I am completing this semester in a Business Math course with a 98.6 average. This was one of the hardest courses i have taken yet.
We had to learn about simple interest, compounding interest, annuities, annuities due and mortgage amortization schedules.
Most of it was fairly simple but the compounding interest loans that are for 90 days or less becomes a bit fun to work out.
The professor and I didn't see eye to eye most of the time but at least he listened to me, which i thought was cool.
I am thinking of taking an advanced algebra class, has anyone ever taken one and is it a good idea?
30 September 2009
Good news and bad news
I once heard a joke where the husband told his wife to tell him something that would make him happy and sad at the same time.
She says OK, you have the biggest penis of all your friends
Someone told me something the other day that made me feel both happy and sad. Someone asked me the other day if i was loosing weight. I am glad they noticed.
The sad part is that i have been working on loosing weight for 3 months and have lost 27 pounds as of yesterday. How fat must i be for it to take loosing 27 pounds for someone to notice?
Sigh......
Just keep going i guess
It might depress me but i know that depression is just anger without motivation
She says OK, you have the biggest penis of all your friends
Someone told me something the other day that made me feel both happy and sad. Someone asked me the other day if i was loosing weight. I am glad they noticed.
The sad part is that i have been working on loosing weight for 3 months and have lost 27 pounds as of yesterday. How fat must i be for it to take loosing 27 pounds for someone to notice?
Sigh......
Just keep going i guess
It might depress me but i know that depression is just anger without motivation
25 September 2009
Only an idiot lets a fool keep their money
SO…you took FEDZILLA up on its offer of $4500 dollars to trade in your old “Clunker” (interesting choice of words)? Well, let’s see who got the best of that “deal”…
If you traded in a clunker worth $3500, you got $4500 off for an apparent “savings” of $1000. You could have gotten $3,500 if you had just traded the car in. So you really are $1,000 ahead (depending on your clunker’s value) at this point. Not too bad…
However, you WILL have to pay taxes on the $4500 come April 15th (something that no auto dealer will tellyou). If you are in the 30% tax bracket, you will pay $1350 on that $4500.
So, rather than save $1000, you will actually pay an extra $350 to the feds. In addition, you traded in a car that was most likely paid for. Now you have 4 or 5 years of payments on a car that you did not need, trading in a “clunker” that was costing you less to run than the payments that you will now be making. Even if you save $1,000. dollars a year in gas due to better mileage, you’re still gonna be in the red for five years….hello?
But wait, it gets even better: you also got ripped off by the dealer. For example, the month before the “cash for clunkers” program started, every dealer here in LA was selling the Ford Focus with all the goodies including A/C, auto transmission, power windows, etc for $12,500 because competition was stiff due to poor sales from the stalled economy.
When “cash for clunkers” came along, they stopped discounting them and instead sold them at the list price of $15,500. So, you paid $3000 more than you would have the month before. Honda, Toyota , and Kia played the same list price game that Ford and Chevy did. Now let’s do the math…
You traded in a car worth: $3500. You got a discount of: $4500———Net so far +$1000
But you have to pay: $1350 in taxes on the $4500——–Net so far: -$350(that’s minus…in the red)
And you paid: $3000 more than the car was selling for the month before———-Net Loss: -$3350
We could also add in the additional taxes (sales tax, state tax, dealer prep, etc.) on the extra $3000 that you paid for the car, along with the Five years of interest on the car loan; but let’s just stop here while you kick yourself. Suffice it to say that those costs will be much higher than any savings you get from “better mileage”.
So who actually made out on the deal? FEDZILLAcollected taxes on the car along with taxes on the $4500 they”gave” you. The car dealers made an extra $3000 or more on every car they sold along with the kickbacks from the manufacturers and the loan companies. Manufacturers got to dump lots of cars they could not give away the month before. Lots of good or repairable used cars got taken off the market, crushed and sold asscrap metal to (ready for this?)
CHINA! (Look it up…)
And the poor consumer got saddled with even more debt that they cannot afford.
FEDZILLA’S merry men (who promised that people making less than $250,000 would pay “not one red cent more in taxes”) will make millions in new tax revenues after convincing Joe Consumer that he was getting $4500 in “free” money from the “government” In fact, Joe was giving away his $3500 car and paying an additional $3350 for the privilege. Chicago politics gone global… with an agenda.
If you traded in a clunker worth $3500, you got $4500 off for an apparent “savings” of $1000. You could have gotten $3,500 if you had just traded the car in. So you really are $1,000 ahead (depending on your clunker’s value) at this point. Not too bad…
However, you WILL have to pay taxes on the $4500 come April 15th (something that no auto dealer will tellyou). If you are in the 30% tax bracket, you will pay $1350 on that $4500.
So, rather than save $1000, you will actually pay an extra $350 to the feds. In addition, you traded in a car that was most likely paid for. Now you have 4 or 5 years of payments on a car that you did not need, trading in a “clunker” that was costing you less to run than the payments that you will now be making. Even if you save $1,000. dollars a year in gas due to better mileage, you’re still gonna be in the red for five years….hello?
But wait, it gets even better: you also got ripped off by the dealer. For example, the month before the “cash for clunkers” program started, every dealer here in LA was selling the Ford Focus with all the goodies including A/C, auto transmission, power windows, etc for $12,500 because competition was stiff due to poor sales from the stalled economy.
When “cash for clunkers” came along, they stopped discounting them and instead sold them at the list price of $15,500. So, you paid $3000 more than you would have the month before. Honda, Toyota , and Kia played the same list price game that Ford and Chevy did. Now let’s do the math…
You traded in a car worth: $3500. You got a discount of: $4500———Net so far +$1000
But you have to pay: $1350 in taxes on the $4500——–Net so far: -$350(that’s minus…in the red)
And you paid: $3000 more than the car was selling for the month before———-Net Loss: -$3350
We could also add in the additional taxes (sales tax, state tax, dealer prep, etc.) on the extra $3000 that you paid for the car, along with the Five years of interest on the car loan; but let’s just stop here while you kick yourself. Suffice it to say that those costs will be much higher than any savings you get from “better mileage”.
So who actually made out on the deal? FEDZILLAcollected taxes on the car along with taxes on the $4500 they”gave” you. The car dealers made an extra $3000 or more on every car they sold along with the kickbacks from the manufacturers and the loan companies. Manufacturers got to dump lots of cars they could not give away the month before. Lots of good or repairable used cars got taken off the market, crushed and sold asscrap metal to (ready for this?)
CHINA! (Look it up…)
And the poor consumer got saddled with even more debt that they cannot afford.
FEDZILLA’S merry men (who promised that people making less than $250,000 would pay “not one red cent more in taxes”) will make millions in new tax revenues after convincing Joe Consumer that he was getting $4500 in “free” money from the “government” In fact, Joe was giving away his $3500 car and paying an additional $3350 for the privilege. Chicago politics gone global… with an agenda.
24 September 2009
Joke
A buddy of mine called me yesterday and told me this joke. I just had to share it with you.
What has eight boobs and seven teeth?
Shift change at the waffle house in Odessa TX.
What has eight boobs and seven teeth?
Shift change at the waffle house in Odessa TX.
14 September 2009
Marriage License
The other day, before September 2nd, Karin and I go to get our marriage license. We were both off that day and had a list of errands we had to get done before leaving for Hawaii. I had been cutting the grass so i was wearing typical yard work clothing and Karin was dressed about the same.
We leave at about 11 t go to the courthouse and then we were going to hit Grahm's Pharmacy for lunch, they make an awesome peanut butter/chocolate shake. We load up and asked me if i had the cash for the license. Here in Texas, they do not accept anything but cash at the courthouse. When we get to the courthouse, it takes me forever to pass thru the metal detector. I had on steel toed boots, various knives, everything you would have for working around the house.
After the deputy clears me, he says "make sure you got $70 cash for the license". I stopped and looked at Karin. She asked what was wrong. I opened my wallet and all i had was $46. She lets me know that she told me it was $70 blah blah and i responded that i thought it was $35.
So she opens her purse and between the two of us we have $70 even. I was like, oh yeah, let's go do this. We get in there and the clerk says that it will cost $72. We had to go thru her purse and paid the additional $2 with nickels, dimes, quarters and even penny's.
I can only imagine what the clerk thought. Here we are dressed like vagrants and having to scrimp Penny's to buy a marriage license. She gave us the hairy eyeball the entire time. She was surprised when i put my address down and it didn't include a lot number from the trailer park.
So that is how our marriage started, both of us pulling together to raise the funds for a license. Of course when she told her Dad, he rode me like a rent mule. Wanted to know why his daughter would marry someone who couldn't afford a marriage license. I still haven't heard the last of it.
We leave at about 11 t go to the courthouse and then we were going to hit Grahm's Pharmacy for lunch, they make an awesome peanut butter/chocolate shake. We load up and asked me if i had the cash for the license. Here in Texas, they do not accept anything but cash at the courthouse. When we get to the courthouse, it takes me forever to pass thru the metal detector. I had on steel toed boots, various knives, everything you would have for working around the house.
After the deputy clears me, he says "make sure you got $70 cash for the license". I stopped and looked at Karin. She asked what was wrong. I opened my wallet and all i had was $46. She lets me know that she told me it was $70 blah blah and i responded that i thought it was $35.
So she opens her purse and between the two of us we have $70 even. I was like, oh yeah, let's go do this. We get in there and the clerk says that it will cost $72. We had to go thru her purse and paid the additional $2 with nickels, dimes, quarters and even penny's.
I can only imagine what the clerk thought. Here we are dressed like vagrants and having to scrimp Penny's to buy a marriage license. She gave us the hairy eyeball the entire time. She was surprised when i put my address down and it didn't include a lot number from the trailer park.
So that is how our marriage started, both of us pulling together to raise the funds for a license. Of course when she told her Dad, he rode me like a rent mule. Wanted to know why his daughter would marry someone who couldn't afford a marriage license. I still haven't heard the last of it.
Cash for Clunkers
I didn’t check the math on this, so it’s possibly overstated. But you can see where they are going with it.
A vehicle at 15 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 800 gallons a year of gasoline.
A vehicle at 25 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 480 gallons a year.
So, the average clunker transaction will reduce US gasoline consumption by 320 gallons per year.
They claim 700,000 vehicles so that’s 224 million gallons / year.That equates to a bit over 5 million barrels of oil.5 million barrels of oil is about ¼ of one day’s US consumption.And, 5 million barrels of oil costs about $350 million dollars at $75/bbl.So, we all contributed to spending $3 billion to save $350 million.How good a deal was that???
But, the government will probably do a great job with healthcare!!OR WILL IT?
A vehicle at 15 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 800 gallons a year of gasoline.
A vehicle at 25 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 480 gallons a year.
So, the average clunker transaction will reduce US gasoline consumption by 320 gallons per year.
They claim 700,000 vehicles so that’s 224 million gallons / year.That equates to a bit over 5 million barrels of oil.5 million barrels of oil is about ¼ of one day’s US consumption.And, 5 million barrels of oil costs about $350 million dollars at $75/bbl.So, we all contributed to spending $3 billion to save $350 million.How good a deal was that???
But, the government will probably do a great job with healthcare!!OR WILL IT?
Family Status Change
The terrible view we had to endure.
For those who don't already know, I have had a family status change. September 2nd Karin and I got married and flew to Hawaii on September 3rd for our honeymoon. We spent 6 days in Waikiki Beach and had a most excellent time. We were on the 11th floor of a corner room at The Outrigger Reef on the Beach . One balcony was a view of the sun setting on the beach and the Northern balcony was a view of downtown Waikiki. It was a very romantic setting.
We pretty much kept the wedding date to ourselves as we didn't want anyone to feel obligated to attend. We had a quite simply ceremony and then hauled ass to Hawaii.
Here are a few tips for those thinking of going to Hawaii:
1- Take more money, you will need it.
2 -Pay for the upgrades. It is worth every penny.
3 -Expect to see a lot of Mexican and Cajun food.
4 -Seafood is the main choice of fare on the islands.
5- 8 hours of flying from Dallas is a bitch!!
6- Try to island hop while there.
7- Hawaii has a population of 1.3 million. 950 thousand are in Honolulu.
8- Pearl Harbor is awesome. Take the tour and see the USS Arizona and the USS Missouri berthed right next to the Arizona.
9-Hawaiian population is 25% native, 25% military and 50% people who moved there.
10- I strongly suggest the helicopter tour and dinner cruise combination. It is excellent.
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