You’ve heard the common saying "Money is the root of all evil," and now it’s been conclusively proven with mathematical precision. From the Neatorama Shop: Link | More Geektastic Science T-Shirts

* Should the allowance be given freely OR tied to chores?
* Should I only pay for extra chores?
* How much money should I give my kid?
* Should I let them spend it on what they want OR should I force them to save a portion of it?
* Coins, bills, or a savings account?
* How often should I give him/her allowance?

Personally, I give the kids a set amount every week, in order to teach them by trial and error how to handle money. The amount is less than their friends get, which forces them to think hard about how they spend it. Their allowance is not tied to performing family chores, but occasionally I give a bonus to someone who has been extra helpful (only as a surprise). How does your family handle children and their money, or how do you plan to do it? Link -via Consumerist

(image credit: Flickr user Pingu1963)

They earn millions playing pro sports and doing product endorsements, yet consider these startling statistics:

Similar to lottery winners, with no financial prowess or discipline, most pro athletes go completely broke in less than 10 years after retirement.

In fact, 60% of retired basketball players go broke in 5, and 78% of football players in 2! Athletes are forced to sell their homes, sell their championship rings, and file for bankruptcy.

Here’s an interesting article on the 6 main reasons pro athletes go broke after their careers are over: Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by mrmunchies.

The safest place is keep your money is to stuff it into your mattress. Or, alternatively, this mattress-shaped piggy bank which received no TARP funds and comes complete with a miniature pillow.

Link via Nerd Approved

I tell him that living without money seems difficult. What about starvation? He’s never gone without a meal (friends in Moab sometimes feed him). What about getting deadly ill? It happened once, after eating a cactus he misidentified—he vomited, fell into a delirium, thought he was dying, even wrote a note for those who would find his corpse. But he got better. That it’s hard is exactly the point, he says. “Hardship is a good thing. We need the challenge. Our bodies need it. Our immune systems need it. My hardships are simple, right at hand—they’re manageable.”

Is this a grand experiment or a retreat from reality? Read the entire story at Men.Style. Link -via Digg

(image credit: Mark Heithoff)

Photo via Duo de Hale [Flickr]

A man in Kenya found his dog had ate eaten his rent money. To get even, he brought his dog to the police station and ordered the police to arrest his dog. When they wouldn’t do it, he offered them a “fee” to get them to lock the dog up. The officers put the dog in jail and ended up getting fired for taking a bribe as a result. The dog was returned to his owner who now is trying to sell the pup and trying to figure out how to pay rent.

I’m somehow doubting the landlord will buy the old “my dog ate my rent money” story.

Link

The Standard Grill in the Standard Hotel in New York has a very unusual floor: it’s made of pennies! I guess if you’re a couple of pennies short on tips, just pry them off the floor!

Link

The one dollar bill is the most ubiquitous piece of paper in America. Collage asks the question: what might be done to make it something else? It is a ripe material: intaglio printed on sturdy linen stock, covered in decorative filigree, and steeped in symbolism and concept. Blade and glue transform it-reproducing the effects of tapestries, paints, engravings, mosaics, and computers-striving for something bizarre, beautiful, or unbelievable… the foreign in the familiar.

Link -via Reddit

Annat, who did not want to reveal the rest of her name, told Israel Army Radio that she woke up early Sunday to get a good deal on a new mattress as a surprise for her mother.

She fell asleep that night, exhausted after lugging up the new mattress and hauling down the old one to be taken out with the trash.

When her mother realized the next day what her daughter had done, she told her that she had been using the mattress to stash away her life savings and had nearly $1 million padding the inside of the worn-out mattress.

Annat ran downstairs, but it was too late. The garbage truck had already taken away the money-stuffed mattress.

And thus the hunt for the $1 million mattress began in Israeli landfills: Link

Most people have a hard time envisioning a number as big as a billion, much less a trillion. How much money is a trillion dollars? Some examples may help to put that amount in perspective.

The G-20 summit committed to $1.2 trillion in new funds, with the aim of boosting the world economy, cleaning up banks, and increasing trade, among many other things. The stimulus plan is worth more than $800 billion and the second half of the bank bailout package is at $350 billion, which make up the $1.2 trillion, but the very idea of a trillion dollars exceeds what most of our minds, let alone a standard calculator, have the capacity to understand. What does a trillion dollars look like and what else could a trillion dollars buy?

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by smellslikepurple.

Gunther IV, the German Shepherd: This dog actually received his inheritance from his father, Gunther III, a German Shepherd who received an inheritance from Karlotta Liebenstein, a German countess. Gunther IV has bought a Miami villa from Madonna and won a rare white truffle in an auction. Learn more about Gunther IV on a Web site devoted to him and those he hangs out with. He’s worth about $372 million right now, thanks to his growing trust fund.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by sunnyspeaks.

The Mugabe regime has destroyed Zimbabwe. It has presided over the brutal oppression of the opposition, a cholera crises, massive food shortages and the total collapse of their economy. Furthermore anyone brave enough to report this has been bullied, beaten and driven into exile. One such group is ‘the Zimbabwean Newspaper’. However, not content with having hounded these journalists out, the regime has slapped an import ‘luxury’ duty of over 55% on them which makes the paper unaffordable for the average Zimbabwean. In order to subsidize the paper they need to sell it in England and South Africa, to raise the foreign currency.

A unique campaign was devised to promote the paper to raise awareness and increase readership. One of the most eloquent symbols of Zimbabwe’s collapse is the Z$100 trillion dollar note, a symptom of their world record inflation. This note cannot buy anything, not even a loaf of bread and certainly not any advertising, but it can become the advertising, it can be a powerful reminder about Zimbabwe’s plight and the need to hold someone accountable.

Link – via thehouseofmarketing

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by frankiejones.

Our very own John who blog at The Zeray Gazette has, and he’s given it some serious thoughts:

… my usual interpretation of the economics of Star Trek: they were unrealistic, as they eliminated the first law of economics — scarcity. Thanks to the replicator, there is virtually no need to manufacture anything. Although there were a few objects, such as latinum or yamok sauce, that could not be replicated, there was essentially nothing that your replicator could not provide for you — including more replicators.

Link

Come to think of it – how would a money-less economics of the future a la Star Trek work? Who’ll do the scut work?

If you fold a bank note and superimpose it onto a photo of a Celebrity, for example, President Ulysses S. Grant over Brad Pitt, the results are really neat. You can view a bunch of them at freakingnews.

Photo: freakingnews

On the Isle of Man Scotland, the government has commissioned a three-sided coin to commemorate King Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs’ exhibition at the O2 arena in London.

The copper coin which bears a portrait of the Queen and an image of Tutankhamun, is marketed by the Isle of Man’s Post Office as “a unique gift” that is “a must for all Egyptologists” and costs £15 ($30).

On one side, it shows Tutankhamun, the teenage pharaoh who died 3,330 years ago, and on the other, a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.

John Smith, the general manager of Pobjoy Mint, which is striking the coins, said he was “delighted to launch the first ever pyramid coin”.

Mr Smith also added that no limit had been set on the number of coins that could be produced.

Link: Telegraph

These wads of faux $100 bills are coated with a slow-burning wax that stays lit until your logs catch fire.

A set of six $100 bill fire starters costs $14.95.

Link