Tariffs, Car Payments & Cell Phones

Tariffs. Car payments. Cell phones. What do these three things have in common? All three are currently on most people’s minds, and two are expensive considerations for every person’s or family’s financial plan.

As for tariffs, the uncertainty around where tariffs, and now also tax legislation, will settle in is on most people’s minds. Tariff “policy” is still in the throes of global negotiation and lack of clarity. Will the US consumer benefit in any way? Will tariffs lead to continued painful inflation in the US? What about future economic relationships between the US and the rest of the world? Much is up in the air. Certain companies and business owners are in flux regarding future investment and decision-making. Meanwhile, overall, employers and consumers seem to be plodding along in a net-net positive direction.

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The $1,100 Cell Phone

Cash flow. Wouldn’t you like to have more of it around tax time? Well then, it may be time to delay or reconsider that new cell phone purchase.

man holding brown leather bi fold wallet with money in it
Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

Recently this “sticker shock” issue came to the forefront for me when I forked over $1,100 for my new Samsung Galaxy Note cell phone. OK, you may say, “Why didn’t you go with the zero-interest payment plan?” or, “Where have you been, Kerrie?” To which I would respond,

  1. I did not go with the payment plan despite it being zero interest because I am all about having as much free cash flow as possible (therefore minimizing annoying monthly payments) and as little debt (except a mortgage) as possible.
  2. I realize that back in 2017 the $969 iPhone 7 Plus came into being. So, I delayed purchasing a new phone and eeked out as much as I could with the old phone until it essentially ran out of memory and could no longer function as needed.

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