MONEY IS A DRUG

"The Conscious Use of Money"
Written by Jack Canfield
Published by Bolder Giving
Written between 1990-2005


Jack Canfield, the co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, writes his story about going from no money to be a wealthy, financially stable person. As a child he went to private school paid for by his rich aunt, and was even able to get a scholarship to Harvard. He always wanted money, and to be wealthy, but he knew that if he achieved that dream he wouldn't use it on himself. Then his books became best sellers and in a whole year he made about 6 million dollars. With this money he did splurge and by himself and his wife nice things, but he also didn't forget what he really wanted to use the money for. He wanted to give the money to the people. He and his wife asked themselves one question, which is a great question in my opinion: We asked ourselves: if we had only one dollar to spend, where could we spend it to get the most transformation in the world? They decided to donate money to foundations that helped those literacy and dyslexia. This mans mission was to make a difference in the world, which he was trying to do even without money. So when he was given the benefit of having money it made it so much easier to make a difference in the world. However, now his book sales are dwindling and isn't having the high income he had before. This just made him realize that he has to make careful financial decisions.  

Jack's story shows that just because you have money doesn't mean you have the luxury of spending all that money every 5 seconds. He spent his money wisely, but did splurge for his family when he wanted to treat them. But he always stuck to his promise that he would help the people if he ever became rich. He did helped the people and he made a difference, all while maintaining his income. Even now he and his business partner have 10 or more percent taken out of their income and given to charity. He is a very generous person, and really wants to make a difference in the world everyday.

Money & Banking

This week in Weserville we applied for checking accounts. Now we are all members of the Bank of Nettie and are successfully depositing and withdrawing money from our accounts. I think this is a great thing to learn, because it is actually what we will be doing in the real world in the future. I'm really glad we are learning this now so that we will be fully educated and know how to do it when we get older. YAYYYYYYY MONEYYYYYYY!!!

ETHIOPIA

Quick Facts of Ethiopia

Published by Time Inc. 2014

Since this week in class we learned about Less Developed Countries, and will be starting a project on the country we have chosen I thought I'd do a little background search. I will be doing my global project on Ethiopia. These are just some quick facts about Ethiopia but I can't wait to research it more and learn the more economical side of the country. 

Official name: Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

Size: 426,373 square miles (1,104,300 square kilometers); about twice the size of Texas

Population: 90,873,739 as of 2011

Capital: Addis Ababa

Climate: Moderate in highlands; hot and dry in lowlands

Languages: Amharic, Arabic, English, Oromigna, Tirigna, others

Currency: Birr

Products: Coffee, cereals, sugarcane, oilseeds, honey

We are Watching the Market

This week we have continued our lesson on competition, and also studied market structures, which is all very exciting and new. However, we have been introduced to a new game. We are now starting to play MarketWatch where we actually act as stock holders, trading and selling stocks. We are all competing against each other and possibly our parents if they chose to join in the fun. Only my mother said she would probably have -$0 if that is even a thing. But for now the competition is fierce, we are hoping we made good investments so we can earn the special prizes at the end of the month. Today was the first day of our trades and it seems like we are all doing pretty well. So i hope we can keep it up and turn out to be great investors in the stock market!

CLIMB FOR YOUR LIVES

WESERVILLE IS UNDERWATER!!!! WHAT DO WE DO? WHERE DO WE GO? AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Weserville has just been attacked with storm clouds, and a hug flood, 10 feet high has completely covered the town. All of our houses are completely damaged and under water. Residents are asked to stay out of low floors, and if you have a second story house to please stay on the 2nd floor. This is a very tragic accident, and we need all the help we can get. Right now the main road going to our new Walmart is completely destroyed and will be back up and running in about 9 months, hopefully. Only the biggest downfall of all is that the bridge which lets people get in and out of town has... wait for it... COLLAPSED!!! It is broken, demolished and just in pieces, so know no one can leave and no one can come in. FEMA is supposed to be coming soon to help us restore our lovely town. Please help Weserville get back on its feet!!!! <3

TOUGH JOB MARKET FOR TEENS

Teens Face Toughest Job Market on Record
Written by: Annalyn Kurtz on March 14, 2014
Published by: CNN Money


There was a study made by the Brookings Institution which concluded that job opportunities for teenagers and people in their early twenties are going down.  In the 100 largest metro areas only 1 in 6 young people are employed. Most teenagers are still in school, either enrolled in high school or college. But the study said that reason did not explain why so many young people were unemployed. There was a measure in the job market that shows about 1.8 million teenagers in the top metropolitan areas are "underutilized". Well what does that mean? Underutilized means that they are either looking for a job, would like to work but aren't looking, or they have a part-time job and want to work full-time. A writer of the study expressed her opinion that underutilization would not have spiked if students were happy in school and not wanting to work. In the study it is shown that teenagers from high-income families are more likely to get a job, and those from low-income families, or high school dropouts were denied the chance of employment. High school is a big step in one's life, because from that point on were are suppose to be ready to be on our own and go to college and get a job. However, now it is obvious that attending high school is not nearly enough preparation for students to get a job. The study report blames the education system for the decline in jobs for teens. It says that high school should better prepare for college course work and employment.

When I'm in school I really don't care about Math or History  or Theology or Science or English or learning a foreign language because that is not stuff I'm going to need to know for life. I don't need to know how to graph a point or find the surface area of a prism. I really don't need History because that's all in the past. School is not preparing us for real life. Classes like economics, life skills, and classes that teach us everyday skills. So I think school needs to focus on educating us in things that we really need to know to be able to survive in the future. How to manage our money, and run a household, things like that are important. Maybe if high school did a better job educating us in things that we really need, rather than useless things that waste time, we might be able to get a job. We might be able to go to college and know how to live once we graduate. Math is going to do me any good when I'm 80, so I don't know why it matters now.

@TipsForJesus

Anonymous Restaurant Tipper's Generosity Is Spreading!

Written by Meera Dolasia on February 22, 2014 

Published by DOGO Media, Inc. 

@TipsForJesus is not so much about economics, but I found it to be very interesting and it does have to do with money. There is an anonymous person going around making very very generous tips to waiters around the country. It began in Michigan and now has spread all the way from Hawaii to New York. This person gives incredible tips such as $1000, $3000, $4000, $5000, etc. In totally they have given about $130,000 away in tips. Some are convinced that the mysterious giver is Jack Selby, PayPal Vice President, but that was not confirmed and when asked to speak, he demands to remain anonymous. He stamps the receipts with the twitter handle of @tipsforjesus so the waiters know that it is not a typo. This generous tip phenomena has spread across America, which was his goal. He is hoping that those who are also wealthy enough will donate generously hoping to change someone's life. 

This generous tipper has a motto, which is "Doing the Lord's work, just one tip at a time." He is really spreading the Lord's work, not just in money, but showing that he wants to do good. These events are almost like they are out of the movie Pay it Forward, where one good deed turns into a chain reaction that spreads across the country. This is absolutely an amazing story because not only does this person have a lot of money he has a lot of heart. He is also very humble because even after all this media and press he still doesn't want to be known. He wants to keep his identity on the down low and keep giving generous tips. Who knows why he is doing it, but he is definitely making an impression.