It is the holiday season which means that there will be turkey and presents for everyone. There are several things that make the holidays great. My favorite part about this time is the overall ambiance in the air. There is a nip in the air, holiday music, beautiful decoration, and an overall feeling of joy. There is something about sweater weather that makes this time of the year nice. I love being able to get cozy on the couch with some hot chocolate and watch Christmas movies such as Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman, and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Another good thing about the season is the sales. Business come out with several discounts on virtually all their products which means that you can buy more Christmas gifts (even if they are for yourself). The only bad thing is there is a lot of junk mail that comes with those discount prices. Of course the best part about the holidays is spending time with people you love. I hope everyone has a great holiday season and merry Christmas to all!

When I first saw there was going to be a Titanic 2, I thought they were coming out with a new movie. However, in 2022 there won’t be a new movie, but there will be a new boat. That’s right the “unsinkable” is going to be recreated. Clive Palmer announced that the creation of the new ship in April 2013. The launch of this ship is to commemorate the launch of the first one a hundred years ago. The layout for the interior and exterior are going to be as close to the original as possible with the addition of some modern technology. The best part of the whole thing is that it is going to follow the original route of the first Titanic! I personally won’t be booking a ticket but for everyone else prepare for the new Titanic coming out in 2022.

It is a long-honored tradition that every year campuses around the states celebrate homecoming. People from every age get together to celebrate a fantastic school and hopefully a win at that week’s football game. One of the things that people look forward to is the homecoming parade. People from different fraternities, sororities, and businesses put all their time and effort into making an incredible float for everyone to enjoy. It isn’t all fun and games though, so much more goes into creating these fantastic displays.

Time, money, materials, and manpower go into making any great float. Believe it or not floats are not cheap. It takes a lot of tissue paper to cover one float and it can cost hundreds of dollars. Different groups have to figure out different ways to come up with the means to fund it. There are many different ways to fundraise and determining the best way is step one of the process. Hopefully, whatever fundraiser was chosen will work that way people can move onto getting supplies and building the actual float.

While it may seem simple, making a float can take days. It helps to have more people but getting everyone on the same page can be difficult. That is why it is important to come up with a plan and give everyone clear directions on what to do. Once the float is complete, everyone can look at it in amazement.

Homecoming is a great time of year to get together with students, alumni, and faculty to celebrate a great school! I hope that everyone has a great experience wherever you are from. Go Trojans!

 

 

 

Toys R Us shut down hundreds of their stores nationwide, but rumor has it that they are coming back. Toys R Us declared bankruptcy and started liquidating the business. Due to the competition from other retail stores such as Walmart and Target, they weren’t selling as much. Profits were low and they collected over $5 billion in debt! With no other choice, they decided to auction off the company. Recently, however, the auction was called off.

It is still undetermined what will happen to the company, but it is likely that Toys R Us might make a comeback.  When a firm enters the market, it can lower the profit of existing companies. In this situation, it’s a little weird because it is an old firm entering the market as a new firm. People already know what to expect from their company and it wasn’t doing well. Toys R US has to come up with a new way to attract customers.  Hopefully, they will do well.

Recently hurricane Michael destroyed numerous homes and business in the Florida area. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone who was affected by this event. It was extremely unfortunate but luckily people have come together in order to rebuild the state’s cities.

Whenever natural disasters happen prices seem to increase and then they go back down over time. This is explained by supply and demand. Resources are harder to get after natural disasters occur which makes it cost more to produce the good which means that suppliers have to charge a higher price. When price increases, demand decreases and supply increases. Suppliers supply more because they know they can make more money off of their product. Consumers, however, do not like to pay more so they will buy less creating a lower demand. This leads to a surplus and that makes price decrease, supply decrease, and demand increase. If the suppliers didn’t charge more for a good then there would be shortages. It stinks that people have to pay more when they are so desperate but it is all a part of the balance of the economy.

 

When it comes to banking, you want your money to be safe and protected. The banks job is to be honest and trustworthy which is why a lot of people have been pulling there money out Wells Fargo.

History

It all started in 2016. The first of many scandals was creation of millions of unauthorized bank and credit accounts. Not even a month later the company was accused of illegally repossing customers cars and several accounts of identity theft. In July 2017, it came out that Wells Fargo was charging people for autoinsurance that they didn’t need and over charging small businesses for credit card transactions. Soon it was discovered that even more fake accounts were being made and more cars were being illegally reposessed. The Federal Reserve said they won’t allow Wells Fargo to grow there assets to until they clean up there act and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has charged them with 1 billion dollars for car insurance and morgage abuse.

Today

Wells Fargo has overhauled their leadership and have promised that their will be no more scandals. Their new commercials say they earning back the customers’ trust, but the customers say otherwise. 12% of customers  are expected to move their money elsewhere and morgage applicaitons have dropped over 19%. That means that in the next twelve months they are expected to lose 344 billion dollars!

Customer trust is necessary for a company to thrive. Wells Fargo has lost customer trust for a good reason. Scandal after scandal has shown that they cared more about being the best than their customers’ needs. They have revamped the company and put new people in charge. They are doing their best to earn the consumers’ trust back. The question is will they be able to or have they dishonored the company’s name for good.

First it was self-checkout. Then it was online banking. Now you can just walk out of the store without even checking out or pulling out your money!

Amazon has come up with a new way to shop with Amazon Go. It is a physical store but you don’t have to wait in lines to purchase your items. The way it works is you go in and select your items. Whatever item you pick up will be charged to your account when you leave the store. Amazon is leading the way to a whole new form of shopping, but what kinds of risks will this shopping method bring?

As technology becomes more advanced it becomes increasingly important to maintain security and privacy of the individual.  Every consumer wants to know that with the added convenience there won’t be future problems with identity theft or overcharging. Amazon hasn’t released too much information on how the system will work but claims that the new method is safe and reliable.

With every new discovery, there are possible issues. So far, Amazon seems to have their act together but only time will tell if their new innovation will be a success.

Turn the lights off, grab your popcorn, and prepare to scream! October is only a few days away which means it is time to put on all the best Halloween movies. Whether you are the kind of person who likes to watch the movie behind your hands or you are a Casper the friendly ghost kind of person, here is a list of 31 films (one for every day!) you are going to love.

1. Hocus Pocus
2. Stephan Kings’ It
3. Little Vampire
4. Practical Magic
5. Bettlejuice
6. The Adams Family
7. Edward Scissorhands
8. Corpse Bride
9. Saw
10. Scream
11. The Shining
12. Halloweentown High
13. Nightmare Before Christmas
14. The Haunted Mansion
15. The Boy
16. The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
17. Hellraiser
18. 6 Souls
19. Silence of the Lamb
20. Interview with a Vampire
21. The Lost Boys
22. A Nightmare Elm on Elms Street
23. Jeepers Creepers
24. Texas Chainsaw Massacre
25. Friday the 13th
26. Carrie
27. Casper
28. Fright Night
29. The Six Sense
30. Halloween
31. Sleepy Hollows

 

 

Who here has a spending problem? More importantly who likes having money to spend?

Most of us would probably say that we don’t have enough money, but really we just don’t take the time to budget.  Dave Ramsey said, “We need to start telling our money where to go instead of wondering where it went.” The budget that I find to be the most practical is a zero-based balance budget. This is just a fancy way of saying that every penny will be spent or put into savings and the end balance will be zero. I like to use Excel to so that figuring out how much I spent is easy and quick.

Step 1: Figure out how much money you make and delegate it to a category

-Notice how the end total is zero. If you have anything else then you are not telling your money where to go and it will leave you.

-How much you start out with depends on how much you make and the amount of times you make up a budget is based on how often you get paid.

-It is important to prioritize. Would you rather eat or have nails that could cut an envelope? Think carefully.

-Don’t forget to put some money towards paying existing debt.

Example:

Step 2: Keep up with your spending

-The nice thing about Excel is it does the math for you. Under each category, list the amount of money you spend. For example, if I go to Walmart and spend $50 on groceries, $10 on clothes, and $15 on pet food, then I take $50 away from food, $10 away from clothes, and $15 from pets. Then you can see how much you have left to spend.

A zero-based budget is one of the most basic ways to make a simple budget and keep up with it.  With just two easy steps everyone can keep up with their spending and save money!

My name is Mikaela and I am a finance college student. It is always important to keep updated on the latest hot topics from what’s going on in the world to easy tips and tricks to use in your everyday life. All Your Business is a lifestyle blog that covers everything from yummy recipes to the latest news. So for those who don’t have the time to do the research, everything you need to know will be covered on one easy to access website. Plus, there will be reviews on different products! I have personally experienced the struggles on how to balance a budget, find easy yet tasty meals, and the impossible task of trying to stay healthy in a fast pace life so you don’t have to. I am here to make all the secrets nobody tells you all your business.