thevicenarian.com

Meta Post : 5 great comments

Posted by Tad Johnson - May 5th, 2008 at 20:05

I’ve been impressed by the quality of comments lately. In case you missed them, here are five comments and my response.

1) In response to backing up your finances, Presh wrote :

“I would add one more suggestion for younger people: talk to your parents about their financial information and ask if they have all their financial information backed up. We don’t like to think about it, but we might need to help them in a medical or physical emergency”

This is a great point to add and an important consideration. Chances are, you have parents. Have you talked to them about their finances? It may be an uncomfortable conversation, but it’s important none the less.

2) On the subject of real estate, and the falling suburb house prices, jrandom42 added this:

”Notice it said MOST. Not happening in the Puget Sound area. Prices are still sky high. There are radio commercials for places in the “mid 700s” as if those were really bargains. Even an hour and a half away from Seattle, prices are still in the mid-300s.”

This is a really important point for anyone considering a real estate investment. The U.S. economy is continually shifting and picking the right area is crucial for any long term investment like a house. 30 years ago, Detroit seemed like a pretty great place. Today it’s a ghost town in some parts. Flint is even worse. Pick an area with a strong economy that is likely to remain strong throughout the coming energy shift.

3) Glen shared his personal experience with using cash :

”I normally swipe my debit card for everything, only using cash for parking decks and restaurants that won’t take cards.

While I was in Europe earlier this year, however, I found that carrying Euros was far easier than hoping that a store would accept a card, and I was amazed at how much more conscious I was of what I was spending.

I’m normally a tightwad, so I rarely worry about going over my limit - with 150 Euros draped around my neck though, I could literally feel the impact of every three or four Euros spent (especially via coins).”

Going cash-only not only helps your everyday personal finances, it can really help while on vacation.

4) Quick hit–Eric suggested another credit card for gas rebates :

”I’ll just add that the Discover Open Road Card includes 5% back on gas purchases as well as the above mentioned ‘Auto maintenance.’”

5) Dan achieves the ultimate gas savings zen :

”I think there is one obvious tip for saving money on gas … take fewer trips. I think our culture is too comfortable with this on-demand lifestyle. In the old days, people would keep a grocery list and then go shopping on the weekend to stock up for the week to come. Now we are constantly making trips to the super market or over to pick this up or run that errand. I think we could all save some gas and some stress if we slowed down, planned, made lists, and stocked up.”

This is a great point that can be said often enough. We need to rethink our relationship with automobiles. If nothing else, $4 gas should teach us that we don’t need to drive for every errand or every outing. Most of the other 6 billion of our neighbors on Earth manage to live without cars. . . why can’t we?