Best posts made by zerenia

I can feel my arteries sealing shut just looking at the book covers…

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@yoregano said in Nutella Chocolate Hazelnut Spread 35.2 Oz $6.63 @Amazon In stock on September 17:

Anyone know how this price compares to Costco?

2 for $14, slightly smaller jar.

Costco

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@angryeyebrows said in Amazon First Reads September-Prime Members Choose a Free Kindle Book from Select Titles- claim by 10/1:

https://www.amazon.com/firstreads?tag=phtwllt-20

Prime Reading has become chick-lit and kiddie books. Not a good non-chick book in many months. Not even a bad one, really.

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@dionaea said in Router suggestions:

Yes, I know someone is going to complain this is in the wrong group, but I don’t know where else to put it. I’m looking for suggestions for a really good dependable router for our Headquarters with a cost of no more than $70 from Staples or Office Depot/Max where I have Rewards. We’re getting 300/300 fiber optic internet connection along with a phone line with unlimited in-USA calling. Use will be from September 22 through November 2 during 3 days a week for about 8 hours a day by one person using an up-to-date laptop. At times there may be 2 to 10 people (yes, we’ll be using every safety precaution) in various rooms accessing the net with a small laptop or tablet or cell phone for a few hours. We’re looking for one that we can keep up to date and use for a few months each year for the next 4 or 5 years. Suggestions and advice, please.

Won’t the ISP rent one to you for $5 per month? You are likely going to have a tough time finding something “good” that fits your budget because with the increased number of people working from home, stock on the less expensive devices has been depleted.

You could try to grab [link text] https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/506395/TP-Link-80211ac-Gigabit-Wireless-Gateway/(link url) while it’s still on sale. If you can go up to $100, you get a lot more options.

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@studentsavings As a College student, you have insane access to news through your College library. Ask a librarian for help.

After that, you can get access to news sources that ought to be quite varied for free by using your local public library.

Disclaimer - I was an IT Director for a public College in Florida for 13 years.

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@studentsavings

1. Do your own Finance homework. Just kidding…
2. There is not always value in having money now. There are variables to consider, such as inflation, opportunity cost, risk-free return, expected return. If I offered you $2,000 today, or $2,200 one year from now, which option would you choose? Depends on what utility you can get from that $2K today and if you can do better than 10% interest per year. 3. On the other hand, if you are broke and need to buy food now, $2,200 a year from now is meaningless. You would take the $2K now.

You can’t abstract the concept from real world application. Time value of money is a concept that allows you to compare alternate scenarios. For example, is it worth paying more points for a mortgage to get a lower interest rate?

What business leverages the time value of money? Any business offering zero percent financing. It is conceivably less expensive overall (discounted cash flows) to pay interest on a loan and get a discounted purchase price than it is to pay a higher purchase price at zero percent interest.

And that’s another part of the analysis. You have to look at the present value of future cash flows to do a complete analysis.

Some bond prices are based on the expected future value of the bond. Some bonds are priced below face value and pay their full face value at maturity. The difference between the purchase and redemption prices is the interest earned on the bond. Bond traders use this fact to sell bonds at a value higher than their face value when the interest rate on the bond is greater than the current risk-free market interest rate. Same concept as time value of money.

I knew that MBA would come in handy someday…

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I have to jump in here. This discussion is based on a headline that @studentsavings saw. Can we get a link to the story? I would like to know how the increased rate was calculated? Was is based on a survey, or filing of fictions names, or incorporation papers, or what? Hard to really try to understand the statistic without knowing the composition of that statistic.

@studentsavings - can you share a link to the story?

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@KohlsPowrShopper - thank you!

@studentsavings - looks like applications for EINs are the statistic. Without thinking too hard, that statistic is probably OK, but not 100% reliable. People can apply for an EIN but never actually start a business. I have heard that sole proprietors applying for bankruptcy need to establish an EIN, and that would be a very disheartening reason for a jump in EIN applications (IRS Info - https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/do-you-need-a-new-ein). Nevertheless, let’s suppose that the statistic is good enough for this discussion.

What is interesting to me is that people with EINs may not need them. My wife is a sub-S corporation and uses her SSN as her EIN, for example.

So, if people are applying for tax id numbers in relation to opening businesses, then what’s driving them to compete with Amazon and WalMart? Amazingly, even thought I love shopping at Amazon and will hit Walmart for some items, neither has an Italian Bakery I like. My local supermarket and the gourmet grocery don’t have a good Italian bakery section either, but guess who DOES have a great Italian bakery? My local pizzeria - the owner is actually a pastry chef who makes out-of-this-world great pastries, but also makes pizzas and other Italian food. I think he drives business to his pastry offerings when people pick up take-out food. My point is that Amazon and Walmart, so far, can’t be everything to everyone. There are a lot of service-based businesses that Amazon and Walmart haven’t touched, so that leaves the field open for others.

Here’s my unscientific thought - people believe they have the next great idea or they can do something better than others. See the stories above about the baker and the bookseller. Someone else closed so they decided to try and capture the abandoned customer base. I think this is risky as if the existing provider failed, what makes someone think they can do a better job unless they have a unique offering that people actually are willing to pay for, or they lead with low price for the market? I’m not sure how to get the statistics, but I would like to know from all of the new EINs issued, how many actually started businesses, and how many were still in business one year later? What’s the bike mechanic going to do when the streets are covered with snow and it’s way too cold to go bike riding?

Where I’m going with all of this is that people are optimistically starting businesses because they have been thrust into an unemployment situation with little hope of re-employment, at least in the near term. Some are brave or creative, or both, and dive into starting a business because they have little to lose by doing so. The question to ask is if these same people would have started businesses if they had not lost their jobs, and my feeling is that they would not have done so. If they were very confident in their uniqueness or ability to capture a piece of a market, why didn’t they start their businesses as a side hustle when they were still employed? Perhaps there was too much competition or a saturated market? If that was true, then the business closings tell me that there were too many providers in the markets and they were hanging on by a thread, or going further and further into debt to keep their businesses afloat. The business closings were a natural reaction to the weakly financed enterprises facing reduced customer demand, and if that’s true, then new entrants, if not strongly financed, face the same fate.

In short, optimism coupled with low risk is driving the EIN applications. I want to think so, anyway, and pray it’s not bankruptcies driving the EIN applications…

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@ctgolfer said in FREE Built Bars 6-Bar Mixed Box:

@zerenia said in FREE Built Bars 6-Bar Mixed Box:

Got mine yesterday. Packed one in my briefcase this morning along with my thermal coffee mug but they got too close to each other and the chocolate coating on the bar melted. I tried to eat it anyway but it was like eating a tube of jello. Let’s try this again tomorrow…

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Should have cooled off the bar in the fridge or something like that. Chocolate would have solidified.

Threw them all in the fridge. Today’s Coconut Almond bar was much better. The center was more chewy and less gellatinous.

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Chick lit and kiddie books again…

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@ctgolfer Thanks for the offer. I’m a hard science fiction fan. Lots of options on Amazon, but most are “Book 1 of N” and have cliffhangers at the end of the book, which leaves me less than satisfied. I also read business-related books, but not anything specific. Recent books, to give you an idea, were Deviate by Beau Lotto, and Money by Jacob Goldstein. Oh, and physics works like from Marcus Chown and Michio Kaku. Sort of eclectic…

Nothing wrong with chick lit or kid’s books, but just not my “cup of tea.”

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@mrvietnam said in Free Samsung TV Plus (160 Channels) Available for free on 2016 – 2020 Samsung Smart TVs and Galaxy devices S9, S10, S20, Note9, Note 10, Note 20, Z Fold, Galaxy Fold, Z Flip w/app:

Too bad app not available on ios for iphone owners.

Um… Samsung devices. APPLE makes the iPhone.

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Using the MyNoise app for free. Has a binaural beats generator available so you can alpha/beta/delta yourself silly.

Also available via web at mynoise.net.

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@angryeyebrows said in Amazon First Reads May- Prime Members Choose 1 Kindle Edition from Select Titles-Claim by 6/1:

https://www.amazon.com/firstreads?tag=phtwllt-20

Sorry Z, standard offerings

Yep. I like how they try to use different categories. “Domestic thriller” was particularly creative……

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@ctgolfer Bought one a couple of years ago when on sale. Works great, easy to clean. Very satisfied customer!

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@ctujackbauer said in Get Two (2) Chick-Fil-A Peppermint Chip Milkshake Coupons - FREE - exp 12/13/21:

Got one of mine in the mail today (USPS Informed Delivery said I should have gotten two…)

Should be addressed from “The Whoopsery”

The coupon has a scan code on the back so you can present the card to the cashier, or you can add it to the Chick Fil A app and then redeem it. The coupon expires 12/31/2021.

Got both of them, about a week apart. Gave them away - I won’t do business at Chick-Fil-A but folks at work eat there all the time.

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@dangeruss said in US Government Treasury Security I Bonds paying 7.12% Interest:

@hbg1 said in US Government Treasury Security I Bonds paying 7.12% Interest:

@dangeruss said in US Government Treasury Security I Bonds paying 7.12% Interest:

@ctgolfer How do you buy the bonds? Only through treasurydirect? How old do you need to be to be able to buy the bonds?

This may not be the answer to what you were asking, but you can buy these as a gift for a minor and I believe it would count against their limit.
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/research/indepth/ibonds/res_ibonds_ifaq.htm

Is there any tax liability? How would that work for a minor?

Not trying to be mean, but there is a ton of info at the government site. Tax considerations:

https://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/research/indepth/ibonds/res_ibonds_itaxconsider.htm

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@rony-cras4 Ulta and Sally Beauty. Sometimes WalMart. Depends on what brands you are looking for.

Sally Beauty Generic products are a close match to the “name brand” products they are designed to mimic.

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Just to update - ended up booking through Costco. I know that using a 3rd-party can be a problem, but taking the chance anyway. Best price by about $50 and I don’t have to prepay and can cancel anytime. If I keep watching the prices I may be able to get a better deal.

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Maybe this will help? Looks like it’s native to the Database Explorer:

https://developers.sap.com/tutorials/hana-dbx-export-import.html

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Darn - I thought this was going to be an Adult book…

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Eros

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The parade of mostly chick-lit continues…

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@my4mainecoons said in Is digital better than POTS?:

@mtnagel I knew I was “special” 😁 but I use email more than a phone so not quite that demographic.
I had a flip phone for many years. Then I changed jobs and over 50% of my hour long commute had spotty if any cell service. I went off the road once and there was no service. A snowplow driver radioed for a tow truck.

BUT, should I keep my POTS or switch to a digital line?

@my4mainecoons Pro and cons to switching. Biggest concern for me is if my internet connection goes out, I have no phone. If you really don’t have a cell phone, then you would be putting all of your voice communication on your internet line. Same thing with your alarm system if you have one, unless the alarm system is on a cellular connection.

Cheaper to be on internet phone and what tech support will do is install an adapter to convert the internet phone signal so that your “legacy” phone equipment can use the internet phone signal. Disclaimer - I used to be a network engineer and did my share of conversion of legacy/digital to IP/internet phone systems.

What I do is I use a product called Ooma. It lets me use my internet connection to make phone calls and I believe you can move your existing phone number to Ooma, but best to check with them. Service costs about $5 per month without any of their “premium” features which I don’t need, so compare the features and cost to what your fiber provider is offering. You would have to buy the Ooma equipment, but it’s relatively inexpensive and I made my money back in about four months and have been ahead ever since. Ooma makes a base that connects to your router with an ethernet cable, and another model that connects wirelessly. I do have a cell phone, but you could buy a prepaid phone with 100 minutes relatively inexpensively and use that when your internet phone is not working, especially if you have an emergency and your internet phone is not available.

Ooma is less expensive on Amazon than it is on the Ooma website. I bought on Amazon.

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@AngryEyebrows - not getting the games for free on the days they are posted. Usually get them free a day later. I’m in Florida, so EST as opposed to PST.

Anyway, another freebee until today at 11am PST - Kill Knight. I know, short time window, but I just found it.

https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/kill-knight-e981b3

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