The Thailand expat forum for Travel, Lifestyle and Fun.

man with no head

In fact I just spent some free time today adjusting the time and valve lash to get some more performance out of it to increase mileage even more (I use a vacuum gauge to monitor my driving...the higher the vacuum, the better the efficiency). Usually I keep it in the 15-20in/Hg range which allows maximum mileage. I find that in most vehicles I can better the EPA estimate (which, sadly, tends to be as high as 30% over the actual mileage on many vehicles). The key is avoiding jack-rabbit starts and sudden braking.

Marmite the Dog

I think it's because you're in touch with your feminine side.

man with no head

Sales at American automakers crashing as gasoline increases.

Fewer Americans are keeping on truckin' - The Driver's Seat - MSNBC.com

'bout time something came along to affect America's driving habits. Now if only the government would do the right thing and tax gasoline even higher to the levels of Europe it might get people to stop wasting it. Perhaps if we cut back by a few million barrels per day the price of oil just might go down as well.

Milkman

Entire & Link: American Debt: Escaping the Credit-Card Quagmire - Newsweek Business - MSNBC.com

man with no head

Was just going to post that...more proof that the recent 'economic growth' is being fueled by debt and not real income.

$90 billion a year being sucked out of the economy by interest and penalties....thank God I have no debt.

Milkman

What I find strange about the numbers of the U.S. economy is this:

1. Wages are down every year, for the last 6 years. For everyone.

But property values has risen dramatically (interest rates, speculation, conversions, flipping, etc.)

2. Debt is at an all-time high.


Health care costs, taxes, and other 'fixed costs' have risen.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

_____________

man with no head

Oil and property. All pure speculation that's driving prices up for no good reason.

Gosh, I'd hate to have an ARM and have the real estate bubble pop. My parents got eaten for lunch and dinner when this happened back in the 1980s.

Storekeeper

I guess I'm blind about what's really going on in the US since I'm surrounded mostly by success stories. People who have done quite well in mutual and stock funds as well as being smart enough to lock in, or refinance to lower mortgage rates.

I will admit that I'm flabbergasted when I see people retiring at 30 years with $500+ a month car payments on new vehicles.

__________________
"England forever; the USA one day longer"
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Milkman

Sure, there are some people who are doing smart things. Remember that most mutual funds are poor, and only seasoned investors should go into and out of stock.

Refinancing a mortgage is good. But the most important thing is the positive cash flow, IMO.

People in Kitsap have 1 owner-occupied house. But they claim they can't get the second house. Maybe this is true. Maybe not.

I know some success stories, too. But it's by people that own multiple dirt (raw land) and multiple single housing units and apartments.

man with no head

Obviously if someone has good cash flow then they won't be behind in their CC payments will they?

Milkman

I believe that people that use CCs are at the lower end of the spectrum.

People that earn 100% of their income from the W-2 (employee status) jobs often have non-morgage consumer debt.

Car payment, mobile phone contracts, and Credit cards.


The few success stories I know of are people that bought and were able to get Capitalization Rates for positive cash flow quickly, or immeidately.

This is what separate the financially secure, and future financially secure, from 90% of the U.S. population that is:

living in owner-occupied housing.
has consumer debt
a 401K
mutual funds
will depend on the financial markets and welfare when they are old

Mutual funds are for people who basically don't know what they are doing. The recent reports for the last 20 years are absolutely awful. I have 11 funds that I've carefully chosen. But mutual funds are a poor man's game.

Storekeeper

Mutual funds for guys like you and me then Snaffie are a waste of time. I told you before I'm bailing out ... I don't need them anyway. The only good thing, as it turns out, is that I've put enough in them to get me the deposit on a marriage visa and build a house. Mutual funds are a pain in the ass anyway. And unless you get lucky they produce chump change for us poor men.

man with no head

So, you have the same idea as me? Leverage the strong U.S. dollar to give you a huge return by 'investing' it somewhere where the per capita income is very low?

MM, I believe more than just poor get stuck on credit card debt. My parents' combined income when I was in high school (1980s) was at least $80,000 per year. Yet, they had no money and a huge load of CC debt because it was simply too easy to buy things they really couldn't afford by charging it. Somehow the ability to use a piece of plastic takes away the real feeling that money is being spent.

I don't have a single CC and I really don't plan to. That way when I spend money I see the physical money being spent and it makes me very thrifty (only thing I really ever pay by check for is my rent or things that require large payments such as computer purchases).

Storekeeper

I don't know what the fuck I'm talkin' about surasak ... I just wanna take a break and go hide in some remote province for a spell.

man with no head

Get away from it all? It does have benefits. Relaxed easy lifestyle.

Imagine the leverage you get from converting $1 to 38-40 baht.

I hate coming back to the U.S. facing the fact that a simple meal at McFatty's is easily almost $10 for the two of us. To eat in Bangkok is less than $3.

Man, the best time I ever had was drinking beer on the beach of Koh Phi Phi. That was paradise and I'll do anything to get it back.

Sanuk Canuk

I have been getting 10-12% return on most of my funds for years, thats plenty for me. Considering that there is absolutely no effort required this is not a bad return. Most other investments require significant time and energy, I don't have the time to get involved in business ventures when I am working full time.

Maybe this will change in the future but who knows. It is possible that my funds will go tits up someday but I am pretty well diversified and anything other than a global recession shouldn't hurt me too much. Currently I am over exposed to the Canadian economy but I will rectify that when my house sells and I move my non-RRSP investments offshore.

On the other hand if you have under $100k invested in mutual funds the returns will not be that significant and it will take many years before they grow to the point that they will support you. Opening a small business will return much more $ if it is successful but in most cases to make them successful you have to work your ass off.

Milkman

^ True SC.

You are doing well. My funds have been producing some decent returns because I chose them carefully. But you're right, having 100K and getting say 6% return (-3% inflation) is a real return of 3%, which is $30,000 per year.

Many funds can produce more than 6% (as in your case) if chosen carefully.

Sanuk Canuk

Pretty sure you meant $3,000.

man with no head

Yeah, I want some of those 30% funds too!

Milkman