The ELEMENTS of money

Mama Mia!

Mama Mia!

Forget waiting 30 minutes for delivery… check out this new vending machine that makes pizza from scratch in less than three minutes! It actually whips up flour, water, tomato sauce and fresh ingredients into a hot pizza. The machine even has a little window so you can see the pizza being made. The average pizza is priced at about $6, but it costs $32,000 for the machine itself, which is 10 times the cost of an average vending machine. These are popping up around Italy, but hopefully we will start seeing them in the U.S. soon. And I thought buying an iPod from a vending machine was cool…

-Nayla  

The Cheapest Car in the world is coming …

Don’t take this as a bad thing, either!  The Indian car company, Tata, recently revealed that they will be coming out with a car that only costs $2000!  It’s going to be called the Nano, and it’s aimed at being a “value-for-money” car. Sounds about right  - that’s way cheaper than most used cars I’ve seen! 

Unfortunately, it’s not available in the U.S. just yet, but it’s surely on it’s way.

I think this is going to make a lot of new drivers pretty happy. I know there’s still insurance and gas to pay for, but that’s one auto loan that could be paid off pretty darn quickly! 

I think I’ll take my Nano in yellow:

Kim

Tip of the day: Cash

I love to eat out, I mean, LOVE it! And if you’re anything like me, you probably have a favorite spot where they even know you by your first name! But it’s no secret in this tough economy that more and more businesses are struggling to keep their doors open. I don’t know about you, but I would be bummed if my favorite pizza place had to close down.

So for those of you who support your local spots, there is a way to help them out even more: Don’t put your tip on your credit or debit card, try and leave a cash tip instead.

Card processors charge the restaurant a percentage of the total bill (including the tip) that you put on your credit or debit card. So your favorite restaurant may be paying up to two percent or more on tips, sales taxes and even to-go orders. But at the end of the day, they still have to pay out their servers the full tipped amount. So let’s say you leave your server a 20 percent tip on the card, the restaurant ends up paying out her share in addition to the credit card processor fee on top of that. And this adds up to more than the original 20 percent you left! In this economy, where every cent of profit counts, that can make a big difference. So give your hot spot a break and pay tips with cash!

Happy eating and until next time,
Nayla

The Great Bathroom Token in the Sky

Okay … I know we’re in financial crisis and all, but I found another crazy news story that just takes things to a whole new level!

Lucky for me, I am not usually flying anywhere from the UK, but the Irish airline RyanAir, is considering charging their customers to use the bathroom while on the plane! Don’t believe me?  Check it out!

Yeah, that’s right.  You will need a token to use the restroom if you’re flying from London to Lisbon … Dublin to Dubai … you get the picture.  Does anyone out there think this is as insane as I do? I guess RyanAir also figures they’ll also cut costs on the airline beverage service too … I have a feeling people won’t be indulging in as many of those free Dr. Pepper’s if they’re gonna need spare change to use the lavatory each time.

So – I guess that’s just another reason to save your money.  Who knows what the future holds, and what kinds of unforeseen charges they may bring?

Kim

Coachella-bound

The lights, the sounds, the bands, the crazy art sculptures and even crazier fans… yes, it’s time for Coachella once again!

Now, I don’t know about you, but saving up enough money to pay for a three-day pass is kinda crazy… And good luck convincing your parents that Coachella is “technically” an emergency and to hand over the credit card! Lucky for me, I had been saving up enough to go on one of the days and still have enough to buy a t-shirt.

As I was making the painful decision of “do I see Morrissey on Friday or The Killers on Saturday,” I found out that Coachella was offering a layaway payment plan for the three-day passes. They don’t charge interest or fees and all you have to do is pay the rest of it by April 1, which means more time to save up! I had never heard of this before and thought that this was way better than using a credit card. Not only would you have to pay off what you charged, but you would also have to pay more on the interest to borrow that money.

Nayla

Text Much?

I swear – texting is the best form of communication!  I will publicly admit it: I am a textaholic. We all know that there are just so many perfect reasons to text.  If you’re somewhere and you just can’t pick up the phone – you can text back. If you don’t know if someone is busy, just text them – and if they text back, it’s cool.  And of course if I have to get in touch with the parents, I can always text to let them know what’s up. My mom even knows how to text back! ☺

So, I know I’m not the only person who has learned the hard way about how much texting can jack up your phone bill!  And, I also know it’s no new news that all the other fun stuff we get to do with our phones (Twitter, Facebook …) can add up on the bill, too.  But now that there are so many people texting (yeah … like our parents!), cellphone providers are coming out with new and better plans.  I actually just found out that because I got my new messaging phone, I automatically got a few extra features that the rest of my family doesn’t have, even though we’re on the same plan.  So, if you haven’t taken a look at your plan in awhile, check it out.  If you’re on a family plan like me, definitely let your family know.  You could be saving money, or getting more for the money you’re paying now!

Speaking of someone on a family plan, check this out: This girl sent 14,528 text messages in a month!  Of course, her family had the unlimited texting plan, but if they didn’t, do you know how much they would’ve owed AT&T? $2,905.60!!!  

Kim

Let’s Go Back In Time

Hey there, I’m Nayla and I am a friend of Kim’s. She told me she was posting to this blog and after checking it out, I totally wanted to contribute too! I also joined my credit union recently and was really glad I did… I am fascinated by money, how it works and finding ways to get smarter about it. In fact, here is something that I thought was super interesting…

I saw a poll that said that 72% of Americans* think debt is a part of everyday life and that it’s difficult to avoid.  This made me think about debt and how it even became such a big part of people’s lives in the first place.

I was surprised to find out that debt has been around for hundreds of years… in fact, it has been around almost as long as money! And did you know that loans in America were only reserved for the rich upper class until 1928? Everybody else had to go to a loan shark or a pawn shop (and yeah, those were as bad as they sound!) It was during the Great Depression, that the working class was finally able to get a loan for a house or a car. But it wasn’t even until the 1950’s that the credit card was introduced! 

It was pretty cool to learn something new about money, especially about things so common, we don’t even think twice about it! So let this give you something to think on when you go for your credit card, car loan or school loan. All I can say is I am glad I can walk in to the credit union and bypass the loan shark!  

*www.bankrate.com

Nayla

A Very Big Prize Inside!

So I saw this article not too long ago, and there was just no way I couldn’t blog on this one!

Basically what happened was this: A family was shopping at Whole Foods market in the OC, they bought a box of crackers, and once they opened them up at home, there was an envelope inside with $10,000 in it!

I swear, this is no joke!  That’s definitely the biggest “prize” I’ve ever heard of being inside of a box! The family that discovered it was pretty amazing … instead of going on a wild shopping spree, they actually called the police once they discovered the money.  It turns out that the police had actually gotten a call from Whole Foods saying that an elderly lady had come into the store in hysterics a few days before. She was claiming that she accidentally returned the wrong box to Whole Foods a few days earlier - she said the box she accidentally returned had her life savings inside! 

Now don’t get me wrong, I definitely felt bad for the woman (and extremely amazed that she got the money back), but the first thing that went through my mind once I read this article was, “Why would someone keep that much money in a box … AT HOME?!?” My second thought was, “Shouldn’t they know better?” Why did she have all that money in the box? She said that she had lost confidence in her bank, and decided that the safest place for her money was at home. 

So I don’t mean to be totally cheesy, but this is such a textbook “lesson” that the credit union is always trying to tell us!  Our money is the most safe when it’s deposited into our account.  Seriously, she is lucky the right people stumbled upon that box of crackers – or else she would’ve lost her entire life savings.  I’m not sure most people would be that honest!

If you wanna check out this story (just in case you don’t believe me!), read it here.

Kim

The New Kid

Ever since I met Catie, she has been telling me that I need to open a Credit Union account. Before I met her, I thought you had to be a teacher or something to belong to a credit union! Kind of lame to admit, I know … but to be honest, I didn’t really see what the big deal was.

But after a lot of listening, I finally took her advice and got my account. I am so glad that I did!  And now that I am officially a Credit Union member, I get to contribute to her blog, too.  :)  So here I am, the Credit Union newbie! 

Hey everybody - I’m Kim. I’m the new kid!  I’m really looking forward to posting cool stuff I find that relates to everything we’re talking about here on the elements blog. I really hope you guys will comment often! 

More soon …
Kim

Fashionably Frugal

 

 I've come to the conclusion that unless your zip code is 90210, or you so happen to be a Gossip Girl, buying $500 boots and $800 handbags is out of the question. After all, our country is in the middle of crazy job losses and people are losing their homes. But even though the economy is in tatters, it doesn’t mean that you must be. Designer labels, posh accessories, and extravagant purchases are so yesterday.

Today’s look is fashionably frugal and the good news is that you won’t need to whip out a credit card to get it. So in keeping in the spirit of my saving money theme, here's today's tip: share with a friend!

Team up with a friend and vow to become fashionably frugal together. Offer to help her with her closet if she’ll help you with yours. Consider trading clothes to ensure that each of you has at least four to five outfits and to even out any duplicate items. For example, if you have three black t-shirts and she has two brown belts, give her one of your t-shirts in exchange for one of her belts and donate the extra t-shirt to charity.

Going through each others closets and sharing the wealth is a fun way to spend time with a friend, and will help the two of you overcome the urge to shop.

That's all for today. Stay tuned for more money-saving tips.

Catie