Canesister's 2025 journal - Bushel & Peck Farm

[farmerjan]

Suggestion when you go to Lowes... if they have something scratch and dent .... that you can get ... apply for the credit card at the register... which they want you to do... you will get another $20 or something off... PLUS... if you use the credit card... you get 5% off the purchase price AFTER whatever you negotiate...

If you want... INSTEAD of getting the 5% off, if it is over $299 you can usually get 6 mos FREE FINANCING.... using the card... so you space out the payments for 6 months, leave your saving intact... You are using their money for 6 months for free.

This gives you flexibility, and you are operating off someone else's money... Unless you are not disciplined enough to not go crazy... you will make more money by using theirs than to take yours out of savings. The monthly payment will be less than $100 which often can be worked out of the budget without the end of the world.... and you have the cash stash for an emergency.... or a sudden appearance of the milking machine...

When I bought my freezer, on sale, $199 off, and then did 12 months free financing with the card... could have done 5% off total and paid in full the next month.... but the 5% off would have been "eaten up" if for some reason I didn't pay it off for 3 months.... so it was more sensible to let them finance me for free.. and knowing I did have some "emergency stash" to pay it off if I needed to...

You have to do what people with money do... make the money work for you..... and use someone else's money whenever you can...

My riding mower, I paid 1/2 down..... was thinking I was going to buy it outright... but they offered 1/2 of it 0% interest...... so for 12 months I have been paying $192/ mo.... interest free...using their money... and it will be paid off in 2 more months... I could swallow that payment without a big deal, got to use the mower, full warranty and all that... and kept that other $2500 back for an emergency... left it in my checking account since they are paying 5.5% interest on the average daily balance (up to $25,000) if I use my debit card 15 times a month for a total of $250.... There are 2 banks here that are offering something similar now to what my credit union has had.... You just use the debit card for everything to get the 15 times a month/$250 minimum which is not hard.... gas, groceries, and I split up my groc to do it more frequently on my way home from work and stuff... $10 or $20 worth of gas at a time, since I do travel frequently for work... and trips to the chiropractor... even have my internet service set up on the debit card to count for one of the times...
I was getting like .05 a month on the savings account... so moved it all to the checking and make $25 on every 5,000 average... sometimes there is not much in there... but even on $500 average that is $2.50... instead of .05......

What I am trying to say is that you have to make money work for you... someone else's money is even better... and that leaves a bigger average balance in the checking account to average out... You finagle and manipulate it for your own benefit. The nice thing with Lowe's, if you then need to spend another chunk of money, and go with the free financing... each one is listed separately and when they expire... so as long as you make the total payment due to cover the monthly different amounts financed.... it's 0 interest every month...
I think that it is a total $299 purchase for the free financing... that could be 10 things that cost 29 each... it was a total of $299 spent at one time....
Sometimes they offer different promotions... but it is a good card to have for situations that you might "need"... like the washer... Mine is strictly a Lowe's card... not like a regular visa or master card, cc.... I have several of them too....
5 years ago, I was lucky to be able to get the mtg on this house; I had gotten 2 cc's to be able to start rebuilding credit..3 years before that...I had been turned down several times in the past.... and learned FAST how to make these things work for me... and have worked hard to build it up and get regular credit limit increases now, just by paying on time, and paying them off monthly when I could... and the Lowe's cc really helped me get things for here and do things... Now I HATE to not pay them off monthly if they are going to accrue interest...another reason why I like the free financing on some of these cards/stores...

Hope you find a washer....Regardless of how you pay for it...

 

[fuzzi]

Suggestion when you go to Lowes... if they have something scratch and dent .... that you can get ... apply for the credit card at the register... which they want you to do... you will get another $20 or something off... PLUS... if you use the credit card... you get 5% off the purchase price AFTER whatever you negotiate...

If you want... INSTEAD of getting the 5% off, if it is over $299 you can usually get 6 mos FREE FINANCING.... using the card... so you space out the payments for 6 months, leave your saving intact... You are using their money for 6 months for free.

This gives you flexibility, and you are operating off someone else's money... Unless you are not disciplined enough to not go crazy... you will make more money by using theirs than to take yours out of savings. The monthly payment will be less than $100 which often can be worked out of the budget without the end of the world.... and you have the cash stash for an emergency.... or a sudden appearance of the milking machine...

When I bought my freezer, on sale, $199 off, and then did 12 months free financing with the card... could have done 5% off total and paid in full the next month.... but the 5% off would have been "eaten up" if for some reason I didn't pay it off for 3 months.... so it was more sensible to let them finance me for free.. and knowing I did have some "emergency stash" to pay it off if I needed to...

You have to do what people with money do... make the money work for you..... and use someone else's money whenever you can...

My riding mower, I paid 1/2 down..... was thinking I was going to buy it outright... but they offered 1/2 of it 0% interest...... so for 12 months I have been paying $192/ mo.... interest free...using their money... and it will be paid off in 2 more months... I could swallow that payment without a big deal, got to use the mower, full warranty and all that... and kept that other $2500 back for an emergency... left it in my checking account since they are paying 5.5% interest on the average daily balance (up to $25,000) if I use my debit card 15 times a month for a total of $250.... There are 2 banks here that are offering something similar now to what my credit union has had.... You just use the debit card for everything to get the 15 times a month/$250 minimum which is not hard.... gas, groceries, and I split up my groc to do it more frequently on my way home from work and stuff... $10 or $20 worth of gas at a time, since I do travel frequently for work... and trips to the chiropractor... even have my internet service set up on the debit card to count for one of the times...
I was getting like .05 a month on the savings account... so moved it all to the checking and make $25 on every 5,000 average... sometimes there is not much in there... but even on $500 average that is $2.50... instead of .05......

What I am trying to say is that you have to make money work for you... someone else's money is even better... and that leaves a bigger average balance in the checking account to average out... You finagle and manipulate it for your own benefit. The nice thing with Lowe's, if you then need to spend another chunk of money, and go with the free financing... each one is listed separately and when they expire... so as long as you make the total payment due to cover the monthly different amounts financed.... it's 0 interest every month...
I think that it is a total $299 purchase for the free financing... that could be 10 things that cost 29 each... it was a total of $299 spent at one time....
Sometimes they offer different promotions... but it is a good card to have for situations that you might "need"... like the washer... Mine is strictly a Lowe's card... not like a regular visa or master card, cc.... I have several of them too....
5 years ago, I was lucky to be able to get the mtg on this house; I had gotten 2 cc's to be able to start rebuilding credit..3 years before that...I had been turned down several times in the past.... and learned FAST how to make these things work for me... and have worked hard to build it up and get regular credit limit increases now, just by paying on time, and paying them off monthly when I could... and the Lowe's cc really helped me get things for here and do things... Now I HATE to not pay them off monthly if they are going to accrue interest...another reason why I like the free financing on some of these cards/stores...

Hope you find a washer....Regardless of how you pay for it...

That sounds really smart.

 

[Baymule]

I do business with Discount Tire. My truck tires went up, out of my pay cash range. I took out their credit card, bought 2, did 6 months no interest. Paid them off, $200 a month. Took a couple months “off” then got 2 more.

I use my Lowe’s card, 5% off plus I’m Ag exempt so no 8.25% sales tax. Pay the bill when it comes in, save 13.25%. I make small purchases to keep it manageable, instead of going in and grabbing all I need. So I keep a good stock of those pesky little things, deck screws are my favorite and I have them in all sizes. LOL

 

[Mini Horses]

Paypal does same, for interest free buys. It's a way to finance for free, so long as it's paid -- otherwise you get interest from day one But with planning and self control, it's great! Plus, not limited to one store and can use for some insurance or utility bills, etc. Yeah, I'm a user of interest free. Save where you can!

 

[canesisters]

That sounds really smart.

@farmerjan is super good at that stuff. I'm not.... which is part of why I'm meeting Carmen. She can negotiate where I'd be intimidated & she's good with financing.

 

[SageHill]

What @farmerjan said. Lots of places have scratch and dent. Our washer and dryer are LG - both were scratch and dents. So far -- 5 years later they are running great. Knock on wood.
Seeds -- I do some stuff from seed and some from buying the plants - 4 or 6 pack but those prices are going UP so there's more seeds here.

 

[murphysranch]

I get the 5% from my Lowes card and I sign up for any 5% for our Discover card. Its been 5% at Home D for this last quarter. It then switches to grocery stores on April 1st with 5% rebate.

 

[Mini Horses]

For the gardeners. Do yall mostly start from seeds or do you buy seedlings?

Some areas have a place that offers seedlings at decent prices. Here it's very limited, then selections may be also. I save seed. I buy seed. Whenever I can I start own seedlings -- always more than I need, some die so still enough. In ground from seed is favorite, weather permitting.

The $5 per plant type are not on my list to buy. I plant and hope for the best. Plenty of "barn gold" to fertilize -- savings there and home produced

A good garden depends on our nurturing but, the weather can destroy all your work. So I don't buy many plants -- my own starts can live or die as easily.

 

[farmerjan]

I get the 5% from my Lowes card and I sign up for any 5% for our Discover card. Its been 5% at Home D for this last quarter. It then switches to grocery stores on April 1st with 5% rebate.

My chase card has different discounts that you can elect... most run 30-90 days... and always 1.5% on EVERYTHING....plus extra if it is one of the "elected things"... if you don't use it, no big deal... I do make a "cheat sheet" and carry in my wallet so when I go someplace, I can decide which card to use...
Rural King offers 5% in store, 3% on gas and groc... I use that more and more, but then it takes time to separate out, what is "farm expenses"...
Capital One also has 1 or 1.5% on everything... they used to have the "Walmart" credit card... used to be 5% in store, then went to 3%... then stopped the "walmart" card... and the one in place is only 1%.... Going to get rid of it...
Shell offers a cc now with $.10 off per gallon... after 6 months of like $.20 off a gallon... I have a fuel rewards card so get .05 / gallon off anyway... shows up RIGHT on the pump.... so I am applying for the shell cc...it's a regular cc so could use it elsewhere... but will be great to use for just gas.
My American express offers 3% off on groc and 3% on gas... and after only 1 year of using and paying it they just doubled my credit limit... I nearly fell over when I got the notice in the last bill.... I used it mostly all the time for gas, at any station... but some grocery stores do not take it...

Like I said, you have to play the system.... even in small amounts... take advantage of the ways to make even small amounts of money, instead of paying them interest.

One other thing.. some of the credit cards like Capital One and American Express, now have online savings accounts... paying 4% interest... money available to transfer back into your own checking account...
What I have done now, is open a savings with them... and have the payment for the cc taken directly,out of that saving account... it is earning 4% interest right now... auto payment on the cc so never late... Just transfer some money into the savings that will be earning you interest, that is more than you will get in a bank... and not tying it up in even a short term 4 month CD.....that is paying 4% right now...So I am trying to put say $500/ mo in each of those savings... pay the cc that might be $100-400 a month... according to the gas use especially on the Amercian Express... and the money is earning interest and by transferring a set amount every month, not using it all to pay bills, it is slowing increasing too... Can set it up so it shows up right on the statement or online when you log into the account, they all show...

I also have taken advantage of some of the 12 month or 18 month no interest on balance transfers when you get these cc offers in the mail... Costs a little bit to make the transfer, but if it is even say 500 or 1000 that you would have to pay off next month... then you get a year to make payments and pay it off before the time period is up... again... using someone else's money for a period of time FREE....costs you to make the transfer but that is less than the interest would be if you had to stretch out your payments and pay interest. You just have to make sure you get them paid off before the end of the promotion period....
I set them up as automatic payments.... never forget... never pay interest.