a guide to getting past life's little quirks | wednesday | period 2 | july 22

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

Today, the class was meeting in the computer lab since Loki couldn't very well release the class on the mainland to do what he was going to do today.

"So, how many of you are rich?" He didn't expect too many hand raises and, even if someone had raised their hand, he would have continued on with the lesson and ignored that. "Yeah, not too many of us have wads of money to throw at things and to always buy whatever the fuck we want. So, we have to learn to budget, to manage, to use our money wisely and to still get whatever the fuck we want. It's not always easy."

Who was he kidding, it was hardly ever fucking easy.

"The easiest way to make the most bang for your buck is to, of course, look for bargains, sales, that kind of shit. And that's always the fucking mom way. A lot of times when people teach you about money management, they leave out opportunities like bribing someone else to give you their money or sticking someone else on the wrong end of the barter they you end up with their money and they get some fucking bus pass. Is that always ethical? No. But look at the fucking worlds you all come from. I don't think ethics are always going to fucking come into play when you're trying to fucking survive."

He paused for a minute, briefly wondering what life would have been like if he and Bartleby had been given gobs of money to mess around with while in Wisconsin. He decided it wouldn't have been that fucking different.

"Now, once you have money, you cannot blow it all on beer and strippers no matter how fucking enticing it is. If you really want that, see if you can give something else up--and I don't mean that illegally--for them. Try offering services--again, not illegal--in exchange. If you don't learn to start managing your money early, you're going to be up a fucking creek without a fucking paddle when you're broke like a joke. For today's lesson, each of you are getting a different amount of money and access to the internet. What you need to find is something to eat, something to drink and some form of fucking entertainment without going over. Sounds easy, right? If you have a good amount of money, it just might be. Get to work."

He motioned to the computer and went to sit down and observe.

[class is ready to go! | Class Roster & Syllabus]

Comments

class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

Money amounts are below! You have that much money to find something to drink, something to eat and some entertainment! Try to have money left over! You're free to link your stuff up so everyone can see if you'd like! Some are easier than others! Don't go over what you have!

• Agnes: $10
  
• Blysse: $21
  
• Chie: $18
  
• Edmund: $6
  
• Effy: $17
  
• Elena: $23
  
• Elle: $11
  
• Emmett: $22
  
• Fiona: $9
  
• Griff: $19
  
• George: $22
  
• Helen: $7
  
• Jaina: $13
  
• Jenny: $27
  
• Layla: $13
  
• Edward: $15
  
• Tara: $20
  
• Yuffie: $16
  
• Zack: $24

Re: class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

Edmund found himself a Breakfast Taco Del Carbon from Del Taco (http://www.deltaco.com/home.html) for 79c, hot tea from 7-11 (http://www.7-eleven.com/ProductsServices/TastyBeverages/tabid/130/Default.aspx) for $1.09, leaving him $4.12 to buy a copy of the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonian.com/blogarticles/people/capitalcomment/10450.html) and have some left over.

He might have been looking rather pleased with himself by the time he was done.

Re: class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[cutsthestrings.livejournal.com]

Fiona didn't much care about the food and drink, but 99 cents meals were available at most major chains. She presented a hamburger for $0.99, one of Mooby's $1.00 sweetened teas to drink, and found a book (http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780688123048-3) for under five dollars, which gave her money to spare.

Re: class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[life_inshadow]

Tara felt a little guilty for having what seemed like a lot of money. She bought a DVD of a movie she'd always liked and a chicken burrito and soda from Chipotle, and still had almost $5 left over.

Re: class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[solo_sword]

This seemed easy. Especially since Jaina knew she could probably hit up Turtle and Canary, pick up whatever DVD was on sale, grab microwave popcorn and a soda and still have like $3 left. Oooh, big spender.

...This whole thing may have been John's influence, yes.

Re: class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[noearsyet.livejournal.com]

George was staring at the computer, uncertainly poking at a button once in a while. Where did the stuff come out?

Re: class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

"Problem, George?" Loki asked when he caught George's hesitation with the computer.

Re: class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[noearsyet.livejournal.com]

"Tis a-" he frowned. "How d'you get th' goods?"

Re: class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

Loki stared for a minute before realization kicked in. "No technology where you're from?"

Re: class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[noearsyet.livejournal.com]

"Technology?" he repeated, quick enough with his tongue not dirty to pronounce the unfamiliar word evenly. "Y'mean th' magic lanterns and th' teevees an' milkshakes?"

Re: class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

"Something like that," Loki said, leaving that be for now. "The goods aren't actually going to appear here in front of you today. When people buy things off the computer, they're sent via mail or courier service at a later date."

Look at him, being all helpful and shit.

Re: class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[noearsyet.livejournal.com]

"How d'you bargain than?" he asked. "Only a fool buys from one he doesn't know. What if th'goods aren't any good?"

Re: class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

"Over the computer, you can't really bargain," he allowed with a shrug. "Sometimes you can negotiate with someone via email or other method to get the price down but it's not the same as in person. I'd have let you guys loose on the mainland if I'd thought about it sooner."

Re: class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[noearsyet.livejournal.com]

George made a face. Seriously. That was just stupid.

"So ye just trust th' shopkeeper will jus' keep his end of th' bargain?"

Re: class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

"Well, and this is an assumption, the ways of buying things have changed since your time," Loki said. "There are a lot more safeguards in place so you don't get fucking ripped off and, if you do, you have ways of getting your money back and sticking it to the store owner at the same time."

Re: class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[noearsyet.livejournal.com]

"Hard t' slit his throat through a-" he gestured at the computer "-box thing."

Re: class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

Loki raised an eyebrow and said, "Don't think about knifing one of these computers. I'm not paying for them."

Re: class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

Lucky for Effy, she'd always had parents who were... reasonably well off. That, and she had her own smaller (illegal) revenue stream.

Still, couldn't be that hard to find a a sub and drink (http://deliverybyquiznos.com/), and she could usually charm her way into clubs for cheap, or even free. Might even have some spare from her $17.

Re: class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[puppy_fair]

Oh, easy! And he'd been given a decent amount of money too, right?

Zack really, really had no idea what the worth of the American dollar was, but at least he wasn't a total failure with numbers. To eat, he found a three-topping pizza for $10.99 at Papa John's, and a 2-liter Coke for another $2.49. And for the heck of it, he ordered the $3.99 breadsticks and one of each of the eight different dipping sauces, at $0.49 apiece. Maybe because he liked dipping sauces. Maybe because he had the budget handy and he was easily amused.

For entertainment? Oh, Zack was easy. He'd just spend his time doing squats. Those were free!

All in all, it came to $21.39 before taxes, well under his $24 budget. Mission accomplished!

Re: class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[elephantgadget.livejournal.com]

Helen went to a supermarket website (http://hannaford.adplexonline.com/WeeklySpecials.aspx?pdx=1) where she picked up garden vegetable egg beaters (7 servings per container) for $.99, a pound of peaches for $.99, and a 64 oz. bottle of iced tea for $.99. She was used to planning for longer term than just one meal.

She chose 2 books for $.75 each from a list of options on another website (http://shops.half.ebay.com/thrift-books_diana-wynne-jones_W0QQsellerZthriftQ5fbooksQQmZbooks) and figured she'd save the remaining $2.53 for another day.

Re: class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[iknowstuff.livejournal.com]

Layla found a pizza shop which took up all but four dollars which she managed to use at one of those theaters that run older movies for two

Re: class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[findingelena.livejournal.com]

Elena grew up in the slums under the city of Midgar, and he'd given her $23. This was a snap.

She found a Chinese restaurant (http://mypekingrestaurant.com/PekingTakeoutMenu.pdf) nearby and snagged some Moo Goo Gai Pan for $4.75. For entertainment, she found a ready-made poker set (http://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-Poker-Bonus-Playing-Cards/dp/B0009XBXEA/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1248281477&sr=1-13) with playing cards and chips for $4.49. It was probably a rip-off, since you could play nickel-dime and only need to buy the cards themselves, but fuck it, she had plenty of cash. And if she was on her own, she could play solitaire.

Which left her with ... seemed to be a little over $13. The hell with frugality, she was going to spend $11.99 on overproof rum (http://www.laurentiwines.com/sku10465.html).

Re: class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[youcantfollow.livejournal.com]

For $3.95, Griff found his favorite coffee (http://www.starbucks.com/) to go with a $8 Chicken Tikka Massalla (http://www.currytogo.com/). As far as entertainment went, he was perfectly happy to spend his last $7 on a trashy novel (http://www.amazon.com/Twilight-Saga-Book-1/dp/0316015849/ref=br_lf_m_1000357831_1_2_ttl?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=books&pf_rd_p=482444531&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_i=1000357831&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=19M5MYH8HCBRJXC53X5J).

Re: class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

Not being able to read presented something of a problem when given a task involving computers.

So she was just gonna sit here and randomly poke at keys.

Eventually, she ended up at a site (http://icanhascheezburger.com/) full of pictures of cats. With words on them. She had no idea what those words were, however, and thus no idea why anyone would bother to collect such a thing.

Re: class activity | money management [llq 07/22]

[gotyourmateria.livejournal.com]

Yuffie sort of stared at the amount of money she was allotted, and then the guy teaching the class.

Food, easy. Some Mexican place had lunch platters for $5, and the portions were bigger than her head, so she could have lunch and dinner. Drinks, easy. Soda was $1.50 for a two liter, she could make that last. $3 for a box of tea too, for dinner.

As for entertainment? A free concert in some park and sitting on the roof and listening in on conversations at the cabins was fun too.

There, she spent less then $10.