Want to Move to Las Vegas?

Discuss all things Las Vegas. Hotels, restaurants, good deals, airfares, cabbies, conventions, shows, etc.
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billryan
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Re: Want to Move to Las Vegas?

Post by billryan »

Who lives in a one bedroom house? For that matter, try finding a $125,000 house in a decent neighborhood in the Valley.
It's simple math. You can argue you until the cows come home. I'm very happy with my decision. You aren't. Not really sure why you have so much invested in this.

Eduardo
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Post by Eduardo »

I'm really confused about why an advantage player would not use credit cards. I understand being debt-free, but I don't consider a credit card as debt unless you carry a balance. There is almost nothing in this world that I DON'T put on a credit card, and then I pay it off in full every month on auto-pay.

You're basically giving up a 1-3% return on every single purchase you make by not taking advantage of rewards cards, with no cost at all.

notes1
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Post by notes1 »

billryan wrote:
Sun Jul 07, 2019 8:15 am
Land ,housing or even homes can be a decent investment. Just not in Vegas.
those who make erroneous generalized statements should expect to be challenged. i provided published data from a well known real estate source.

a single person may very well buy a one bedroom house.

notes1
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Post by notes1 »

what does being an 'advantage player' have to do with making proper financial decisions, on anything other than gaming?

Eduardo
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Post by Eduardo »

It doesn't necessarily. However being a successful advantage player requires discipline that I would think would transfer into other financial areas of life as well. Clearly billryan has given a lot of though into renting vs buying, for instance. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer in that case. renting may be better for some and buying for others. It is not strictly a financial decision.

Having a credit card with cash back seems like a no-brainer for someone with a mindset on the importance of a small percentage gaining an edge in a game. it's basically free money. There may be a good reason, but it seems like an obvious choice to me.

notes1
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Post by notes1 »

-how do you know he is a 'successful' AP?
-it seems possible/likely he based his own vs. rent decision, on the limited amount of capital he has. in other words, he may have been only able to invest in a home or the stock market. as has already been stated in previous posts, many of us have the financial assets to do both.
-while discipline is an important attribute in financial management, one also needs to be smart enough to make proper decisions.

as to your statement about credit cards, i would agree in principle. but, what sounds good in theory does not always work in reality. i/m/o, and after 3 decades working with folks with their money, i would suggest most folks would be better off if they never used a credit card. debt nearly brought the world to it's knees just 10 years ago.

not using a credit card may very well be his form of discipline. many others should follow suit.

billryan
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Post by billryan »

Eduardo wrote:
Mon Jul 08, 2019 1:16 pm
I'm really confused about why an advantage player would not use credit cards. I understand being debt-free, but I don't consider a credit card as debt unless you carry a balance. There is almost nothing in this world that I DON'T put on a credit card, and then I pay it off in full every month on auto-pay.

You're basically giving up a 1-3% return on every single purchase you make by not taking advantage of rewards cards, with no cost at all.
I find paying cash gets me better discounts. I like to budget my money and find I spend less when I pay cash. I like to pay as I go. Others think getting 1% advantage is worth it. My two biggest outlays in Vegas was my rent and auction purchases. Both charge 3% so not using cards saves me hundreds a year.
Both retailers and restaurants say credit card customers spend more than cash ones.
By the way, for a number of years I used to get paid in singles. I'd have bags of cash all over as I was paid daily.

Casino Knight
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Post by Casino Knight »

billryan wrote:
Mon Jul 08, 2019 4:27 pm

By the way, for a number of years I used to get paid in singles. I'd have bags of cash all over as I was paid daily.
THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER?

billryan
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Post by billryan »

I said Singles, not Twenties.

DougJ
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Post by DougJ »

notes1 wrote:
Mon Jul 08, 2019 2:33 pm
-how do you know he is a 'successful' AP?
-it seems possible/likely he based his own vs. rent decision, on the limited amount of capital he has. in other words, he may have been only able to invest in a home or the stock market. as has already been stated in previous posts, many of us have the financial assets to do both.
-while discipline is an important attribute in financial management, one also needs to be smart enough to make proper decisions.

as to your statement about credit cards, i would agree in principle. but, what sounds good in theory does not always work in reality. i/m/o, and after 3 decades working with folks with their money, i would suggest most folks would be better off if they never used a credit card. debt nearly brought the world to it's knees just 10 years ago.

not using a credit card may very well be his form of discipline. many others should follow suit.
Well, he is NOT a "successful AP", that's why he can't afford to even buy a $125,000 home in LV. Gambles away his dollars for a "free" meatloaf dinner, woo hoo. Proud of throwing rent money out the door and building ZERO equity, whilst rent increases constantly here, even on his studio apartment.

Meanwhile, bankruptcy DOES prevent folks from getting a credit card, so cash is the only option.

It's interesting that LVA has a new blogger who is all about maximizing credit cards and promotions to earn travel points and perks. I'm proud to say I've been playing the "travel game" for YEARS, lots of opportunities to "churn" years ago that have now diminished significantly (just like VP options). For someone lacking discipline to manage money and make proper decisions (i.e. someone who enjoys paying rent for nothing), this is not an option.

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