Recently in Money Category

http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2008/02/19/smart-women-marry-for-money-and-heres-why/

I was interested in finding a good article on "Gold Diggers" but found this article about why women marry for money.

Having a marriage is like having a business.

"It's like running a corporation. A business venture. You have to go into it knowing that it could fail or it could succeed beyond your wildest dreams and make you rich... If the employees don't share the vision, believe in the vision and work together, the endeavor will fail. Some businesses will get rich. Some will barely make ends meet. Some will never make a dime. The money does not measure success. The sense of accomplishment will come from the daily struggle... the love of what you do, working together day in and day out."

A lot of marriages end in divorThe reality is that personal finance issues are the leading cause of divorce and in order to live happily ever after, you must be on the same page as far as your finances are concerned.

The article goes on to talk about why smart women do marry for the money which includes

-A man with a plan

-Aligned Financial Values

-.Motivated by Money to Create the Life They Want

I chose this article to show how a women has psychological needs to have a fulfilling/ the life they want. These type of women have a high need for autonomy because they want what is best for them. Reeve (2009) states that autonomy is the psychological need to experience self-direction and personal endorsement in the initiation and regulation of one's behavior (p.146).

Do you think these facts would make you change your perception about marrying for love or money? Or what are your morals before and after reading this article? 

With the economy the way that it is and many of us graduating this May and hopefully finding jobs, it may be tought to get the job you want.  I found an article that talks about keeping your chin up when the time of losing a job and needing to find another one turns into weeks and then into months.  I believe we can apply the same concepts when the struggles of finding a job can take a tole on us.  People who have lost a job or are just trying to find a job need to stay positive and not just dwell on "I cannot find a job"  There are many things you can do according to this article that I never thought of doing that would help with getting your mind out of the dumps and do something else in the off time of finding a job.  Going out with friends, taking some time for yourself, or even learn a new skill that could eventually help you with your job.  Maybe take up some extra college classes to amp up that resume.  Another thing that would be good and rewarding for someone would be to volunteer.  It not only looks good on a resume, but after having yet no luck in the job search, volunteering might be a good way to cope with things and make someone feel good about themselves.

It is very stressful to find a job after losing a job or just finding one out of college, especially in the economy that we are in now.  It is no wonder why an article like this could help someone out.  I wouldn't have thought of volunteering as a way to help with the stress of finding a job, but it could definitely be rewarding.

 

article: http://careerplanning.about.com/cs/jobloss/a/chin_up.htm

In the textbook there is a section about learned helplessness. I'm sure many of us have heard about this term in other classes, it occurs when a person believes they have no control in a situation. This concept can be applied to being poor. In the article "Learned Helplessness: The Secret to Being Poor" it talks about how people living in lower economic statuses believe they are not able to improve their status no matter what they do or how hard they work. These people learn helplessness in this situation. The article goes on to give a few suggestions on how to create more control your life to help break the cycle of learned helplessness. The five suggestions are:

 

1. Embrace Change
2. Get perspective
3. Set goals
4. Achieve success
5. Consider a different viewpoint

 

I think that it is interesting that one suggestion is to set goals, like we talked about a few weeks ago. A person who sets goals and creates a plan will more likely complete their goal. Do you believe that these five suggestions would actually work to help improve a person's status and to break learned helplessness?

 

Article:

http://moneywatch.bnet.com/career-advice/blog/other-8-hours/the-secret-to-being-poor/1288/

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/04/day-of-action-update-rowd_n_486276.html

http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/relationship-advice/secrets-women-keep-0308?click=pp

This article was about what girls should keep from their significant others.  I thought it was interesting because I work in a shoe department and a lot of women always tell me they are going to be in trouble when they get home.  Some will even tell me to throw away the boxes because it will make it easier to sneak in the new shoes.  I know that men get uptight about it but I don't quite understand it, especially if you aren't married and sharing an income.  Why do you care what shoes or things I buy?  Do you think about the future and that we will waste money on "unnecessary things" in your mind?  Although a lot of us women don't think a 60 inch TV is necessary.  Another question I have is, if you want us to like your gift, why must you get something we didn't ask for?  We don't always want jewelry!   
The top five things to keep from your sweetie were:
1. Past Hookups
2. How you spend your money
3. The way you feel about his family
4. Innocent Flirtations
5. What you really think of his gift

Why is money so important?

That was my reoccurring question while watching this last movie, Wall Street .  It has also crossed my mind many times.

 

One unfortunately obvious reason is to live in this world.

I just personally do not like money.  I think it can control a person.  It breeds inequality and I wish instead of trading money for our goods and services instead we gave something in return.  Like trading a perfectly good milking cow for magic beans.   What about the good ol' days?   

 

Sometimes I just wonder what this world would be like if ALL money was erased.  Used instead to wrap packages.  Or have it cleaned and recycled to make clothes or accessories, or bags, or something that people need.  I guess I should be careful how I use that word, need, since we have been talking so much about our needs as people in class.  Maybe we shall say something that is important to people.

 

Is money a part of our needs? We have to say yes, because in this day and age we have to earn money to go to the store to purchase the food that is going to feed us when we're hungry.  We have to pay the utility bill in order to turn on the faucet and get delicious cold water, whenever we want it (rather than whenever we need it). 

 

Equality: so we are all created equal right?  Is this really true if you are born into a filthy rich family or if you are born in some alley and you're living on the streets with your mom?  How is that equal?  Just think if every single person in the whole world had the same about of money?  Just think if every job paid the same salary.  What if everyone was really equal in that way?  Could that improve our way of life?  Would there be less greed for money and more greed for love? 

 

I think then people would actually enjoy going to their job. There was an experiment that tested self-perception of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.  This article is attached below.  There was a group of college men part of an experiment that were coming in to put together a puzzle.  The independent variables were either a blank or a picture puzzle and getting paid or no payment.  The results showed that the picture puzzle completed without getting paid was the most enjoyable.  So what is happening to us then when we add in that extrinsic variable, money?

 

 

 http://psycnet.apa.org.proxy.lib.uni.edu/index.cfm?fa=search.displayRecord&uid=1975-31777-001

(then just click on the "pdf" option)

 

 

http://money.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=1010030

This articles describes a millionaire that gave all of his money away. All of it. He was raised in a poor family and he was taught to work hard to earn what he wanted in life. He worked hard his whole life, thinking that a little more money and material possessions would finally make him happy, only to realize that it didn't. So, he gave it all away.

His story interests me for several reasons. His display of charitable behavior is one that many people applaud and see as highly altruistic. It's true that his action was extremely generous and will help many orphans gain a quality of life that they couldn't have without his help, but his actions are not altogether altruistic. The reason he gives his money away is because he is still seeking happiness. He first thought that making money and having stuff would make him happy, now he thinks that giving all of his money to people that need it more than him and living a very simple life will make him happy. While his latest search for happiness is definitely beneficial to many people, was his giving out of altruism and generosity alone, or was it motivated by seeking his own happiness?

I would argue that his generosity is still motivated by selfishness, making his giving not entirely altruistic. By no means am I saying that he shouldn't have done it, because I think it's wonderful that so many people in need will benefit from his action, but I think the most basic driving motivator in this case was still seeking his own satisfaction or happiness.

Do you think this decision will result in lasting happiness? Or will it, like the pursuit of money and material possessions, only last in the shorter-term scheme of a lifetime?