Never had a credit card, don't want one either.

I don't think those people quite get the "money now" vs "money later" concept. Credit card is "money now" and also "fast money". It does come at a cost, though. Often a very large cost, and it's all too easy to end up in debt, especially if you're using the card as your shopping spree card + emergency fund card + everything else card. In most cases you don't need "that thing" as badly as you think you do, and certainly not enough to pay nearly 1/3 again as much for the item. It's money straight out of the window.

Expensive vacation? Not a necessity. Fanciest and most expensive phone? Not a necessity.

Saving is "money later" and often "slow money", but it's money you have, and is much safer in use. You know what you have, so you know what you can use, and there isn't added interest.

Sure, if there is an absolute crisis I can understand the use of a credit card, but you still have to pay up at some point, and you're definitely not going to save anything on using that option (most people end up in trouble right about there). It's better to have an emergency fund (even saving a small sum with every salary can help), or at least an emergency plan for if you're stuck without an appliance or a phone, or there's a sudden large bill to pay, or whatever it is. A credit card (or loan) should be the last resort, since you're just adding expenses for later.

Paying now is pretty much always cheaper than paying later. If you can't pay now, and the thing isn't a necessity, then maybe don't buy it.

There are things called a secured credit cards. This is a fancy way of saying the credit card is prepaid. Not all banks have them, but they're not impossible to find.

The only money that can be spent on these kinds of cards is the money a person puts on it. There is never interest because there is no overspending. Once the money has been spent, that's it. It is the equivalent to using a debt card, except these kinds are cards can be used to build credit ( AKA a FICO score as it is called in the US) and they have the same protections as regular credit card.

People that abuse credit cards normally don't like secured cards because the only credit limit is the amount of money they put on the card. They can't go out and blow $10.000.00 on stupid shizz they didn't need unless they 'pay' $10,000.00 up front. Secured cards are a great tool for teaching discipline, but people that shouldn't be using credit cards to begin with don't give give a flying fig about financial discipline.

My own bank used to use the whole, stupid "You get points" bullshit when we first opened our account there. In order to get $500.00 back a month, we would have had to spend $50,000.00... a month. Whatever points we did earn for a couple months, we used the cash to put towards whatever thing we bought, then paid the remaining balance. So if groceries were $100.00 and we earned $5.00 of 'points', we paid $95.00.

Our bank stopped doing the whole stupid points thing that summer which is fine by me. We didn't end up there because of points.

All over the internet there are these people claiming that they are somehow screwing the banks with their so-called 'free entertainment', 'free airline miles', blah, blah, blah. Meanwhile these fools are doing the exact same thing as the person in the video. She had a whole credit card collection, most of which carry balances.

This is how the US has found itself in 18 trillion dollars of credit card debt, but people will proudly stand on the "I get free stuff!" hill while paying 30% ( and much more in some cases) every month for their "free stuff". The whole thing makes my eyes twitch.

Do these people have nobody in their lives that loves them enough to look them in the eye and say "What are you doing? Come sit at the kitchen table. We're going to do some basic math with a piece of paper and a pencil."

Well, only if you use them like that!
I've had a credit card here in the UK as long as I can remember; I use it to make purchases that are large (like appliances, or vehicle repairs, or pretty much any online purchase). That way, I get the extra protection (Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act) afforded by this method of purchase.
https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-ri...ct-aZCUb9i8Kwfa
I pay the balance off in full each month before interest is accrued, so really I am using it like a better protected bank card. Good scam or shitty quality product protection!

That way is fine, of course (and the "right" way to use a credit card). Problem is everyone who don't seem to understand you need to pay it off in time.

Like I got run over by an 18 wheeler and found jammed under the fender. It's like somehow I am alive, but I'm wondering "how?"

Either way...I hope I get paid tomorrow morning.

For me, more like switching between getting dragged behind the 18-wheeler for parts of the day, and trying to push the 18-wheeler up a steep hill with the breaks on. It's been one of those days at work... Bit of the same feeling afterward, though

Good thing you're able to relate to the exhaustion.

Even though I don't have a formal job, I rather not let it run me ragged like it had the past few months.

I find myself not only washing dishes, but preparing cups of coffee and looking for eyeglasses (my mom is far-sighted, so she needs help with finding her glasses at home.) and locking up when the weather gets cold or hot to regulate the house temperature.

I tend to keep the house from falling over, so to speak.

I'm so happy to announce that I have successfully upgraded my laptop's RAM from 8GB (1 stick) to 32GB (2 sticks, 16GB each). I'm personally thrilled because this is the biggest hardware upgrade my laptop has had since I bought it almost 5 years ago.

Got paid yesterday, paid my bills and bought my supplies for my hobby for February.

Currently waiting for the bulk of the items I ordered.

That poor Amazon driver is going to be sore tomorrow (I have a heavy package load coming today.) and it's not the first time I tortured couriers with heavy loads...it probably won't be the last...😬

Budgeting crap... done. Chica's upcoming trip to the vet is covered as is the cash I'll need to pay for guys to come out and do a oil change and other yearly maintenance things for the generator.

Other than doing some laundry, I don't have any plans for today. My vacuum cleaner sucks again ( I've been waiting to say that. ) thanks to new filters. The sponge filter that I cleaned on a regular basis wasn't too bad. The other filter however was disgusting. One side looked okay, the other was actually black. Ewww!

Since tomorrow is going to be a day in the car for at least part of the day, I think I'm going to finish the two books I've been reading over the past couple of days. I'm half way through The Lost Bookshop and I've got about 3 hours left of The Accidental Alchemist. The Accidental Alchemist is a replacement for The Priory of the Orange Tree which at this point may as well be a DNF. I don't miss it, nor do I care about it.

The Accidental Alchemist is a story that involves a gargoyle named Dorian who cooks and speaks French.

Doing dishes. Waiting for the first load to cool down, just so I can get the next set ready for washing after unloading the dishwasher.

It doesn't really end.

For now, the remaining packages for February will be here today. Well...one is running late, but I plan to pick up the packages that come today.

Took a short nap and was able to get my packages.

An update from me... Things didn’t go as expected after upgrading my laptop’s RAM. I made this upgrade for faster and smoother video/audio editing rather than for gaming purposes, but unfortunately, not much has changed in terms of performance.
After all, you shouldn't expect a 'gaming' laptop to be more powerful than a gaming desktop PC.

Did chores with my mother, had a lunch delivered, spent time catching up on lost sleep, caught more Pokémon for The Living Pokédex Project with my Pokémon Home app...

Tonight is a pizza night.

A rather decent Saturday to start off the new month.

I recently threw some really dirty clothes in to be washed. Now drying.

I had a decent day.

I am not feeling well...I caught something respiratory. I should get it checked. I am eating, drinking fluids, functioning otherwise.

I, otherwise, am doing fine.

I've been getting shizz done. Yesterday I found a memory card for the Nintendo Game Cube I donated months ago. I'm going into year 5 or 6 with decluttering and I'm still finding crap in odd places. The memory card was chillin' in a basket with a mysterious TV remote that doesn't go to anything. Yikes!

I bought another copy of P90X. I used to do this workout when it first came out. I eventually stopped doing it because I was bored and tired of listening to Tony Horton week after week. Of course I donated my original discs, but I need to do something along with the treadmill.

I woke up Friday night with leg cramp from hell. My thigh was still sore this morning, so it is time to either use resistance bands or dust off the weights. My legs along with the rest of me need to re-gain the strength that has been lost due to sitting on my ass and not doing resistance-type exercise. Muscle memory is a wonderful thing so it won't take long to get myself back into shape, but I really hate leg day. It sucks no matter how strong a person's legs are, but my leg shouldn't still hurt from a charlie horse that happened 2 days ago.

I don't have a excuse to quit this time ( not that I had a valid excuse before) as there is the DVDs but if a person buys the whole 'package', it comes with a nutrition plan and something called a "Fitness Guide" which explains every workout, the schedule and what exercises to do on what day so the DVDs don't have to be used. Yes this workout can be found on the Bodi website, but I don't want to be connected to the internet and I don't feel like paying for yet another subscription. DVDs may be older than dirt according to some, but they work... without extra fees. Pay once and you're done.

EDIT: Monday- Chest and Back is done. My arms already feel like Jello.

I forgot P90X has options in regards to music, Tony yapping, ect... A person can listen to all the things. Only have music and verbal cues or just do the workout with no music or talking. Today was music and verbal cues. Tomorrow and beyond I'll listen to whatever speaks to me at the time.

My parents are out hunting for more medicine as all 4 of us (even the cat) caught a cold.

The cat has to ride it out, but I feel like I was blindsided by whatever got us.

No more fooling around with the notion of building robots.

I decided to take the matter into my own hands and look up tutorials on building humanoid robots.

I may have to look into the advanced robotics teams across the country and online tutorials that are in-depth.

I plan on just starting off with an android and see how that goes.

It won't be easy, because I have very little to work with. But I plan to keep trying.

Remember when I said I felt like an 18 wheeler ran me over and they found me jammed under the fender? Today, it would feel like it was me versus a convoy of food delivery trucks. The feeling of being found jammed under the fender is still there.

I am dealing with a nasty respiratory system issue that's also affecting my ears, nose and throat.

At least my mom was kind enough to take me to the doctor. If, by Friday morning, I haven't fought it off completely, a medication-based steroid might be involved with fighting it off to the finish.

I hope you feel better soon.

Thank you, GC.

I am not out of the woods yet, I still have to take cough medicine at midnight and noon, then guaifenesin tablets at 6:00AM and 6:00PM.

Either way, my parents are keeping an eye on me. It's hard to feel happy when your head feels like it's in a vise grip.

It is snowing; it was supposed to rain first. Mother Nature said "Nah!" to the rain.

I really want to go back to bed, but I'd rather get all my shizz done so I don't have to think about it over the weekend. I also need to re-do the grocery budget. I'm loosely following the P90X nutrition guide. Because P90X is a Beachbody product, there is a heavy push to buy all of their glorified crap AKA protein powders, protein bars, ect... I'm not doing that. It's cheaper and easier to up my veggie intake. They're filling, have fiber and I can eat them until they come out of my ears with no allergy issues. To counter the increase for groceries, I've cut other things.

I've been on a strange kick all week about doing price comparisons on things. This started because I was annoyed with the pigs cages. Not the cages themselves, but the trays that are in the their cages to contain hay, pig pellets, stray veggies, ect... It is easier to show what I'm yapping about than trying to explain it.



The trays I ordered are gray. I highly recommended this company for their cages and accessories. Small business, awesome company. https://guineapigcagecompany.com/co...tchens-hayracks

Anywho, once a month I was buying paper bedding to put in these trays. The paper stuff is fine. It's not dusty, there is no risk of pigs being poisoned with pieces of cedar, blah, blah, blah. However, all of that doesn't mean less mess. Cole behaves himself for the most part; Lincoln is a slob. His being a slob has nothing to do with the fact that he is missing teeth. I had to wire tie down his hay feeder as he keep dragging it all over his cage, then he'd get mad when there was no more hay in it.

I was going through one of these bad boys once a month. https://www.chewy.com/rabbit-hole-h...-food/dp/165625 At 52.00 a month x 12=$624.00 just to contain pig poop and food mess.

The rest of the pigs' cages are pieces of fleece I had cut in 2 yard lengths from a craft store and these bathroom rugs from IKEA. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/toftbo...lange-40458921/ Blankets on the bottom to line the cage, rugs go on top. They have their hidey-caves to run into or they burrow under the rugs. The rugs are soft and don't have any kind of backing on them that can be chewed.

Since I have to wash the fleece and rugs anyway, it is really stupid to spend $624.00 for pig mess when all I had to do was add either a piece of fleece or one of the IKEA rugs to the trays. Two more pieces of fleece or two more rugs isn't going to change anything.

Whether people have guinea pigs or not, if you're wondering where money is going, track your spending for a month. Write down every single transaction, then reflect on where the money went at the end of month. It is so simple and yet so revealing.

To circle back to the whole grocery shopping thing, grocery shopping in general is getting a overhaul. It was not only costing us more in gas every week to go where we normally shop, but it was also more expensive. It's cheaper for gas and for groceries to have stuff delivered from Whole Foods of all places. I don't trust them for fresh stuff like veggies, we're still doing that, but for pantry stuff, toothpaste and so on, it's cheaper to get the 365 brand. I also refuse to renew our membership with our local big box store. They pissed me off too many times last year. I found a work around for the stuff we'd get there when we went. That also has turned out to be a money saver.

So, my mom called the doctor and because of HIPPA, I am awaiting a call from the doctor's office for help with obtaining a strong medicine (a steroid) for my cough.

It's getting worse to the point I had to bail halfway through from my therapy appointment.

I am not happy about it. I blame the Typhoid Gary who gave it to dad, then to me and our cat.

Had a somewhat better day at work today than Tuesday.
Tuesday was tough. One of the days I kind of just wanted to scream into a pillow every 5 minutes - most of the workday anyway.

I have a whole new appreciation for parents with toddlers in their terrible 2s/3s (although, those you can most of the time pick up and carry where you want them. At a certain point a person with little to no self-motivation become an(almost) immovable object. Like dragging a snail through superglue - and the most annoying thing is, you're absolutely convinced they're doing it just to be difficult )

TikTok's "Male Instacart Shoppers" Need To Be STOPPED...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW-R1-GB6NU

Dingus likes to put groceries away while still in the bag they were brought home in. This video resulted in a 6:00 AM conversation about male laziness. He told me that I needed to stop listening as if I didn't know what he was doing.

I was put on an anti-inflammatory steroid. I am practically flying like a hummingbird...

My cough is nearly gone. But I still need to keep working at it. It was a 6 day supply and I am on Day 2.

I will be snowed in for a couple days starting tomorrow night.

Not that I have anywhere to be.