‘Tis the season to be shopping. A recent Los Angeles Times story looked at the big consumer purchase errors, usually linked to impulse buying.
On the list: Not carefully searching for a competent, honest auto mechanic; not maintaining the minimum bank balance required to avoid service fees; holding many credit cards instead of consolidating debts; taking out a 30-year mortgage loan rather than a 15-year loan; paying in full for home improvement before the work has been satisfactorily completed; purchasing new appliances that are not energy efficient; and not comparing unit prices found on supermarket shelves (ex. one bottle versus the 12-pack).
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Late season rainfall creates concern about Prairie crop quality
Praying for rain is being replaced with the hope that rain can stop for harvest. Rainfall in July and early August has been much greater than normal.
On impulse, I decided to try my hand at suggestions more relevant to rural needs:
1. Avoid offering to pay income tax in advance of finding out whether you’re getting the normal or longer form, and whether a fuel rebate exists.
2. Never buy a combine because it’s your favorite color. Unquestionable loyalty to a brand is much more important.
3. Never put all your eggs in one basket when buying chickens. First find out which chicken didn’t contribute to the basket.
4. Investing in livestock is a good thing. Investing in pet rocks from the Seventies is not. Farmers have been piling inventories of those before they were even considered pets, and not as a pet peeve.
5. Buying a 10-year supply of one-time delivery, bargain-priced hay bales may not be the bargain you thought. Especially if you have no livestock.
6. Avoid kicking sensitive, thread-bare tires on used half-ton trucks while you’re wearing pointed steel-toed cowboy boots. (You know the saying: Nice to look at, nice to hold, but if you deflate it, consider it sold.)
Have a Merry Christmas, everyone.
