Saving money.

[dolphins4life]

My big expense right now is gas.  Especially with the emotional pain I'm in right now. The only thing I can do to soothe it is to drive.  Gas prices keep going up.       

[Spider-Dan]

True story? No, it's a LIE.

Good catch, detective.

edit:  OK, I realize that sometimes sarcasm doesn't come across in text (although you probably should have read my entire post).  Let's see if this makes my actual position clear...

[Spider-Dan]

I have already decided I will never buy a house.  I don't want any kids, so it would not be worth having a house.

I don't understand what those two things have to do with one another.

I don't have any kids, but I hate moving and I wanted to have more freedom in how I customize my home, so I bought a house.

I don't see anything that I will need to buy in the future that will require me to have a credit card, but if I get cash back it might be worth getting one.

Do you drive?
If so, do you pay cash for your cars?

Most Americans are affected in some way or another by their credit rating.

[fyo]

Good catch, detective.

edit:  OK, I realize that sometimes sarcasm doesn't come across in text (although you probably should have read my entire post).  Let's see if this makes my actual position clear...

With regards to your fancy illustration, you could make a similar one with the three examples I provided. Still doesn't make them the same crime.

I get that you have a problem with people who argue that piracy shouldn't be illegal, that the losses aren't "real", that it is victimless etc. That's not what I'm arguing against here.

Your claim that sharing Netflix accounts is theft. Well, that's MORONIC. Not only is sharing of accounts not actually ILLEGAL (generally, anyway), it doesn't even appear to violate Netflix' terms of service. In fact, Netflix EXPLICITLY allowed this behavior (as stated in their FAQ) at one point (although, as pointed out earlier, I cannot confirm that this is still the case).

In other words, the "piracy is theft" argument has absolutely NO bearing on the issue here.

[Spider-Dan]

Your claim that sharing Netflix accounts is theft. Well, that's MORONIC.

I agree wholeheartedly: it is MORONIC to refer to particular actions as "theft" when they are, in fact, not theft, and not even close to theft.

But perhaps we should move this to a different thread, if you would like to discuss this tangent in more detail.

edit:

I get that you have a problem with people who argue that piracy shouldn't be illegal, that the losses aren't "real", that it is victimless etc. That's not what I'm arguing against here.

Do you actually understand my position?  Because I don't think you do.

Again, you might want to read the entirety of my first post to this thread before we create a new one.

[dolphins4life]

I don't understand what those two things have to do with one another.

I don't have any kids, but I hate moving and I wanted to have more freedom in how I customize my home, so I bought a house.
Do you drive?
If so, do you pay cash for your cars?

Most Americans are affected in some way or another by their credit rating.

I'm lucky in that I come from a wealthy family so I have two cars at my disposal right now.  When they wear out, I should have enough to buy the next one straight cash.

[Brian Fein]

Dude, don't resist a credit card.  Its not a bad thing. 

Are you going to live with your parents forever?  Or throw your money away on rent?  Eventually you'll want to move I assume, house, condo, townhome, you need credit. 

And, as stated above, I'm not sure what the want or lack of want for children has anything to do with buying a home.

What if you have to buy an airline ticket for an emergency and don't have disposable cash lying around?  Or you have to do a $700 repair on your car?  Or need new tires?  Whatever a rainy day might bring. 

A credit card is a necessity these days, and if you keep your limits small (under $1000) you can benefit greatly from not carrying a balance and using them to pay for your oodles of gas, and just paying off the bill.  Spend cash one time per month, not five times per day.

My 2 cents...

[Spider-Dan]

A credit card is a necessity these days, and if you keep your limits small (under $1000) you can benefit greatly from not carrying a balance and using them to pay for your oodles of gas, and just paying off the bill.  Spend cash one time per month, not five times per day.

Actually, as I explained before, your best bet (from a credit rating perspective) is to have a few high-limit credit cards that you pay off in full month-to-month.  This is the best way to maximize your debt-to-credit ratio.

[SportsChick]

not to mention car rentals, hotel stays etc.

Even trips like cruises put a huge hold on debit cards vs. credit cards for onboard accounts.

[Brian Fein]

Actually, as I explained before, your best bet (from a credit rating perspective) is to have a few high-limit credit cards that you pay off in full month-to-month.  This is the best way to maximize your debt-to-credit ratio.

Yes, you're right, but if he's worried about getting himself into debt, and spending money he doesn't have, a $500 limit is easier to control than a $18,000 limit. 

[tubba marxxx]

No matter what I seem to do I always live paycheck to paycheck.  I can never ever save money.   Good luck to you though

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

- cancelled Netflix - My parents live across the street, so I can use their account.  (Savings - $10/month)

Don't forget about the public libary.  I borrow movies from them for free.  Granted it is hard to get ones released last month, but I would have no problem getting every one of the 2010 Oscar winners/nominees if I wanted to watch them.  And in most cases it doesn't matter if the libary is real small, as most are now on a network in which you can request books/movies from every libary in the county and they will deliver it to your local one.  My annual book budget is almost nil as well. 

[Dave Gray]

So, I bought a modem.  I haven't made time to put it together.  A friend of mine said something about calling Comcast and giving them a MAC address or something so that they can communicate.  I figured it was just plug and go.

Can anyone who's made this switch confirm what they did?

[SportsChick]

Brian had to call Comcast to get it up and running and then we returned the rented one. It was easy to do as far as I know

[Brian Fein]

yes, true story.  you have to call them to "activate" your new modem.  Its pretty painless, a 5-10 minute pohone call saves you $7 a month forever.