Money Rant

Got to love how Homeland Security is protecting us. Spend $28K of Taxpayer money for truck that gathers dust. (LINK)And we all know South Dakota is terrorist list #1 spot.

Margot the frugal gestapo Christmas version vent. Wrapping gifts for kids. Scaps of unused Christmas paper litter floor. Take out trash can and Margot goes bugged eyed.

"You throwing out that perfectly good paper?"

"Yep," and the nasty look #1 comes from wife.

"But it still is good," Margot says.

"Yes, I know, but have already wrapped all buttons and coal for this year, " I say and receive nasty look #2 from wife.

"HMMFFFF," she sighs in exasperation. "You can use these scraps for cards or decorations."

"Or for confetti," I interrupt as I begin tearing the scraps into small pieces. Wife gives look #3 so the couch it is tonight.

"Oh, don't do that!!" she says gathering up all remaining scraps.

"You need confetti?" I ask and SHE TAKES IT.

What's worse than a credit card? A credit card that has a lottery / sweepstakes (

LINK) to pass out the cash you earn back. Gamble with a credit card. Makes no financial sense. Going to be a huge hit. Mark my words.

Got to love our government. Top 10 goverment spending outrages (

LINK) Sure glad my money went to these!

1. "Giving $170 million to a pornographer who wants to hand out condoms around the world. The U.S. Agency for International Development awarded the grant to Population Services International, or PSI, a nonprofit corporation whose mission is to curb sexually transmitted diseases. PSI was founded in 1971 by Philip Harvey, who runs a massive mail-order pornography firm called Adam and Eve.

2. "Funding a $1.8 million study of algae in hot water. The funding, contained in an omnibus appropriations bill, was given to the Bozeman, Mont., Center on Life in Extreme Thermal Environments, according to Citizens Against Government Waste.

3. "Authorizing a $1 million program at Auburn University to train dogs to spot terrorist activity. The money was earmarked by Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., in a bill funding the Veterans Administration and Housing Department.

4. "Spending $3.6 million for 'team-building' exercises for the Postal Service. At a series of employee retreats, hundreds of Postal workers played children's games, sang 'We Are Family,' wrote Christmas carols, went on treasure hunts, dressed in cat costumes, took scat singing lessons, and talked to imaginary wizards, magicians and mad scientists at staff meetings.

5. "Mailing Social Security checks to fugitives. Though a 1996 law prohibits the payments, 36,752 fugitives have been collecting benefits anyway, costing taxpayers $223.7 million, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

6. "Paying $560,000 to trim weeds at the Montana Sheep Institute – money contained in a $397.4 billion appropriations bill passed by Congress earlier this year.

7. "Authorizing pay raises for Congress and other federal workers. Senators and representatives raised their salaries by $5,000 this year, to $154,700. President Bush also handed a 4.1 percent pay increase in February to federal workers, even though many of the private-sector employees footing the bill are taking pay cuts and even losing their jobs in a difficult economy.

8. "Hiring 2 million government workers – in Iraq. As part of the postwar plan to 'promote stability,' the Pentagon wants to pay the salaries of 2 million soldiers, teachers, police officers and other government workers in Iraq – in effect putting one out of every 10 Iraqis on the U.S. government payroll.

9. "Selling expensive government property for pennies. According to government auditors, the Energy Department sold a $9,000 copier to NTS Development Corp. for 5 cents, and sold the firm 23 trucks worth $448,000 for 17 cents each.

10. "Guaranteeing even more waste, fraud and abuse next year by increasing the federal budget to a record $2.3 trillion."

Statue of Liberty Island needs a $45,000 a year for a dog that to chase away geese (

LINK) Sure sounds like it's on the up and up with me!

No joke. (

LINK)

"The U.S. Army has long lured recruits with the slogan “Be All You Can Be,” but now soldiers and their families can receive plastic surgery, including breast enlargements, on the taxpayers’ dime."

Now that is exactly how I want my hard earned money spent!

Got to love the governemnt. Needs $25 billion for the Iraq war...ummm...ooops, maybe a little more. Like an extra $12.3 billion(

LINK)

Try pulling that off with your local bank. I need $100,000 for a house. Oh, sorry, need and extra $50,000. Right.

Right. Get a call from a woman you don't know out of the blue. (hint #1) Says she found you phone number on the Internet. (hint #2) Says she really wants to chat with you. (hint#3) Asks you to call her back. (hint #4) And you're surprised at a $7,000 phone bill cause you were stupid enough to talk all night on the phone with her? (

LINK) And I have some ocean front property in Kansas I'd like to show you.

Doesn't matter the profession, give them money that isn't theirs (ie taxpayer's) and watch them spend at will. Guess that firefighters need all of this stuff since they aren't paying for it themselves: "carpeting for outdoor fire camps, overtime paid for firefighters’ sightseeing time, $18 million in rental car expenses, $10 pens and pencils, and personal spending on unneeded and unnecessary digital cameras, tents and designer clothing." (

LINK)

Probably not enough left for water and hoses when the houses start burning.

At it again. Hey, it's free tax payer money so why not waste a a few million dollars. Not enough? Start at $100 million then (

LINK) That's right. All those taxes you have been paying your entire life vanished with a snap of their fingers into thin air. Thought your taxes meant something? You struggled your whole life to pay taxes so that the Defense Department could buy airline tickets they never used. And not just you. Millions of people had their entire lifetime of taxes used for this.

Gotta Love The Defense Department

Lots of stupid bank robber stories, but one decided to return the money he stole (

LINK). Sounds like he was good hearted, but he didn't return all of the money, just most of it.

I don't understand why he gave it back. Guilty conscience? Given it to a needed charity would have made more sense since the bank is covered by insurance and since he didn't return it all, he still robbed the bank.

Trying to do the right thing? Already stole $100,000+ kind of makes that a wasted effort.

Anyway you look at it, not a very bright robber.

No doubt about it. Some people just have too much money. Companies know this. Why else would there be a $5000 toilet (

LINK) for sale? Get a good used car or a toilet that can "sense what kind of waste you've left behind and adjust the flush appropriately."

You have to wonder?

Taking to a friend last night. Has a bet with another friend of who can get the most credit cards by the end of the year. Up to 46 with over $100,000 in credt and thinks this is great.

Is it any wonder we are a nation in debt?

Government knows how much we all love peanuts. Why else would they spend $202,500 of you hard earned money for the National Peanut Fairgrounds (

LINK)

Shameful.

Came to our house again today. Was getting ready to throw out a baggie --- peanut butter and jelly all over the inside. Shouts at me why I am doing that. Says that it can be reused.

Look at it, it's a mess inside. Offer it to her.

Turns it inside out and starts washing it. Probably spends more in soap and water cleaning it that a new one costs, but wasn't looking to prolong the incident.

Later am throwing away the plastic wrap around the newspaper (was raining in the morning) and I get the same shout. Get a lecture that there are a hundred uses for it.

"Like peanut butter and jelly?" I ask.

Wife isn't amused and I'm in the dog house tonight

No doubt about it. I'm a "dumb, clueless guy" (and in this instance, damn proud of being labled so) because for the life of me, I cannot understand why anyone would pay $80,000 for a hand bag (

LINK). House cost less than that when I bought it!

Women start comparing hand bags and husbands - guys, you know it's time to find another partner.

Got to hand it to Mayor Ken.

LINK) I'm a fan! Didn't think there was a politician out there with any financial sense (still searching for one in the good old USA) or one willing to call a spade a spade.

Just feel bad that he won't be re-elected.

Being a top executive doesn't exempt you from being an idiot. Some Chief Financial Officer for a Swiss Insurance company spent $28,000 at a strip club (

LINK hint - if you have any policies with a swiss insurnace company, it's time to switch them and is suing because the bill is too much.

Spending $28,000 was stupid...not taking your lumps and filing a lawsuit was even more idiotic. Sure bet the company is going to look kindly on that now that their name is being associated with strip clubs. Sure will do wonders for his future job prospects too.

Make a financial blunder, suck it up and learn. Oh, but then I keep forgetting. "It's somebody else's fault" is the American way.

Lives down the street. She's the one training her cat to go to the toilet and trying to convince my wife to do the same. Nice lady overall except when it comes to being frugal. Becomes the frugal gestapo then. You know the type. Cuts band-aids in half the long way so a single one can be used twice.

Came over yesterday and had a hissy cause my wife was throwing away an old bra. Proceeded to explain how the padding had lots of uses, the lace could be used for making this and that, the wires were still good and the hooks and latches could all be reused. Dismantles the whole thing on our kitchen table and when my wife didn't look enthusiastic enough, took everything home to use herself. Somebody else's used bra!

Some things are meant to be thrown away.

Silly me - I though that $70 for a free google email account was a stupid as a person could get, but when it comes to the "I must have the latest no matter the cost" the price will triple to $200 in a half day news edition (

LINK LINK 2). Only going to get worse. Have patience for a few months and pay nothing or fork over a few $100 today. Hey, its the Americal way.

I understand wanting to save money. That doesn't mean free license to do wierd things. Here's the concept. Save on kitty litter by toilet training you cat (

LINK). That's wierd, not frugal.

Forget to leave the lid up? Not a pretty site when you return from work. Boss is over for BBQ and has to wait in line behind the cat to use the toilet? Bye-bye promotion. There are enough household squables between husband and wife regarding toilet etiquette without bringing kitty into the scene.

Don't want to pay for cat litter? Open the door and let your cat outside.

Whoever came up with this idea had no faith in the money sensibilities of the American people. And guess what? He built himself a million dollar company (

LINK). Just goes to show that betting against people's financial common sense will make you a millionaire.

Take your change to the grocery store and put it into a machine. The machine hands you back bills and skims 18% off the top. Of course, you could walk 3 feet to the check out counter and not have to pay anything for the bills, but that would make too much sense. You have to remember that we're talking about people who pay a $1.00 for water that comes out of a tap at home.

If you have change and you want brand new bills for it, drop on by my house. I'll only skim 10% off the top. Pretty good deal!

Patience. Nobody has patience anymore. Have to have the latest gadget asap. No matter what the price. Google offers free email account and people start paying $70 for them (

LINK) Is it really a wonder that 80% of the people in the US are in debt?

What the ? Pringles - you know, those overall saturated fat potato thingies - is writing stuff on their potato chips now (

link). What's that? Potoato chip fortune cookies? and its printed in blue ink. Blue? Is there anything edible that is blue. The only food that is blue are those frozen pops you ate as a kid that looked eerily like the wiper fluid you put in the car. Sorry, I don't want to read my food. Anything for a buck

Worth millions, can't bear to take a loss of a few thousand dollars like us common folks have to and ruins her empire. How did she ever become the head of a company?

The title says it...they suck. Think about it. You lend them money so they can make more money and then they charge you fees when you want your money back so they can make even more money. Crazy. Nothing more to say. They just plain suck.