Tesla Inc. has yet again made changes to its line up and at this point, I have pretty much lost count as this is getting a bit random. While the pricing strategy seems random, I am starting to see a pattern.
Last quarter, Tesla ushered in the steepest price cuts as I highlighted in my article at the time. The price cuts persisted and slowly crept up by about $2000 during course of that quarter for the Model 3 and Y.
Ahead of its earnings call in early April, 2023, Tesla cut the Model 3 and Y prices by $2000 each and about a week after it’s earnings, they started to raise the price and have increased the Model Y by $500 and Model 3 by $250 since it’s earnings call to date.
I believe the strategy is to give customers the illusion that prices are going back up and lock in more orders for its vehicles. I decided to test out this theory by visiting a Tesla showroom today and it was packed. I could hear various conversations that prices could keep going up and that orders placed right now will lock in current prices until you take delivery. I encourage people to only buy vehicles based on their personal financial situations and shouldn’t be swayed by these price changes. I believe Tesla vehicle prices will keep trending lower.
These are the latest price changes. The Model Y Long Range increased to $50,490 up from $50,240, while the Model S base trim increased to $88,490 up from $87,490. Model X Long Range increased to $98,490 up from $97,490. The Model 3 Long range price remain unchanged at $47,240.
I believe the Model Y Longe Range is the best overall value for the money especially if you qualify for $7500 federal tax credits and various state tax credits depending on your income and other qualifying criteria’s. I would be in the market for a car later this year and I am strongly considering a Tesla Model Y Long range. I will keep you all posted what I decide.
Are you in the market for a Tesla? Let me know in comments, do subscribe to my blog and see you on my next article.
Since the pandemic started in early 2020, all of our lives have changed in many ways! My life has changed a lot as well, from getting married to my lovely wife, spending 5 months in Nigeria with her, while working remotely in the US, then returning back to the States and buying my first home, its been a whirlwind.
These past 3 years have also made my life more sedentary thanks to my now full time remote work and western lifestyle, which I love by the way. So as you would expect, I have gained about 25 lbs from my pre pandemic weight of 185lbs to 210lbs as at the beginning of February 2023.
Health Problems I noticed with the extra weight
As a Nigerian kid that grew up eating lots of organic food and occasionally going hungry as a broke student back in the day, being overweight was never a problem I have had contend with. So the pandemic pounds was definitely new for me. As I steadily gained weight in 2020 and 2021, I noticed a few problems with my health.
First, I started to feel a heaviness in my chest, low energy and lack of motivation. With my medical background, I knew I needed to move around more. So I started to take long walks every evening after work. Going to the gym wasn’t an option as my gym was closed at the time, plus when it opened, I couldn’t keep up.
The next problem I started to notice was my knees started to hurt when I climbed stairs and doing squats became a problem. For a 31 year old male who is 6.3” tall, this was certainly unacceptable to me, I felt I was still too young to have these sort of problems.
The last problem, I noticed was brain fogs. Even though I didn’t have any Covid symptoms, I knew I might have contacted it and was asymptomatic. Keep reading to learn strategies I employed to shed 10 lbs so far in February 2023.
Steps I took in February 2023 to lose the pounds
Daily Intermittent fasting has really been a game changer for me over these past three weeks. Prior to deciding to start this journey, I always skipped breakfast and ate around 12noon, except when I’m with the wife, as she won’t allow me to be great 😂, anyways I digress. The first few days of eating my first meal at 2pm or 3pm was certainly tough, but it became easier with time. After my first meal, my dinner was usually around 7pm or before 8pm. This gave me 18 hours of fasting till the next meal. There are many benefits of intermittent fasting I noticed. That’s for another article.
Low carb or ketogenic diet was the second lever I pulled to shed a lot of pounds. I have now discovered that combining a high protein, fat and veggie diet with intermittent fasting is a powerful weight loss strategy. This combination is great for ketogenesis where your body derives it’s energy from burning the fats you have stored in your body. Ketogenesis is a much cleaner mechanism of energy generation and produces less free radicals that cause all sorts of inflammation and chronic diseases.
So enough with the jargon’s, what exactly have you been eating these past few weeks you may ask?
For my first meal, I mix Sweet kale with 3 or 4 hard boiled organic eggs and Avocado. I enjoy this with a glass of water and some almonds on the side. Nothing fancy, but it fills me up really well and it keeps my energy up through out the day. If I want to eat something else, I usually make an Egg wrap with low carb keto tortilla, steamed kale salads, avocado and organic pickles as the filler. I would add a picture of my egg wrap subsequently. For dinner, I would eat a nice steak and some salads on the side. On my cheat days, usually Fridays, I would eat a good sized Steak with a small portion of Nigerian Jollof rice and salads plus avocados.
Lastly, I have started to incorporate daily walks (atleast 5000 steps daily) throughout my day to clear my head and get some exercise. I have resumed going to the gym atleast twice a week. Even if I don’t keep up with the gym, I can always control my diet, take walks and stay in shape.
Its been an amazing 3 weeks of finally making progress with my health, the heaviness in my chest is gone, the pains in my knees have also dissappeared and I feel more alert and sharp mentally. As at the time of publishing this article 7PM Pacific Time in California, I am yet to have my first meal today and I still have a lot of energy.
My long term eating goal is to have at least two weeks of Keto diet every month combined with two weeks of low carb diets or high carb diet during periods of intense physical activities. I would keep practicing intermittent fasting as it helps my body to detox and clean itself daily. I would continue to report on my progress to my desired weight of 185 lbs as the weeks and months goes by.
Over the next two weeks, I would be heading to Ghana for a vacation with my wife and I hope to stay on track with my weight reduction and diets. If you would love to support me, follow my Amazon affiliate links above to purchase my recommended products and I may earn a small commission. Also subscribe to my blog so you get notified on my next article.
Thanks for reading and I would see you on the next post.
Predicting a recession has always been a fools errand for decades, just as predicting the general direction of the stock market is not practical. Over the course of 2022, I watched financial analysts, professors from Harvard and government officials in the US and around the world predict a recession was nearly certain in 2022. As that year came to a close, the recession predictions started to shift to the first half of 2023.
Most of the predictions was for good reason though. For starters, there was a war raging in Europe and supply chains were a mess. With most of the worlds manufactured goods flowing from China and food staples (think wheat, soybeans and corn), from Ukraine and Russian being disrupted, it was only a matter of time before inflation got out of control.
As the US inflation steadily got out of hand from early 2022 to an annual rate of 9.1% in June, the drumbeat of a recession was at a fever pitch. This wasn’t surprising to me because previous bouts of high prices always lead to a recession.
The expected Central bank policy response to high prices is to increase interest rates to cool the economy, reduce inflation and get the real economy growing at a steady rate, avoiding a downturn. This is what is referred to as a soft landing. Over the course of 2022, interest rates went from around 0.25% to about 4.5% and mortgage rates went to a high of about 7%. Leading to a housing downturn in the US.
All of the factors discussed so far would have easily led to a recession but the US economy had a formidable cushion with consumers flush with cash and the job market still red hot with two jobs available for every American who wants to work for all of 2022.
2023 is here and the economy is still humming along, consumer spending is still strong and supply chains are normalizing. Inflation has decreased every month since July 2022 and durable goods prices like vehicles are coming down fast. Tesla recently announced price cuts and other automakers like Ford are reducing prices as well. I believe more manufacturers would follow as we go through 2023.
I know you would want to point to the the housing market that is still in a funk and technology companies laying off workers left and right. Inspite of those reasons, the underlying US economy is still strong, the Bureau of Labour statistics reported that there are still over 10.2 million job opening on Jan 4th, 2023.
Another positive for the global economy is China. The Asian giant has awaken from its authoritarian Zero Covid policy slumber and it’s economy is predicted to grow at a robust 5% this year. If the US and China keep their economy growing for 2023, I believe a recession won’t materialize.
So Keep Calm, reduce liabilities or debt, work hard at your jobs, live life to the fullest and take care of yourselves! These times of uncertainties shall pass and stay tuned for my next article on how I am planning for the worst case scenario if a recession materializes in 2023.
2023 is just getting started and its already shaping to be a year of crazy news in the economy and the automotive industry in general. Over the past few years, the pandemic has brought a lot of disruptions to global supply chains and almost all industries were affected. I remember watching the TV in horror as everything seemed to be in short supply, especially semiconductors.
Semiconductors or chips are required for everything these days from basic electronics and toys to automobiles. The average modern vehicle uses over 3000 chips alone, before factoring all the chips that are needed for the heavy machinery needed for building an average vehicle.
These shortages lead automakers to increase prizes astronimically all in the guise of keeping up with higher components costs from disrupted supply chains. Tesla was certainly not left out of the party. Tesla Model Y Long range vehicles for example, climbed in cost from around $45K to about 65K, almost a 50% increase in price. The craziest part was the used Tesla Market, used Teslas were selling higher than their initial purchase price, as wait times for New Teslas stretched out to 6 months or longer.
This was clearly a bubble and the Federal Reserve came to the rescue with the fastest interest rates increases in our lifetime, to tame the run away inflation in car prizes and the entire economy. With the economy starting to cool through 2022, Tesla started to have some trouble selling all their vehicles. Moreover the inflation Reduction Act signed by President Biden in Late 2022, meant that a lot of Tesla could theoretically qualify for the $7,500 tax credit for new EVs made in North America (Full qualification guidelines are published on the IRS wesite).
2022 ended with Tesla giving a discount of $3,750, followed by $7,500 as demand started to slow precipitously in 2022 and inventory piling up all over the globe for the automaker. When deliveries total was announced in early 2023, the automaker missed its delivery target and the already battered stock crashed yet again.
So in early 2023, reports emerged that Tesla had cut prices of its vehicle by as much as 20% in China and it was only a matter of time before those price cut came to North America. About a week ago from the publishing of this article, Tesla has since cut its prizes by as much 20% for the Model Y Long range Dual Motor and the internet has gone crazy with everyone on the internet saying what a great deal it is right now to buy a brand New Tesla. But I beg to differ and here is why.
First, with the economy standing on one leg at the moment, and interest rates still very high it makes no sense to go buy a depreciating asset with a potentially high interest rate. No matter how Elon Musk sugarcoats his vehicles, saying they are appreciating assets, he is wrong. If you go on sites like Cargurus.com, you will find used Tesla prices being cut by as much as 20 – 30% and even Doug DeMuru mentioned in one of his latest youtube videos that Teslas are selling at significant discounts at his auction website. The Inflation reduction Act that pushed Tesla to reduce its prices would be in effect for the next 10 years, so Tesla would be inclined to keep its prices low to continue to maintain its marketshare. There would great deals and a glut of Teslas to chose from if you are patient and don’t fall for the current hype.
Second, if we actually fall into a recession in 2023, there would be mass layoffs and many people would unfortunately lose their source of income. It would be unwise to have a brand new or overpriced used Tesla vehicle and a potential auto loan liability. Assuming you are part of the 85% of Americans that use an autoloan. So in my opinion, holding off on any new vehicle purchase right now is the best call and even Billionaire’s like Jeff Bezos mentioned in his recent interview, that its time to tighten our collective belts, reduce overall debt, wait and see how things play out in the economy.
The third reason you should not buy a Tesla right now is the stock. Over the past year, Tesla stock (TSLA) has performed abysmally, with losses of over 65% in 2022. Instead of buying a Tesla Vehicle right now, it might be a better move to invest in the stock directly as they are on sale at the moment. I am personally looking to buy some stocks over the next few weeks and 5 years from now, it will more than pay for my future Tesla.
In conclusion, while it’s certainly attractive to pull the trigger on a new Tesla right away, you may end up regretting it like the many Tesla owners who bought Tesla at the peak of the market and are now holding significantly devalued vehicles. Making the right finacial decisions takes patience and discipline, and if you are looking at paying down debt, take a look at this article. As we continue to navigate this economy, I wish you the best and I hope you make the best best decisions for yourselves and for the financial health of your families!
Debt repayment can be tough, but it is a necessary step toward financial independence. With the economy potentially slipping into a recession in 2023, debt reduction is a great goal to add to your lists of New Year resolutions. Whether you have credit card debt, student loans, car loans or other types of debt, you must devise a plan to pay it off as soon as possible. Here are some debt-reduction strategies to consider:
1.Increase your income and invest in yourself:
Investing in yourself by reading educational books, blogs and taking courses on personal finance would help you be better at managing your finances and reducing debt. Talking about education, here are my top personal finance books of all time; Rich Dad Poor Dad, The Millionaire next door, Think and Grow rich and The Intelligent Investor. Learning new skills would allow you to earn more money from side hustles on platforms like Upwork, Fiverr or temporarily taking a second job if your situation allows it.
2. Prioritize and consolidate your debts:
It is critical to prioritize which debts should be paid off first. Paying off high-interest debts first will help you save on interest costs, saving you money in the long run. Its also helpful to consolidate multiple credit debts into a single loan. This reduces the number of creditors you are dealing with and minimizes the chance of missing payment and incurring late payment fees. However, its important to shop around using Apps like Credit Karma and Mint.com to get an aggregate of offers.
3.Consider a balance transfer credit card:
If you have high-interest credit card debt, consider transferring it to a credit card with a 0% introductory interest rate. Just make sure to read the fine print and understand any balance transfer fees as well as the length of the introductory period.
4. Debt snowball strategy:
This entails paying off your debts in descending order, regardless of interest rate. The idea here is that you pay off smaller debts first, which reduces the total amount of creditors you are dealing with. You’ll be more motivated to keep paying off the smaller pool of creditors.
Invest in your own personal education taking advantage of platforms like skillshare to learn new skills and start a side hustle or business in 2023.
Don Martins
5. The debt avalanche method:
This involves paying off your debts in the order of highest to lowest interest rate. While this method may take longer to see results, it will save you more money in the long run because you are getting rid of your most expensive debts. This is especially important as the Feds keep raising interest rates in 2023.
6.Consider a debt-management strategy:
If you’re having trouble repaying your debts, you should think about a debt management plan. This is a repayment plan in which you make a single monthly payment to a credit counseling agency, which pays your creditors on your behalf. A debt management plan can help you reduce your interest rates and pay off your debts faster.
7.Seek professional assistance:
If you’re drowning in debt and don’t know where to turn, consider hiring a financial advisor or a credit counseling service. They can assist you in developing a debt repayment strategy and provide guidance and support throughout the process.
8. Make a budget:
The first step toward debt repayment is to make a budget that accounts for your income and expenses. Back in the early 1900s John D Rockefeller Sr. would keep very concise notes of all his financial transactions in a pocketbook. These days, you can automatically track where your money is going and keep tabs on your credit score using tools like Mint.com, Credit Karma and truebill.
Finally, paying off debt quickly requires discipline and sticking to a plan. You can work towards becoming debt-free and achieving financial freedom by creating a budget, prioritizing your debts, and considering options such as debt consolidation loans and balance transfer credit cards. Also, invest in your own personal education taking advantage of platforms like skillshare to learn new skills and start a side hustle or business in 2023. I wish you a Happy New year filled with prosperity, joy and no debts!
