I paid $2.35 per gallon for gas this morning, and the country’s average is now $2.492. I feel like I’ve been tricked into believing that $2.35 is cheap after having to spend $2.70 to $3.00 per gallon these past few months. Perhaps the oil industry is pulling back after announcing huge profits in the wake of Katrina and in fear of being scrutinized for price gouging.
October 2005
Hurricane repairs and insurance payments lift both personal spending and income; prices in check. This sounds like temporary relief to me. In fact, it’s not all good news. The saving rate is still negative at -0.4 percent. So while the move was in a good direction, we’re still spending more than we’re saving.
I’ve tried that (back in my days of reckless abandonment — which were neither reckless nor abandoned). It doesn’t work.
This is a post just for personal finance bloggers, so others may not be too interested.
I’m building a new service and I’d like to do it in partnership (think “group ownership” with everyone having an equal role) with several other people. I’ve already assumed the risk (purchased the domain name) but I’d like to get other bloggers on board. It’s a service that has some well-known “competitors,” but with help from a team I think it can be great and add a lot of value to what’s available online. Email me privately if you’re interested.
The Carnival of Personal Finance has reached issue #20, and is hosted this week by WealthyWeb. All of the articles submitted and included are worth reading, but particularly these:
* 2million realized that 0% balance transfers (like the one I attempted) have a negative affect on a credit score.
* When it’s not rabbit season or duck season, it’s tax season. JLP is getting back into the swing of things with an article heeding us to start planning our taxes now.
* Jon from SmartMoney Daily made a great negotiating move.
Luke Landes founded Consumerism Commentary in 2003 and has been building online communities since 1990. Luke, also known as Flexo, has contributed to PC World Magazine, US News, Forbes, and other publications. 
