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Prices.... Going Up!!!

Keep an eye on diesel prices. If diesel goes up, everything else will too because everything is delivered to stores by diesel trucks. Don't think for one second that natural gas/propane is going to replace diesel fuel any time soon, let alone electric semis. That's an extremely long way off. The ability to convert a diesel engine to run on NG and propane has been around for many years and very few CMVs have been converted to date. The electric truck has so far proven to be completely unreliable. So, the price of diesel remains a reliable indicator and will be for the foreseeable future.

Also, Cape Cod is one outrageously expensive places to live. Home owners are billionaires. The rest of us share apartments or rented houses with other people. I have 3 roommates in the rehabbed house I live in which one of my roommates made liveable again. He did a great job, but isn't quite finished. So, the 4 of us are paying $800 EACH every month. Yes, that's $3200 plus utilities. It's quite ridiculous.
 
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krautmaster said:
The price of utilities is going insane everywhere ! My water bill has doubled in the last 6 years (now almost $90) and natural gas prices fluctuate all over the place. My gas is on a balanced plan where they adjust the price every year based on past usage: one year it was $35 a month, the next $60, then $85, currently $53..who knows what it will be next year...

We just had 15 solar panels installed on the SSW facing section of our roof for several reasons, we are awaiting final inspection before they can be turned on and then I can tell the power company to piss off:
(1) The power company has been charging me $30 to $45 a month for NOT having solar, billed as "renewable and non-renewable fuel adjustment cost" and "renewable energy rider". They are even charging us a fee to recover the cost of shutting down a coal fired power plant.
(2) The state of NM gives back a flat 10% tax credit on the cost of the system in one lump sum.
(3) The Feds are giving a 30% tax credit on the cost of the system until 2032 (you can only claim up to the amount of your tax liability for any year, and have 5 years to recoup the entire 30% - I will have to do it over two years). Anyway 40% off the total isn't a bad deal at all...
(4) The loan payback is less than my current monthly bill and will only go more in my favor as the power company continues to raise their prices.
(5) The power thieves have consistently increased their rates nearly 10% every year to pay for "improvements". I would hate to see what they would do if they were not semi-regulated by the state corporation commission.
(6) The power company does not have enough feeder lines to route electricity back into the grid in many areas of ABQ, so there are "Red Zones" all over the city where you cannot install solar. There are only 9 or 10 more houses that can add solar in my neighborhood before it reaches max capacity and gets Red Zoned. I called the power company to make sure the salesman wasn't pulling a fast one, and he wasn't- he had said they had enough permits for 20 more houses. (He did try to up-sell a $3,000 electric panel upgrade to 200 amps, but my neighbor the electrician who also has solar panels told him flat out that my 150 amp box was more than enough).

With 15 panels I will be making 30% more electricity than I can ever conceivably use even if I turned everything on in the house all at once and installed a hot tub and central air conditioning. The most we have ever used is 1,150KW in one month, my system on average should make 1500 KW (we normally use 650 KW a month). I should only have to pay the $8 connection fee even in the hottest months of the year.
Click to expand...

I knew "they" would eventually figure out a way to charge us for not doing or not buying something.

I have a dumpster at my shop, and two years ago, I got a glossy, full color brochure with my statement proclaiming "A change to your bill"!!!
Like it was a good thing. In about 50 words it continued"...we've noticed you haven't yet signed up for paperless billing and auto bill pay...your bill will now reflect a $35 surcharge for you to continue to receive a paper bill...".

This was on what at the time was a $120 monthly service.

I was afraid if I signed up that it would be charte blance for them to raise the rate.

...and 2 months later, they did exactly that with no notice. Raised by $26.

...and last year they raised it by $46 without notice.


Color me absolutely PO'd, but what choice do I have?
 
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AND DOWN: USED VEHICLE PRICES CONTINUE HISTORIC DECLINE IN Q2/2024

USED DOWN CHART.JPG
(Source: Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index)

Year-over-Year, the index fell 14% in April. Prices fell in all major vehicle categories on a year-over-year basis, according to Mannheim on 8 May 2024. The average price decline, per vehicle category:

- Compact vehicles: -17.6%
- EV vehicles: -17.5%
- Midsize vehicles: -16.8%
- Pickups: -15.2%
- SUVs & Crossovers: -14.6%
- Luxury vehicles: -12.9%
 
harman/kardon said:
For some of us life will be almost or even actually totally unaffordable in the next years.

I will probably be broke in some 15 months.

But I got an exit strategy.
Click to expand...
Thankfully, Western Democracies by nature of origin have written into their social contracts obligations against this very thing. Affordability is a current crisis. It is also one that can be fixed.
 
Oerets said:
Full no foam is 32 oz or so.
A beer at a baseball park in the US is close to $15.
Much rather be drinking one pictured abov
Click to expand...
The last time I got to go to Oktoberfest was in 2003 and the liter mug was 10 Euro... The first time in 1986 it was 8 marks IIRC (about $3.50 at the time).
 
Latest news from the Oktoberfest.

There is now a line on the mug showing the correct measure which is absolutely mandatory to hand out the mugs.

Which means: 1 liter is now 1 liter. (Mostly).

The organizers say that there is no entrance fee. They have to pay the bands, they have to pay the erection of these huge beer tents and various else costs and everything of these expenses suffer from infaltion.

So folks have fun with your 15 Euro mugs, life is short and Oktoberfest is only once a year.

Prosit!

:beerchug:
 
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First week of September 2024, when one BTC cost $41G, I thought about purchasing one to see what might happen. Well, that $41G has more than doubled as of today, and this sucker might hit $100G per unit.

BTC.JPG
 
Mystic said:
First week of September 2024, when one BTC cost $41G, I thought about purchasing one to see what might happen. Well, that $41G has more than doubled as of today, and this sucker might hit $100G per unit.
Click to expand...
Until it craters again down below $40G and leaves suckers holding an empty bag! My old broker once told me Wall Street is a gambling den for rich folks who can afford (and not even miss) loosing $250K at a pop. Crypto is the same thing... Only gamble with what you won't miss. My retirement stuff is in index funds that have a guaranteed base level that they can't drop below.
 
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