Welcome to the last day of the year! Before we wave good-bye to 2021, I’m here with a few final financial stories to share with you.
What are the most satisfying products and services you’ve ever purchased? [/r/fatFIRE on Reddit] — “Someone posted a question asking how to ensure they get the best product. It got me thinking about the most satisfying products and experiences I’ve consumed in my life. Thought I’d share mine and ask others to share as well.” This is, essentially, a list of expensive things that rich people have bought that they believe were worth the money.
My silent battle with inflation. [Happily Disengaged] — “A few weeks ago inflation came to slap me in the face as I sat in my car ordering two Starbucks coffees with my wife. I thought the dude taking the order had just got my order wrong. So when I pulled up to the window I asked him to repeat the order, then the price…$8 for two coffees! Shit. And I still went through with the transaction.”
How to arrange for your digital legacy. [The Verge] — “If you’re reading this, odds are that you’ve got a lot of digital stuff, both on your own devices and floating around in the cloud: backups, photos, tweets, Facebook messages, texts, you name it. If you’re no longer around to pay attention, these can hang around for a very long time — and some of it may be important to your survivors. (For example, who else has the passwords to your bank accounts and credit cards?)”
To close out 2021, here’s one last video. It’s a mix of fun and financial. Loyal reader Julie (who also writes the awesome One Frugal Girl blog) sent us a 17-minute YouTube segment from Wendover Productions that explains how the airlines quietly became banks.
This is fascinating stuff. If you have a few minutes, you should watch it. The bottom line is that airlines lose money on their core business, transportation. They earn their money on their loyalty programs. No wonder airlines pitch their credit cards so hard!
That’s it for this year. We’ll be back in 2022 with more great stuff. See you then.