Response to Chase's Blog Presentation on 11/30

Psh Chase He So Crazy

One could consider Chase's rant against Android users during his Blog presentation erroneous. A lesser man would have stood up and interrupted what was left of his downhill presentation, so instead I retaliated appropriately in a harmless Blog post. Knowing Chase on a personal level, this post could only be interpreted as constructive criticism.

Androids may freeze up sometimes, but it is a small downfall to the possibilities it opens. My HTC Sensation is my computer away from my computer, something that the iPhone could never do for me. I'm glad when my phone freezes, that means it's working hard for me beyond the point of it's capabilities. I like that in a phone. My Android takes beautiful 8 megapixel photos, surfs web and is flash compatible, and I've been talking to my phone

I would quote Chase when he said "[Androids]...they suck ass" but since it was a hollow statement backed by nothing i'll refrain from doing so.

I look forward to Chase's next post, which will surely be filled with more Apple sympathizing nonsense. Or maybe a public apology next class.

Joey <3

Hybrid/ Electric Cars

Electric Car Commercials Love to Use Eco Friendly as a Selling Point

But where does that energy come from? Every time a Prius driver goes home and plugs his car into the wall, is he really saving the environment? His car is undisputedly giving out little to no emissions which certainly makes a good selling point.

According to the Energy Policy of the United States, most electricity (52%) in the country is generated from coal-fired power plants.

Nuclear energy, a potentially cleaner source only takes up a mere 19.6%. And those plants may not even power where you live.

So in the end you may only be saving the air around the roads, but will impact nothing positively.

On a sales-related note you also don't save that much money on gas because every 2-3 years you have to replace the $2,000 battery.

My Father is a Wise Man

Or so it sometimes appears...

Regardless he is very knowledgable about real-estate in the bay area. He's the guy that goes shopping and come homes with some of those free home sales magazines in the paper stands. Anyways he referred a book to me wich I researched and will describe in the following post.

It's called :The Smart Consumer Guide to Home Buying and it evidently illustrates the ins and outs of the real estate market.

For about $20 after shipping on Amazon.com you will get a complete understanding of the following concepts:

-Consideration of family needs: how many rooms, what kind of neighborhood, access to schools, shopping, and the like

-Is the home affordable? Considerations include the size of the down payment, the size and type of -mortgage, projecting monthly payments, and allowing for unforeseen expenses

-Making an offer and negotiating with sellers and real estate agents

-The close, settlement, and escrow

-Remodeling: adding to a home and making improvements

-Investment Property: understanding market values

-Selling a home . . . and much, much more

Occupy Wall Street

53 Percent of Americans Pay Income Tax

It's shocking to learn that more than half of all Americans pay no Federal income tax at all. Apparently, more than just the people in this class like to save money! So Occupy Wall Street may be the "99 percent" but I personally feel like credit is due to the "53 percent" who keep the country in business, right?

That said, why don't 47 percent of Americans owe taxes on April 15th? It's all about income level and tax benefits. A family of 4 earning over $26,400 a year will pay no taxes because the $11,600 standard deduction plus four exemptions of $3,700 each will lower their taxable income to zero, hence the no paying of taxes.

So if you're trying to save some cash on taxes, either don't pay and risk the 1 in 10 chance of getting caught by random audit, or start popping out kids. But those are expensive too.

Budgeting - The First Step

Budgeting Before you can buy anything, you must first have a budget. While one might think that budgeting doesn't relate to my blog topic, but in fact this post pertains to sales in that it is the prerequisite to all things monetary. In fact I would consider budgeting one's money to be the most primary, capital, and direct step to buying anything. Some of the ideas in this post were inspired by howstuffworks.com

Focus on Savings By now, you know how much money­ you have. The first step to building some savings is to figure out how much of that can be saved each month. Have it direct-deposited to your savings account, or to your mutual fund. Wherever you decide to keep your savings, make sure you put money into it every month. That savings will make a big difference for you later.­

Use Cash Take out enough cash to last one week at a time. Doing this makes it easier for you to decide how much money you can spend in that given week. It's much easier to turn down a $60 pair of shoes when it will take the last of your week's cash than it is when you just have to swipe a credit card.

Bad Habits Wh­ether it's alcohol, tobacco, or crack, you know how expensive bad habits can be. Stop smoking, drinking, and tweaking and put money toward your other expenses. You'll see your bills come down and feel your health improve in no time. You'll also save on health care expenses down the road because you may become eligible for lower insurance premiums.

Be Flexible Life is unpredictable so when you make a budget, try to allow some extra money for variable expenses. And don't get too worked up. It can be hard to get back on track ­if you let yourself get too frustrated over a mistake or two.

Super Market Trickery

In furtherance of my aims to promote consumer knowledge, I have made the topic of this post "Super Market Trickery" and it will contain some tricks that grocery stores use to get you to spend those extra dollar$.

Look high and low Supermarkets are in the real-estate business, and prime selling space includes the middle or eye-level shelving. Vendors sometimes pay retailers hundreds, even thousands, of dollarsfees to take on new products or display products prominently. And for the record the pre-bagged or Safeway brand isn't always the cheapest. Carrots, celery, lettuce, and cheese cost up to almost five times as much prepackaged , on a unit-cost basis.

Compare unit prices Only a few states and metro areas have laws requiring price tags on every item. Elsewhere you'll typically find shelf tags under each product that reveal the cost per ounce, quart, pound, or 100 sheets. The only way to see if you're getting your money's worth is to do some math to compare unit price!

Avoid checkout temptations Snacks at the checkout look more appealing the longer you're in line. But they're overpriced. At a standard gas station buying a six pack, you can spend like 60c to 80c a can, whereas in line you may be paying over $2.00 after tax. Crazy ripoff!

Check the receipt In a 2008 survey, 6 percent of respondents said that they were overcharged at the register. Not to mention many stores will give you the item free on account of the error. Get there while you can! -Joseph Placke- Marketing Enthusiast Extraordinaire