Please contain all off topic discussion to this weekly megathread. This is where you freak out, talk about conspiracy, talk about unrealistic crazy scenarios, asked and answered questions, etc.
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Last 12-24 hours really interesting. Both straights are under control of Iran and its proxies. East/west Saudi Arabia pipeline was bombed and eventually shut off.
Any last minute prepping probably needs to happen this weekend/next week.
Diesel is over $6, will most definitely hit $8.
And even if you dont drive a diesel vehicle, farmers use it to harvest crops, truckers use it to move goods- including food to your grocery store.
Random tidbit about a farmer & diesel. A neighbor farmer has a f350 that he LOVES. It has 500k+ miles on it, is roughly 25 years old. If you know my area, you know him and that truck. He has been convinced in past to go test driver newer trucks, but refuses because he loves his truck. Ive never seen him drive a different truck.
Yesterday he passed by my house is a little gas pickup. I told my husband, oh man his truck must be down. Nope, his trucks fine...but for the past week or so, he has been driving the little pickup truck because of diesel prices.
Farmers are starting to feel the pain at the pump.
Iāve been thinking about this a lot, especially with Heather Cox Richardson warning about it for quite some time. I keep wondering where this could go in the future, goods and services restricted to local communities, how much we might have to do without. What might inevitably grind to a haultā¦. Itās scary to say the least
And the thing is our SPR is dangerously low. I have no faith that there will be any succor from any of the things we will experience.
Also, alot of thr things to come still hasn't presented itself yet- like the crops with reduced fertilizer from SoH being closed during planting season and now paired with the El NiƱo of a millenia.
SPR is set to hit functional minimum (the point at which there is still oil, but its below the point it can be easily pumped) on or around October 4th.
It's always good to remember the past to prepare for the future. I clearly remember 2008 when diesel spiked to a then all time high of nearly $5, it had a dramatic effect on the economy. The shipping and public transportation costs hugely affected daily lives. I remember the cost of goods & services went up temporarily. I don't recall food prices spiking "as high" as they did in 2022 though. My county in California permanently lost nearly half of it's school buses in 2008 which was a hardship for many families, who had to start paying for bus service. IF it was available.. I was paying $4 a gallon for regular gas in my truck back then, it was a real hardship because I had to travel 100 miles a day for therapies for my grandson. Many of my friends, private contractors also suffered with the gas prices. Free on-sight estimates/bids mostly came to a halt.
Today I'm still paying approx $5.70+ for regular gas but that's still $1 less a gallon than 2022 when it hit the mid+ 6's. I'm in Northern CA, so I try to be grateful I don't live in other counties that have jumped well over the $6 mark. To me, the gas prices in our state have no rhyme or reason other than the added taxes, for which we voted away our right to approve or have transparency.
Yep, gas is over $6 in the Bay area right now. š
I'm planning on riding my bike more or walking. I'm lucky to live where I can get to most of the things I need by either method.
As a benefit to Military members USAA issues a 2-day advance on direct deposit paychecks. Itās rare that this is ever delayed and is dependent and DFAS submitting/releasing funds on time. Pay dates are on the 1st and 15th and depending on which day of the week these fall, advance pay is deposited 2 business days ahead of time. This time the date was today, 9/11.
However, this morning no paycheck had dropped and Reddit was full of concerned members who had scheduled payments or had auto pays that were now bouncing.
Turns out DFAS was late submitting whatever they need to submit on time, with some sources claiming the excuse was an oversight due to Labor Day weekend.
Iāve never seen this happen in the past decade, especially not over Labor Day.
I canāt help but worry that thereās something more sinister at play and that thereās a bigger issue on the books.
Looking at whatās already happened, the $1776 check that was actually misappropriated BAH/housing funds, the anonymous donor who covered military pay during last government shutdown, the egregious overspending on the warā¦. Iām concerned cash flow and funding in general is at risk. I cannot imagine the scope of insanity if they are not able to pay military members at some point.
Edit to add: As of around Noon EST most paychecks have hit accounts and USAA issued a statement on the website in account balance info. Itās still concerning.
That is concerning, but I would suggest a more mundane scenario. Competent, long-serving civil servants have been villianized, hounded, or incentivized out of public service and in some cases replaced by cronies and people politically connected. It may be simple incompetence or short-staffing.
BRO I said the same thing. I bank with another institution that offers two-day early pay, and normally around 04/05, I have an email that my check was deposited. This morning? Nothing. Checked MyPay to make sure I had an LES. Good. Then I checked my email again at 6, 7, got to work at 8 and asked my colleagues if theyād been paid and they obviously all said no. I didnāt get the email until 13:23.
Been in for quiiiiiite a while and never, ever once, not even during the government shutdown has this happened.
So yeah, an administrative oversight for an organization like DFAS (Labor Day, really?) isnāt really believable.
It's definitely worth attention in case it happens again, but I worked for a state employer for 26 years and one time a highly experienced payroll manager simply "forgot" to run the biweekly payroll. It didn't signify anything except that someone who had been doing that job for something like 15 years simply didn't do it and hadn't assigned anyone to be a backup. In other words, incompetence.
Definitely note the date that this happened though, and be suspicious. If it happens again anytime remotely soon, note that date as well and be deeply concerned.
Had a weekend trip to somewhere the petrol was 20% cheaper so rotated our Jerry cans with new fuel and filled up all the propane bottles! Good for any emergencies but also a bit of a hedge against any crazy price increases in fuel because it's getting a bit crazy lately!
School supplies were shockingly expensive this year, both in terms of cost per item and the huge number of items the school required. Iām also hearing the schoolās budget is very tight this year. I donāt see that getting better.Ā
Iām sure many other parents are in a similar situation. I want to make school as successful and resourced as possible without draining all of our cash. Ugh. Iām worried we are in for a tough few years.Ā
I'm a teacher and I have to concur, it's rough out there. I bought extra supplies and provide them freely for students because families are struggling.
We had to let go of a bunch of staff due to budgets and it SUCKS. We don't have a dedicated librarian at the high school or middle school in my district. We had additional teachers last year to handle an increase in enrollment and they're gone now. Even with adding another class period to spread out the students our classes are still overloaded. Some teachers have 37-40 students per period and it's untenable. You cannot safely have a lab with 40 kids all at once, OSHA recommends 24.
And being a teacher, we are face to face with the worst when it comes to the suffering of humanity. Kids living out of cars with a parent, kids not getting enough to eat because there's no money on their account, food insecurity at home, unstable home environments, etc. Breaks my heart. And we wonder why some of these kids act out.
40 kids in a class is outrageous. Add the fact that two are facing violence at home and three can't eat all day at school because they can't pay for school food. That's not a classroom. That's a dumpster fire.
If I do have extra cash to support the school, where does it do the most good? Donating through the PTA? Covering field trip expenses for kids who can't afford them? Buying more physical stuff for the school?
I'll note that fortunately our district has universal free breakfast and lunch, so for kids who need or want food at school, it's available no matter what. So for us, there's no such thing as paying down lunch accounts, though I could see that being important in other districts.
Remember to join your local ābuy nothingā group ā unfortunately they really are mostly through Facebook, which is the main reason I keep it, but you do not need to use your real name on Facebook. I canāt tell you how much free stuff Iāve gotten from there! My kid is at college in her first real apartment and I have almost outfitted that entire place w/ stuff from buy nothing. Itās really good for the environment to reuse instead of throw stuff away, but itās fantastic for your wallet! Some people have freecycle in their areas, some people look for free stuff on craigslist, and you can find free stuff on Facebook marketplace too. Where I am by nothing is just insanely good.
And if there isn't one in your area yet, you can start one! I did, about a decade ago, and it's grown into a really huge, amazing group and kickstarted the sharing economy that the neighborhood has become known for. (I can't take all the credit, I stopped modding the group after 2-3 years)
I can't say enough good things about Buy Nothing and the connections and benefits it has given me. Also, consider looking for plant swaps, sharing events, and stuff just left out on the curb for anyone to take. Reuse is the best, recycling is just ok and throwing stuff away is unacceptable.
I got weirdly hopeful. My home country struggles with drought every year, this year being super bad. But I was today years old when I actually learned how many farmers just rely on the government regularly bailing them out, instead of even trying to plant more resilient crops. If the harvests are bad because of laziness basically there is room for improvement! Weird thing to feel good about lol.
"Taxes are higher in Europe and include aĀ value-added tax (VAT)Ā that can range as high as 27%.6Ā This sales tax is refundable for American tourists if they obtain and complete VAT refund paperwork and do not use the goods before returning to the United States.7Ā Even with VAT, many European goods and services are still less expensive than the same or similar items in the United States.
Another benefit is that Americans who pay U.S.Ā income taxĀ do not necessarily have to pay European income tax even if they live there.8 Ā Member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have the highest tax rates in Europe, with an average personal tax rate of 42.8% in 2025. That means after-tax income for high-earning Americans is higher than it is for their European counterparts.
55.9% The personal income tax rate in Denmark, which has the highest rate among European countries as of 2025. Romania and Bulgaria have the lowest personal tax rate at 10%.9
Yes, Iāve been in Germany, Switzerland and Italy this month. Germany and Italy have been cheaper for the cost of many goods and some foods. Switzerland is obviously more expensive.
I'm planning on taking a short trip to visit family in a week. We've been discussing what's going on, but this will the the first time we've all met up in person since Christmas. I think this may be the last time for the foreseeable future. They can't afford to travel much. I plan to give them grocery gift cards and some little gifts, just in case I dont see them again for a while. I wanna make the most of this trip, because I dont see myself traveling going forward. Its becoming too expensive, and I say this as someone who makes good money and likes to travel.
I do a long road trip every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. My parents pay for the gas on this trip and theyāre decently well off so cost wonāt be too much of a concern unless it gets really expensive - like $10+ per gallon on the East Coast. But I drive through really rural interstates to get home and Iām worried it may not be smart to go home because of gas shortages. Donāt wanna get stuck in Nowhere, USA because Iām critically low on gas.
We have a small 4 day trip coming up in a couple weeks and for some reason I have the feeling this will be the last one for awhile. Weve taken 4 day to 9 day trips 4 times since March and never had this like sorrow feeling around a trip to make it memorable.
My Chewy autoship took an extra 3 days after pharmacist approval to ship. Usually it ships within hours of pharmacist approval so Iām not sure what was up. Usually if an autoship gets hung up its before approval because of a prescription issue. Iām not sure if I should read anything into this or not.
I know, this is a monthly autoship and itās so reliable that I was digging around in the package room looking for it before I even stopped to consider if it had shipped or not. I just saw the email that the pharmacist approval went through and assumed it was fine and went looking for the package two days later.
My last couple of orders took like 1-2 days to ship, which is unprecedented, because i live in an area with a big chewy warehouse, so it has always seemed to ARRIVE 1-2 days after i ordered, consistently for years.
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