I'll be the first to admit that I got lucky over the past couple of weeks. While the crypto markets were doing their thing and covering the streets in blood, I was spending my time with views like the one above. The past week or so in Colorado has been a good distraction from all the negativity that is going on.
Sure, I might have posted and thrown some comments out here and there, but I really didn't have time to be looking at the charts or markets or whatever. My best guess was that it would all be here when I got back and it seems I was right.
BTC is down, but it hasn't folded completely. The same is true with HIVE. If anything, I am just disappointed that I didn't get to snag up some HIVE at the $.16 point like some other folks did. Instead, I had to settle for $.19 or so. I'm good with that!
It is time again for another Finance Friday/Friday Finance. This is a series I started where I talk about random bits of financial stuff that I have seen, gathered, or experienced during the week. I hope as a reader you find it informational, entertaining, or both. I also hope it can generate some good discussion and edify the community.
I've also seen a lot of people talking about pulling funds from their HBD savings and moving it into Hive. Hey, if that is what you want to do, I am cool with that! I'll probably be leaving my HBD in savings though. At least until Hive gets up around $1.
Splinterlands
I've fully jumped on the fence about what I want to do with Splinterlands. The most recent changes to the daily system have made it less desirable to play now. It's basically impossible to earn anything and battles are harder than ever to win.
The saving grace is that they haven't managed to screw up Brawls yet. I'm waiting for the day though. I don't think anyone is going anywhere while the price is this low, but if there happens to be a spike in the price of Hive, you might see more and more people parting with their assets.
Ridiculous!
When my wife and I got home from our trip, we had a bundle of mail that had been delivered while we were gone. One of the items was an offer for a new credit card through some organization that we are a part of. @mrsbozz was reading the benefits you got for signing up for the card and I asked to see the paperwork so I could look at the interest rate.
31.24%!
That's highway robbery right there. I remember when I got my first credit card the interest rate was 9% and I thought I was living large. I got a second one with an interest rate of 21% and I was very quickly introduced to the world of debt.
These days, I don't put anything on my credit card unless I know I can pay it off when the bill comes, but many people don't live like that or have that luxury. Can you imagine 31%?
I did a little test with an online calculator assuming I have a small balance of $5000 on my card. That's not unbelievable or unreasonable. All it takes is a major car repair or an appliance breaking to get to that point.
At 31.24% interest, it would take 130 months to pay it off at $135 per month. It wouldn't let me go lower than a minimum payment of $135 per month because it said $130 per month even wouldn't cover the interest. That's almost 11 years to pay off a credit card! Assuming you aren't adding more debt to the top!
You can't look me in the eye and tell me that isn't crazy. If you needed any more proof that the system is broken, there you go.
##Whoa, We're Halfway There!
I feel like just the other day I was lamenting that it was only the beginning of 2024 and I still had a year to go before the bull market "started". Now, here we are halfway through 2024 already. It's one of those cases where you should be careful what you wish for.
With each bull cycle, I keep hoping that I will inch closer and closer to financial freedom. The flip side of that being that with every passing bull and bear cycle, I am left with less and less time on this planet to enjoy that financial freedom.
It's honestly quite frustrating!
All we can do is keep moving forward though, we really have zero control over any of this. I just hope we can all come out on the other side a little better off than we were when we started. I'm looking forward to sharing more about my trip to Colorado with you next week. I hope you make your way back to read about it!
Some Sad News
I just found out the other day that @ancientknowled3 passed away back in May of this year. I know he was dealing with some health issues for quite some time and his hopes were that crypto currency would cover some of those bills when the time was right.
I never met him in person, but I always enjoyed talking to him and getting his take on whatever crazy project we were thinking about aping into at the time. His wife reached out to me on Telegram after I messaged him in what had clearly been far too long and let me know that he was able to buy a condo for them before he passed. He used the multiple BTC he was holding to provide for his wife when he no longer could. That's pretty awesome if you ask me.
Sad, but awesome.
Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports
I ve been out of it for two weeks but while I let most things go I had a hard time not looking at the bore market.
As you won the rainy riddle here s the boost
Thank you!
Aren't the mountains beautiful? I'm glad you got to enjoy a couple weeks and not stress about prices too much.
That APR is ridiculous, once you put any debt on there it's almost impossible to get out. Never use a credit card unless you know for certain you can pay it off. When I was younger I made that mistake, never again!
Splinterlands seems to be trying to slit their own throats... They need to make it attractive to play to recruit new players, I'm afraid they might end up killing the game....
Sorry to hear about your friend there, a reminder to us all that the grim reaper is only so far away... Enjoy life while you can!
I made that mistake too. My wife and I started our lives together with a good amount of debt. We made smart moves and were able to get out in a reasonable amount of time.
It's been a crazy crypto "bull market" that's for sure! So sideways in comparison to past cycles. Actually, the stock market has been giving me flashbacks of the older, more volatile days of crypto. How I miss the days of seeing 20%+ crypto gains.
Whoa, over 31%?! That's insane. That's the highest CC interest rate I've ever heard of.
I'm very sorry about the passing of your friend! Even if you didn't communicate often it still effects you. I had a scare recently with someone from the UK I used to talk with regularly during the glory days of Steemit. Her posts on socials ceased around fall of last year and she wasn't responding to emails but I found out everything was okay. Life just took her in another direction.
I hope you enjoy your weekend my friend!
It's been a good weekend so far. Lunch with my family today and then yardwork! I agree on the stock market, it's been pretty crazy. I like seeing numbers go up! It was on a Kohl's credit card and I was so shocked I needed to take a photo. Needless to say, we didn't sign up!
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It's easy to get obsessed with this crypto stuff, but we should get out and enjoy life. The 'moon' may never actually come, but we can still have experiences. We've lost a few Hivers over the years. I hope they could pass on their keys to someone who can use them well.
Yeah, I have already decided that I am probably not going to be one of those guys who makes a millions dollars in crypto.
Sometimes stepping away from the markets brings the best perspective. Glad you had a peaceful break in Colorado brother
It was quite amazing!
I'm glad it was brother
Glad you enjoyed the time in Colorado and looks like the views where a whole lot better than the crypto markets I'm sure. Yeah. I haven't paid any of it much mind. I did look at my other asset today and like you mentioned, they took a beating.
It's been rough, but I know it will all recover.
Yes, it gives peace at times, if we overlooked the markets and charts, and know, definitely, the prices will still get up in a matter of time, happy to know that you had a good time in Colorado with great views 🥰
Yes, they were stunning. It's best to just zoom out sometimes and look at the big picture.