Courtney's Cauldron

This season I heard several comments about Black Friday, some analogies, some sayings.
Black Friday is like the zombie apocalypse: people flood the streets attacking one another; Everyone else locks themselves in their homes.

Black Friday is a made up holiday by the government in order to improve the economy once a year.

So I thought I’d add my own two cents…

Honestly, Black Friday seems over rated to me. Sure, there are some good sales, but for the most part, couldn’t a store stick a 80% off sticker on something, then raise the price 20 bucks?

Black Friday is a freaking scary thing. The horror stories that come afterward just prove that it’s not really worth it to go out. A lady carries around pepper spray in her purse to spray other shoppers because she must get one of those Wii remotes? Really? A guy dies in Arkansas and everyone continues to trample over him to get to the stuffed animals?

A kid in one of my classes was telling everyone how he and a buddy went to Wal-Mart to see if there was anything worth buying. They couldn’t even get into the store it was so crowded.

It’s just not worth it! Most of the stores have caught onto extended Christmas (holiday) sales anyways, not just Black Friday sales.

We actually went on Saturday afterward—most of the sales were still kind of going on, but the shelves were picked clean like meat off of the turkey dinner.

Guess that means there’s some advantage to going on Friday… but not really.

I suppose this shows you whether I was a zombie or locked up in the house on Black Friday.

~C0urtney

I hope everyone’s Thanksgiving was amazing and fun!!!

Remember what you should be thankful for!!

~Courtney

Happy Birthday Mikey! The world’s favorite mouse!!!

~Courtney

Everyone’s at least heard that saying, right? “Live every day like it’s your last (or like there’s no tomorrow, either one)”

Well in Econ (AP Microeconomics, btw) we learned all about opportunity cost. Basically if you lose more than you gain by doing something then you have a high “opportunity cost” and you shouldn’t do it.

An example would be if you bought $30 concert tickets for a band you kind of liked on Wednesday for a concert on Friday, then on Friday your friend invites you to a movie (you have to buy a $10 ticket). Economists would say that if going to the movie would make you happier than going to the movie, then you should go. In an economists’ point of view, the $30 you spent on the concert is dead–it shouldn’t play into your decision about the movie. Whether you go to the concert or not, that money is gone.

By this logic, if “living like there’s no tomorrow” is too trouble some, wouldn’t it be more worth while to live like there is a tomorrow? If you feel tired one day, it isn’t logical for you to go party hard because you may not see tomorrow if you would be happier staying in bed, even if there isn’t a tomorrow.

So here’s my advise: live so your opportunist cost is minimal 😉

AP Microeconomics: life choices and stock markets all in one.

~Courtney