Money Matters - Part 12

Cost money to make that pink slime!

Thank God Wendy's never used that pink slime meat...the only fast food we would eat(if we went once a month that's a lot).....but with those crazy prices won't be doing that anymore

Wow - from the BLS:

324,000 Women Dropped Out of Labor Force in Last Two Months--As Number of Women Not in Labor Force Hits Historic High.

Barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen.

Fast food is not always cheap anymore! It's shocked me too.

Jen, you must have gotten more than just the burger and salad. Fries???? Beverages???? Anyhow, fast food may be fast, but it's not cheap anymore unless you're ordering off the dollar menu.

coleup, I like Southwest as well for the reasons you mentioned, though last year when I went to TX I went with whoever was cheapest at the time. I'm often able to get some good deals last minute, but can't pick the airline, and they aren't nonstop, which I would prefer.

Karen

College final choice here! All kids stuck with their choices. Waiting lists are bad news. It is impossible to negotiate a a scholarship, and they act like you would just take anything, when maybe the college really isn't all that great either. Then, DS was awarded a $1,000 scholarhip from our church because he sang in the youth choir! We are so pleased with the recognition. I hope maybe he does like my brother, who became a cantor once he had tenure, but for now he thinks he can't sing.

Rosemary- what will you do with all the rewards points from the credit card(s)? You can do Hilton for hotel, and then an airline one for flights...it lessens the pain when you get something in return LOL. Our second college, I believe, does not accept American Express, so we may want a third credit card just so we can get max rewards. Our Citi card maxes out at 300$ cash rebate per year; thats 30 000 in charges in a year. Stores are becoming less welcoming to American Express card. We got an American Airlines Visa just so we could get an instant $100 off our vacation flights. We'll have to decide whether it is worth keeping after the initial 'no annual fee' year.

Karen, hubby's meal was a combo meal, I just got the salad and iced tea.....all the time thinking while I eat it, "I could have made this myself"


Whew, shopping for wood flooring for daughter's room....CRAZY....went to Lumber Liquidators whose prices I think went up considerably because they are featured on Extreme Home Makeover, but once seeing prices from regular flooring places, I've realized it really is good deal

Good idea, Sally. I have priority club and Quicken rewards at the moment, one for hotel stays and the other toward airlines. We have to investigate Southwest Airlines more since DD1 isn't going to a Jetblue city. There are other local moms to carpool to Cleveland for driving if desired, though.

Wood flooring is so nice compared to the alternatives.

There was a $230 million shortfall in our state in projected revenues 1/3 of that was taxes.......got a leak somewhere...

Wow - at least 25K layoffs at HP.

ggggeeeez.

I'll say again, heath care seems good sector. Our major hospital near Annapolis MD is amazing, huge and beautiful.

Health care is likely to have some winners and losers. Geez, our kids have very uncertain job futures in any sector.

They have changed the retirement rules in my state. Many who want to retire after 60 and before 65 can't because the retirement board is downgrading their grade for level of contact with dangerousness in the workplace. I wish one one those board members could have followed me around on Wednesday. My problem is I wonder how many more years I will have the wits and strength to defend myself against an unexpected attack, or I wouldn't mind working a long time. Russian fiction comes to mind.

"an unexpected attack, ""

can only (not even) imagine. A friend is an aide for kids with IEPs in elementary school (various disabilities) , got bitten.

geez, was going to buy a bag of halved pecans at the store $15.99!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

please please say that was at least two pounds, pref three

I WISH

Wow - and for only half the nut! ;)

LOL

went to another store and at least they were $6 cheaper...did you read that??!!!! $6 CHEAPER.....they were still 9.99!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From China.

oh crud, don't tell me that I didn't look!!!!!!!!!!!

Not surprised at Ll to see the market swooning over Europe. Worst is yet to come.

Bad local news. Unemployment up recently in this area.

Even though the info that came out last week said unemployment dropped...I think it was by 2/10 of a %, LOL

And very misleading. It only dropped because of so many people giving up looking. Despite the claims of all the 'jobs created' the past few years, the FACT is there are fewer people working today than any time in the past 30 years. Scary.

Gasoline is still coming down slowly. Think the fact that it's an election year has any effect?

No - crude has come way down due to the global jitters.

Crude is now under $90. Yay for global chaos and looming recession! ;)

I'm thinking gas prices should be falling a little faster

gas prices are going up here. Summer is here!

Talk about mind-boggling. The biggest obstacle to solar power becoming a significant portion of the nation's electricity output has been cost. I never would have installed mine without the tax incentives. Well, now that the Chinese have been able to produce panels cheaply, our government slaps a huge tariff on them to help out our struggling solar industry. Ludicrous.

good luck with chinese panels - if the manufacturing is not controlled by westerns who are on the floor of the plant at all times they product will be crap.

Not true. Most installers have been using them already.

Solar Installers Offer Deals
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/business/energy-environment/solar-installers-offer-homeowners-deals-gaining-converts.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120510

I would never go for that.

victor i have worked with chinese manufacturers for years - if you do not watch them they will substitute lower cost components which will result in substandard products.

Not arguing that. Lots of what they make is absolute crap. However, as long as you are not dumb enough to do it yourself, it's the installer who guarantees all the work. With the incentives program in NY, installers are approved by the sites agency that provides the program. This puts the onus on them to do all the quality assurance necessary.
By the way, like it or not (and I don't), these days even lots of electronics used in sensitive applications in our country is made in China. They have made a lot of progress in some areas.

Gas prices are still very high here in northern California. I filled up last week for $4.27 a gallon. Unemployment is right around 11% in Sacramento and our state's budget shortfall keeps getting worse (now about $16 billion!).

We've been investigating solar. State of MA has been offering huge incentives and tax credits, and because we don't have municipal power, we could signficantly reduce our electric bill, if the sales people are correct. Once a certain power percentage is reached, supposedly the price guarantee for returns is for the next 10 years, and system pays for itself in six, plus tax savings come with getting a home equity loan.

We did discover that the marketing is misleading. The company that talked to us had big American flags on all their compenents, and said all was made in America, but the senors clearly aren't.

The area on our roof that wouldn't need any tree trimming is flat. We have been worried about leaks. There used to be a free-standing product you could clamp on, and supposedly all US made, but they went out of business.

The big outdoor retail store REI is building a commercial solar roof over their parking lot in Framingham. I thought I might ask if the manager there knows anything to share with us.

We're wondering why more adventurous folks aren't installing solar, if there's something we've failed to recognize about it. If its best production is in summer, that's when the ac is running, so that's also when we need it most.

Also, the state offers an energy audit. It's a no-brainer to get that. We're just too busy to do anything right now.

In our lovely state if you put in solar panels your taxes go up cause it's considered a home improvement...so you don't save anything...

Apparantly there's a provision here that assessments of home values are not allowed to go up because of solar. This is odd--if I sold the house, i could even keep the earnings for energy saveings off the grid, but usually people would sell that with the house.