You have to give him credit

[JOhn Galt]

I mentioned to a friend some time ago how I liked to take full advantgae of all the -0- % money that's
offered by the credit card companies. He runs a small
business and was already maxing out his rebates
and gift points by running virtually all company purchases through the appropriate credit cards.
This even includes purchases of stock or inventory,
as well as the usual supplies and travel and sometimes
on "balance transfers" also, as has been discussed
on this forum. The result is
huge benefits coming back to him. Now, he is also
taking my advice and maxing out his -0- % cards,
reinvesting the money and pocketing the difference.
Plus, he coordinates the due dates somehow between
the various cards in order to get himself an extra 10 days or so before paying. It sounds like work but the
potential is significant. I told him I was proud of him

JG

 

[BUM]

Jon

I'm sure you also advised him that the tightrope he's walking could become a noose if he overcommits then has a cash flow hiccup or suddenly his management attention is needed elsewhere.

I ran lots of big ticket corporate purchases thru my freakin' flyer cards. Now I have a bazillion miles and DW is talking motorhome.

BUM :

 

[Beachbumz]

About the only thing I miss from by small business is the frequent flyer miles .

Beachbumz

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Given how much fun it is to go through an airport these days, I dont miss flying at all.

Considering I few so many miles through my life that I almost feel qualified to fly the dang planes myself though, it may be that I'm just burned out.

When the flight attendants on at least 3 airlines all know you by name, its time to hang up your wings.

 

[BigMoneyJim]

Considering I few so many miles through my life that I almost feel qualified to fly the dang planes myself though, it may be that I'm just burned out.

They mostly fly themselves these days. The pilots are for show and for handling contingincies. Okay, they do more than that, but I'm pretty sure the smooth landings are done by the avionics and the rough ones are pilots practicing.

Before 9/11 I had the opportunity to ride in the cockpit of a DC10 flight. I've been around planes my whole life, but it was a neat show nonetheless. The flight crew were called up and weren't a crew that had worked together before, there was a problem with the flight plan, there was a question about the fuel load, they had to reroute around a storm, the master alarm went off on final approach (fuel pump breaker popped), and the copilot took over while the captain scooted back and went over the contingency procedure manual with the flight engineer to decide whether the proper procedure was to leave the breaker off or turn it back on. (Loss of redundancy versus possible fire risk.)

However when they weren't handling continginces they just dialed in the altitude, heading and speed on the autopilot and it handled everything quite smoothly.

Whoops...I guess I threadjacked. Back to your normal topic....

I've been irresponsible too many times and got dinged on credit card penalties, so I'm mostly avoiding the 0% temptation for now. But I did buy my HDTV at 0% and every few days I fret and fret over whether to pay it off now or let it ride a few months.

For the past 3 or 4 years I've been tossing every credit card offer in the trash unread, but since I'm out of debt I'm considering replacing one of my cards, so I'm reading a lot of them. It usually ends with me yelling "holy crap!" at one of the terms and shoving it quickly in the trash. Today's was a 0% transfer offer until 2006 and then 6 or 7% APR. I had trouble finding the truth-in-lending statement, but when I finally did it showed the teeth: penalty APR of over 28%!!! Given my late pay history I want a fixed rate card in the 7-12% range with small penalty fees. (I already have one like that, so I'm not actively looking for another; just glancing whenever it's convenient.)

 

[REWahoo]

They mostly fly themselves these days. The pilots are for show and for handling contingincies.

So true. They are just highly paid emergency devices.

Flying for a commercial carrier has to be one of the most boring jobs in existence. Not to mention hell on family life.

I flew for 8 years in the military and walked away from it even though the airlines were hiring. I don't regret it as two of my buddies went that route and ended up without jobs a few years later as both their carriers went bankrupt (Remember Eastern and Braniff?)

But I did end up with a bunch of good stories to bore my grandchildren with.

(Ooops! Sorry arrete. "...with which to bore my grandchildren.")

REW

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I've taken good advantage of the home depot 'no interest/no payment for a year' deals. I'm still carrying the materials for the wifes house work and should be able to keep those interest free until after we close on the house. Also a stainless steel grill that I felt was absolutely critical to my well being and is 'free' until September.

I used to be practically "in the cockpit" in the old corporate jets I used to ride in 3-5 times a week. No cockpit door and I always got the front seat with all the legroom. When we passed the donuts around I could stick the box into either the pilot or co-pilots area of purview easily.

One day we had an absolutely awful storm going on during the usual flight from the south bay up to sacramento. I like roller coasters a LOT and even I was getting a little green. There was too much turbulence on the first pass at landing so we had to 'go around again', much to everyones chagrin. Just before the wheels hit on the second pass, a gust of wind hit the plane sideways and we blew about 20 feet off the runway. I expected them to pull up and go around again. Instead they swerved hard to the right, the right wheels hit and bounced, the plane rocked back and forth, slammed down on the runway, and after a few more entertaining moments we made it to the terminal area. I looked at the prim and proper manager next to me who, hair askew, blubbered "I dont care if they fire me, i'm never flying on this f---ing thing again!". As we pulled in, the two pilots stood up and before they turned around I said "You guys probably get those tough landings all the time, right?". They turned around pale and one said "No way, I was pretty sure we were gonna f---ing die for a minute there!".

Like I said, I dont miss flying.

What the hell was this thread about again?

TH, who never saw a thread he didnt want to hijack...

 

[REWahoo]

the two pilots stood up and before they turned around I said "You guys probably get those tough landings all the time, right?". They turned around pale and one said "No way, I was pretty sure we were gonna f---ing die for a minute there!".

Yep TH, a great example of the kind of stuff my grandkids will be hearing from me...expletives deleted, of course.

Those kind of landings were the type we measured using what was called the "pucker factor". If it was a really hairy one, when you got out of the cockpit seat the seat cushion came with you...

REW