If you look hard enough, there are personal finance lessons to be learned at nearly every turn—on TV, at the movies, and … by observing your pets, and listening to geese honk in the sky?
Here, some financial lessons to consider from quirky sources such as …
‘THE BIGGEST LOSER’
A Mint.com writer offers five personal finance lessons absorbed from the popular TV show that’s all about getting in shape and losing weight while millions of viewers judge the contestants’ progress (or lack thereof). Speaking of which, one of the takeaways from the show is accountability:
Accountability is a key ingredient when it comes to achieving difficult goals. Very simply, we are more likely to follow through on something if we know others are paying attention to us.
Use this principle to your advantage when it comes to personal finance. Instead of keeping your goals a secret, publicize them. Tell your friends and family about the positive changes you intend to make.
GEESE
A Christian Personal Finance post discusses why it is that geese honk while they’re flying. Scientists say that this is one of the reasons:
It is widely thought that this honking is a way of encouraging one another, in order to keep up flock moral. By honking, geese are able to communicate their mutual success, and really put forth a full effort for the entire flock.
So what does that mean to you and me? Well, it makes the case that there’s a real benefit to discussing what was for a long time a taboo topic: money. Blogs have made it easier—or at least less uncomfortable—to talk openly about personal finance successes and failures alike, to share tips on saving, investing, shopping, and debt management. And just by opening up, you’re helping out the flock, even if it’s just with moral support or by letting somebody know they’re not the only financial screw-up out there.
STAR WARS
A Salon.com contributor muses on what the Empire will teach his newborn son, specifically about what the grim state of affairs he can expect in the workplace:
Wherever you stand in the debate about what the Empire metaphorically represents — a huge corporation, your faceless county government, the vast military-industrial complex — it’s undoubtedly the kind of place in which many of us now toil: namely, inside a bureaucracy that has lots of worker-bee drones and a very clear management hierarchy. In the age of mass layoffs, de-unionization, the shredding of labor regulations, and a general desperation to hold onto a job, the “Star Wars” trilogy — and specifically, senior corporate executive Darth Vader — prepares kids for how that modern workplace operates.
A 1943 RESTAURANT MENU
While dining in a historic Los Angeles restaurant, a LiveCheap blogger saw one of the eatery’s old menus displayed behind glass. The artifact was not only cute, but revelatory, showing that taxes and inflation have skyrocketed in the decades that have passed, and that the folks who write up menu descriptions to tempt diners into this or that entrée selection sure do lay it on much thicker than their predecessors:
Today, the menu peppers you with mouthwatering adjectives designed to sell you on the food – “savory”, “tender”, “delicious”… On the 66 year old menu, the only creative hard sell was for the “Wonderful Hotcakes” and I bet they earned that well deserved reputation to command 35 cents. They’re probably just as good today but they’ll cost you $7 and I’m not certain if they still serve them with real Maple Syrup.
YOUR PETS
Real Simple rounded up lessons learned from serious animal lovers, including a Philadelphia music teacher who thinks more people should behave like cats:
I respect each of my seven cats because they are so true to themselves and resistant to outside influences. In my opinion, it would be preferable for politicians, in particular, to behave more like cats, who just do their own thing, and less like dogs, who clamor for affection and acceptance.
In many ways, consumers should do likewise—do your own thing and ignore proclamations from marketers and society that play off consumer insecurities and say you absolutely must do or buy something or other ($300 jeans, for instance). The more independently you operate, the less likely you are to be one of the consumer types who inevitably overspend.