tax sold us that thing at 200.00 flat all manuals, wires and good condion.

Walmart had that same device for about a thousand retail then I believe give or take.

Last year we went into the store and bought a 32 inch flat screen tv which does have some modern smart stuff on it for 100.00 retail plus tax. It does everything that my vizio can do and more. Both of our TV's are worthless at the pawnshop. They don't want that anymore at any price.

We are not broke yet. I think the problem potential is far deeper. Take the maintaince shop work done on the car in public this month. Would there still be a shop open to work on that thing if we decided not to do the work on it? Probably not.

Sooner or later we would need a replacement car. Since no one is open or in business selling cars, we walk or ride a bike. If we don't get jacked and have the bike stolen by a society forced in a variety of ways to walking as well.

This sort of stuff keeps me up at night. You can only do what YOU decide to do. Anything bigger than that? Well... I hope that in the end you have had a wonderful day.

One day a trucker told this story.

There was a hard scrabble texas town full of choking dust, tumble weeds and a revenue of only 100.00 annually in property tax sitting on a worthless superfund designated cleanup zone. Population of four.

Here comes bigwig election candidate waving wads of hundred dollar bills as he bellys up to the town diner to talk to all 4 and hands the cashier the 100 and tells cashier to keep the tip.

Cashier paid off the cook who is the employer.

The cook paid off the bank on the worthless shack.

The banker paid off the town council it's past due tax debts. And would you not know it, thats all the 4 people in town.

Big wig leaves to the next town trailing 100 dollar bills as he goes. All 4 citizens of dusty town are happy, they are paid off.

Right?

 

The only money I will be spending will be on the electric bill. I also have a generator if that fails. But no mortage, or anything else will get paid

 

I have also as of the first part of this year reduced my home budget by killing the satellite, excessive creditors and so on. The monthly budget is down to its basic core, such as the electric bill. My cash flow is improved quite a bit when all the little bits of fat is chopped off.

The Satellite comes to mind (Dish) as being the most difficult this year. Customer service says well we can offer you 6 months at a lesser rate (*They increased monthly rate on my services that they no longer provide as it does not provide them sufficient revenue) the increase in rates is more than I am willing to endure for the same crappy reruns regurgitated from 5 years ago. Instead of new live content.)

I told them two things. First 6 months the situation will not change. And second, what part of close account do you not understand?

They got frosty then.

Makes me wonder how many told them to take a hike. The outflow in money for that one bill (One of several) was shut off by me. They actually have a overage to my name as a store credit of sorts on account rather than cut me a check believe it or not. Its small enough to essentially ignore it.

Several insurance holders got similar calls. The billing was adjusted permanently or closed. So thats the end of that.

Everything else is paid for. I am strictly cash only.

And would you not know it but 3 offers for new credit cards sitting in my mail. Tore them up. Then shredded them.

The electric bill? (Circling back to it...) half the power burn in kilowatts against last year same month (Which was about 92 dollars for something like 1200 KwH.) now is charging me 79 dollars for 620 KwH for next months draft. This is levelized so that means the normal monthly bill of about 60 dollars has increased quite a bit. Where was the increases? Two places.

First 10 dollars on the admin fees. The company apparently petitioned and won permission from regulator to charge higher rate per home. Second was about 9 more dollars within the fuel cost section than usual (The coal, nuclear, sun, hydro etc.) but a little digging implied that maybe they imported power to meet airconditioning or something last month. I don't know.

And the tinest charge of them all?

0.52 cents ice storm recovery. Imagine in 2000 we had a epic ice storm that destroyed our state grid. Put the power plants off line. We had three weeks without power. Which also means no water either. Gas we had and plenty of it then.

Everyone in Arkansas has been paying 0.52 a month to the power company for the cost and then some for the rebuilt power grid, not only rebuilt but expanded deeper into the mountains as well. 20 years worth of 0.52.

Never mind the big stuff. Its always the smallest straw on the camel...

Oh ho. You think thats awesome. Wait until you hear this.

The power company scrapped all meters in our area as far as I can see. All of the older analog meters and slightly newer versions have been stripped off homes, businesses, shops, stores, apartments and so on.

Replaced by remote digital meters talking to the power company in real time. You can literally check online in a special page and understand exactly your dollar amount per the hourly KwH you are burning any time day or night for next month bill. It is possible for the power company to reduce the power to your home if you are a palace of light and consuming say 10,000 KwH at the moment. If they wanted to.

 

I've been shacking up at the exs for the winter in Florida Trading repairs for a room.

She has a good job with no house or car payments. She stuffs every dime into 401 and other retirement funds. She has cash to get by for a week at best.

Me? Cash is King and readily. Accessible

 

If things got really bad I would commandeer one of the many well built seagoing sailboats I've had my eyes on that their owners rarely check,on.