Saving Money as Prices Increase

[jyoutz]

Where do you live, and what planet are you from? Just kidding, but I gather you don't drive I-90 from Boston to Wisconsin much.

The toll road I'm most familiar with runs non-stop from Chicago to Boston. Most of Northern Indiana, Ohio, a short part of Pennsylvania, and most of upstate NY is rural. It's about 940 miles of tolls between those two towns.

Also, I just drove through Oklahoma and I have to say, there's nothing urban about that toll road! MOOO! and that's about it.

I think toll roads are most prevalent in the northeast and there are some in my part of the country in Texas, and Colorado but those are all urban in Dallas, Houston, etc…, the same with Denver. The OK turnpike has been there for 50 years and is one of the few non-urban toll roads I’ve seen.

 

[MossRoad]

If I'm not mistaken, wasn't the Indiana Toll Road sold to a foreign company a few years ago? Now all the excess revenue (other than what is required for upkeep, maintenance and salaries), goes offshore to a foreign entity.... Correct me if I'm wrong Mossy...

No, it wasn't sold. It was leased for a bazilion years, for $4 billion dollars. Then instead of banking the $4B and using the interest for eternity, they spent $3.5B on highways in other parts of the state and only kept $500million.

As far as how much money the company that bought the lease makes per year, the first company that bought the lease went bankrupt and now it's leased to another company. Not sure how much they paid for the lease.

 

[5030]

When fuel prices get high enough, some hard choices will have to be made, like, gas or food or gas or the mortgage payment. It's coming too soon I suspect. My Exxon stock is doing real well I might add.

 

[Jstpssng]

One of the convenience store chains in the town I do business with charges ten cents/gallon less if you have a Citgo CC. I applied for one today which should get here sometime next week. Yet with gas >5$/gallon, it's still cheaper to use my card with 2% rewards.

 

[5030]

We parlay our grocery buys at Kroger for fuel points. Last month on the last day of the month, we had an 85 cent discount. Limit 45 gallons, diesel or gas but it's still less for me to buy contract off road presently. I'm contracted at 4 bucks a gallon., ORD.

Besides the fuel points, we get grocery vouchers. Not a bad deal.

 

[kenmac]

When fuel prices get high enough, some hard choices will have to be made, like, gas or food or gas or the mortgage payment. It's coming too soon I suspect. My Exxon stock is doing real well I might add.

I wonder just how many are living on CC debt ? When it's all said and done, I think we gonna see a lot of bankruptcies !

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

We are now using a credit card with rewards and cash back. We pay it off every month in full, so avoid interest.

Combine trips for shopping/ errands. Get gas at Costco while combining trips. Use the 40 mpg car vs the truck.

Saw the rewards / points at the Kroger grocery for buying diesel.

No eating out, except for occasional take out pizza or coupons for other restaurants.

Not buying those items that we didn't know we needed.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I wonder just how many are living on CC debt ? When it's all said and done, I think we gonna see a lot of bankruptcies !

There is a lot of light in that gloom. Anybody who bought a house before the bubble and locked in a 30 year 3% fixed is looking like a financial genius right now. They have dodged the severe housing inflation. House prices will go down, but interest will go up. Housing has been, "whatever the market will bear," for quite a while, but it wasn't always that way. From 2008 on it was a buyer's market, and a lot of people took advantage of that.

My advice? Buy an electric bicycle. You can use the motor on the uphill parts and still get a workout.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

The new bridge across the Columbia between Portland and Vancouver just got toll funding approval.

 

[5030]

My advice? Buy an electric bicycle. You can use the motor on the uphill parts and still get a workout.

No hills here.