Saturday, December 19, 2009

Numbers

Numbers are wonderful things. Reading the paper this morning a couple of numbers jumped out at me. 5 billion that is the amount of money that will be left on gift cards this year. This is based on 5-15 percent being left on gift cards on average.

Personally I pick up pennies off the street so I can't imagine leaving money unspent on gift cards.

The second set of numbers are 289-21-3 this the won lose record of Larry Kehres. Larry coaches at Mount Union a division III college football powerhouse. Mount Union is playing for the championship in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl today at 11. That's 21 loses in 24 years, amazing.

5 comments:

  1. I sometimes get gift cards for stores I either won't shop in or whose merchandise I simply don't use. I try to pass those cards along but don't always do that. I don't know why people don't just give cash... But as I say that I remember I'm giving somebody a Starbucks card this year.

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  2. Divers and Sundry, I feel cash just seems like I'm giving up. No thought is necessary and people just start passing wads of money back and forth.

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  3. When it comes to receiving, I prefer gift cards to cash, in part because it's an excuse not to do something "responsible" with the money. It's not for groceries or bills or anything useful... it's for the record store. Or my favorite restaurant. No choice, I've go to go use it for something fun.

    I end up getting rid of those last few cents or dollars at times simply because to utilize them would cost me more money than throwing them away. If I've used $49 of a $50, it's used up, unless I want to spend that last dollar along with lots of my own money.

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  4. Jockeystreet, maybe people who feel like you about that last dollar on the gift card should give it to someone else as they leave the store. That way at least the store isn't making an extra buck or two at the givers expense.

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  5. I prefer cash, but I admit that it's impersonal. Sometimes, though, a direct infusion of cash is handy.

    Yesterday, I went to Starbucks to get my brother and sister-in-law a gift card. But then I saw some nice coffee mugs with the Starbucks logo on it, so I bought those instead. People can always use mugs.

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