Dodging the DOGE

Unexpected leadership dynamics: Donald Trump's stupid election of Elon Musk: who's taller now?

WHY DONALD TRUMP IS STUPID FOR YOUR FINANCES

I didn’t vote for President Musk…did you?

I didn’t vote for Donald Trump either, for that matter, irrespective of party affiliation. I think constituents in every party come in all shades of grey: there are very liberal Republicans, very conservative Democrats, and Independents of many flavors. I consider myself to be a moderate Democrat, however what’s happening in this administration transcends party lines.

Trump’s party is the Party of Power and Greed (or the P&G party if you will). It’s a callous party, selfish, corrupt and narcissistic…and, in the words of the great Lawrence O'Donnell, Donald Trump is stupid.

The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell

In the interests of safeguarding your money and holding on to what you have right now, here are a few purposeful action steps you can take:*

• Go to https://www.goodsuniteus.com/ for fairly comprehensive list of the political affiliations of the stores you frequent most so you can make an educated decision about where you want to spend your money;

• Consider switching from your current phone provider to a subsidiary like Mint Mobile, Google Fi Wireless, or Visible and lower your bill considerably. Some of these providers, like Mint, offer yearly plans that are incredibly cheap and the service is easily as good as the big carriers;

• LOCK YOUR CREDIT. If you haven’t done this already, Credit Karma provides step-by-step instructions to lock your credit bureau access, also known as a “security freeze”. You don’t need to subscribe to a service or membership – don’t fall for any offers – it’s free and you have complete control when you do it yourself. HAPPY PIGGYBANK MEMBERS can book a free session with me to walk you through the process;

• PLACE FRAUD ALERTS on your credit reports while you’re initiating security freezes, while you’re at it;

• Consider moving your money to a credit union. Credit unions, while not insured by the FDIC (which the Trump Administration has talked about deconstructing anyway), are insured by the NCUA (National Credit Union Administration) which insures you money the same way and for exactly the same amount. Both the FDIC and the NCUA have an insurance cap of $250,000.00 per depositor, so just bear that in mind when you think about how to safeguard your money if you have more than that;

• Don’t have credit card debt if you have savings. As the old adage goes: what do you have when you have a savings account with $1000.00 in it and a credit card you owe $999.00 on? One dollar. (Okay, that may not be an old adage but you take my meaning.) Not even the highest yield saving account can balance out the lowest credit card interest rate. Pay it off, then put it in the freezer or shred it and DON’T USE IT until you have the money;

• Consider your spending. Right now is a good time to re-evaluate your budget; just like the upswing in egg prices, incidentally inciting a robbery of 100,000 eggs worth $40,000 , the price of everything will continue to rise, tarriffs or not. Visit local thrift stores, avoid shopping online, read library books on Kindle via Libby for free and just check your spending in general. President Musk now literally has the keys to the US Treasury, and he's a wild card.

• For that matter, think about your tax dollars. Who has control over them now? YOU have a voice in where and how your tax money is spent. It's tax season - if you owe money, do you know where your tax payment is really going and who will handle it once it gets there? If you have a refund due, how much confidence do you have that you will actually see that money? FIND OUT before you FILE!

• SUBSCRIBE TO HAPPY PIGGYBLOG for updated financial tip and information.

*These are not paid endorsements; just recommendations.