Anonymous Mess

Non-financial blog post wondering: Any fanfolk skitter past this blog? I have been around lo, these many and many years, so I remember pre-Internet, pre-Google, when fandom was scarce and difficult and derided. E! didn't always cover the San Diego Comic Con, y'all. Our need to find like minds to obsess with us over our fringe passions helped build the Internet, and the Internet helped make our obsessions mainstream. But mainstream isn't universal, not for any obsession, and so there's still a majority, "outside" world that's, at best, kindly uninterested. I have sort of an ill-footing boot in each world. I have tremendous affection for the various alternate realities I fan for; I think the energy of Cons can be fantastic; I'm in awe of your bad cosplay self and the talent and ingenuity you bring to your creations; I find forums let me appreciate these realities anew by bringing into focus the details and connections I somehow missed; and sometimes...

So, in the last two months, we've paid down over $4,000 in credit card debt. Check it out! -- Creditor Interest Rate Owed Amazon Store 26.49% -731.24 JetBlue 22.24% -333.82 Chase Visa 22.24% 0.00 Chase Amazon Prime 18.99% 0.00 Barnes and Noble 16.24% 0.86 Chase Slate 13.74% 0.00 Chase Freedom 12.74% -454.26 CU Signature Visa 2 11.24% -18.85 Bank A Signature Visa 11.15% 0.00 HELOC 8.50% -87,190.28 CU Signature Visa 1 8.40% -762.99 Car loan 2.90% -44,762.00 Bank A Balance Transfer 0.00% -5,929.57 BankAmericard Platinum 0.00% 0.00 BestBuy 0.00% -44.20 Citi Diamond Preferred 0.00% -0.00 CreditFirst (Firestone) 0.00% -75.38 Lowe's 0.00% 62.52 Total CC Debt -8,286.93 All Debt -140,239.21 Yay us! Oh, and also (cough, cough), we added almost $45,000 in vehicle debt. Sigh. We haven't completely lost our minds. The interest-charging credit cards are being used for convenience and points, and are paid off at the end of the month. The focus for the res...

Or that's what I'm calling it, anyway.  Because EVs do indeed zoom. Yes, we financed a new car, a thing I thought I would never do. But the cost of interest over the next five years -- the life of the loan -- is less than a third of what we've spent on gas in the last five years.  Even after we factor in the cost of charging the vehicle, estimated electricity cost + interest is less than half of gas spending in the last five years. Maintenance/repairs would go down anyway with a new car -- but without a gas engine, we shouldn't have to maintain anything but the brakes and tires over the first five years. (And with regenerative braking, even the brakes get less use, and thus less-frequent replacements, than with a gas engine.) Our battery is covered for life -- so long as we own the car, they'll replace the battery if there are issues, including just age. Overall, with the tax incentives, I believe we're paying about what we'd pay for a certified pre-ow...