The End of an Ugly Era.......I Hope

Chrysler announced this week that they are going to stop leasing new cars and trucks. With rising costs of fuel and rapid depreciation of pickups and SUVs, auto makers are losing their shirts on bad leases. Look for Ford and GM to follow suit. All I can say is, Yaaahhhhoooo! Leases are terrible ideas for consumers. They take advantage of "payment" shoppers with over priced, high financed, low value deals that usually have a big bite up front or a wicked sting in the tail at the end. I'm not sad they're gone. You can read what MSNBC.com had to say about it HERE.

In a related note, this decision shows how the free market will govern itself. It was market conditions rather than Government intervention that ended this rip off practice. We should allow the marketplace to eventually end the Pay Day Loan industry, too. I hate those places, but Govt. should stay out of it. They should also stay out of the restaurant business. I read this week that some parts of L.A. are considering banning new fast food restaurants, because people are too fat. They may only grant permits for restaurants offering "healthier fare". Folks, that's what happens when you want the Government to take care of you. They take over. And that's bad for all of us. Left alone, market forces will take care of themselves.

Good Insights

I've spent a great deal of blog space recently linking to other sites and articles. I hope it's been helpful. There are a lot of great ideas and insights out there on the WWW and part of the purpose of this weblog and IOU NO MORE is to connect people with those great ideas and insights. Can you imagine how boring and slow the world would be if we had to wait for me to have an original thought?

Anyway, I found an interesting piece related to the characteristics common to people who have found financial peace of mind. See if you are there yet. If it sounds like a place you'd like to be, rest assured you can get there. And we'd love to help. Click HERE.

Sign of the Apocalypse

Forget $4.00 a gallon gasoline or $4.50 a gallon milk, the real signal that the end of civilization as we know it is upon us is that Starbucks has posted it's first ever quarterly loss. Read about it Here. Perhaps teh board of directors at Folgers is sleeping easier tonight.

"Extreme" Disaster

It looks like the biggest ever "Extreme Makeover" project is a bust. The family assisted by the makeover put their home up as collateral for a $450k loan for a business that failed. Now the house is on the auction block. Beazer Homes and 1800 people invested time and money to make a family's dreams come true. They were given a great gift, but did not have the wisdom to receive it well. I don't know whether I'm miffed or saddened. You can read the whole sad tale HERE.

It really shouldn't surprise anyone. It happens all the time. Scandal sheets often carry stories of lottery winners, athletes and entertainers who gain and lose fortunes overnight. The simple principle is, if we can't handle a little, we won't be able to handle a lot.

Of course, it's never too late to change. Anyone can learn to master their money and their lives. It won't be easy, but it is certainly possible. I'm living proof.

Think You're the Only One Worried about Money?

Think again. It's everywhere. Read about it HERE.

Somebody Read My Book..........

........or at least my mind. Yahoo had a great article today from Consumer Reports about ways to cut our monthly bills. It could have been taken right out of IOU NO MORE. But then again, IOU NO MORE is just common sense. Read the article HERE.

The Price of Greed

I stumbled on THIS and thought it was sad. Greed and Games, what a cocktail.