Credit-card use akin to spending play money, say authors

Most often people tend to estimate their purchases on the low side of the amount. This usually occurs when people are doing their shopping with a credit card. A credit card is very dangerous when it comes to situations like these. The person will continue to rack up purchases without thinking nor caring how much it will cost at the end of the month. Because of the credit cards ability of buy now, pay later, many people will find themselves in a hole trying to pay off the balance. The article states that many teenagers are most vulnerable to be in debt from a credit card. As well, many teens will not know how much interest is added upon if they do not pay the full amount but instead will pay for minimum amount to save some spending cash.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/09/08/consumer-behaviour.html

How this chapter relates to this article is the process used to make the transaction occur. When often a person swipes their credit card to make a purchase, the clerk will print out a sales slip through the imprinting device. This device prints out the customer's name and identification number on the sales slip. Then the customer will sign their name on the sales slip to verify the purchase and to allow the transaction to occur. Once that is done, the customer takes a copy of the sales slip for his/her own reference. Another relation to the chapter is how cardholders will be charged with interest on their overdue balances on their account. This is mainly how people will get in trouble with debt.

I think that this article is true in many ways, especially in the aspects of spending money. In my own experience, I felt that having cash at hand is much better than having a debit card mainly because you actually see how much you're spending. With a debit card, all you have to do is swipe it and enter your pin. This process is much easier to deal with because you don't get to see how much you're handing over to the cashier. I'm all for it with credit cards because they're very useful when you want to buy something now and pay later. But the only thing you have to be careful with is making sure that you keep track of your spending and knowing your limit before it gets out of hand.

Taking tortillas to Canadians

Axel Arvizu and Juan Manuel Roman, who have been friends since childhood, are now going to be closer than ever once they start up their business. The two friends that came from Mexico City had the idea of sharing their culture to Canadians. The business to be open will sell authentic traditional Mexican food, the tortilla. The two entrepreneurs had a hard time because they had no idea of where to start and what steps to take in order to successfully open up their business. Luckily for them, they met Brian Moreau and he introduced them to The Interactive Business Planner. The planner would help make sure that they have their plan organized and set. With their plan set, it was time for them to get their permits and license in order to run the business. On average an entrepreneur would spend about 7.5 hours searching requisite permits and licenses but Mr. Arvizu and Roman found a way to cut that time significantly. They had the help of site a called Bizpal which took them only 15 minutes to research.

http://www.financialpost.com/small_business/story.html?id=906553

When a new business just opens up, it is extremely important that it has good accountants keeping track of what journals and accounts are being affected. In the case of Mr.Arvizu and Roman, it is a food service business where they must be very well organized. This is where the Synoptic Journals come into relation with the article. Since they're selling food, they must have their supplier ship in fresh produce every couple of days or depending on how busy the store is. The transaction would be under the Purchases Journal. The way it would be recorded in the Purchases Journal is to debit purchases, debit gst recoverable, and credit accounts payable. Usually a store will pay its supplier at the end of the month with a cheque. The transaction would fall under Cash Payments Journal. Accounts payable would be debited and bank would be credited. Every transaction that has occurred must be recorded into the appropriate journal because it will be easy to look back if any errors or unbalanced accounts appear.

The accomplishment of these two childhood friends opening a business together is quite a story. I believe that this could be an inspiration for all the other young or old entrepreneurs wanting to open up their own business. The two friends in the article showed that if you have a plan, you should go out and try to finish the plan. They also talked about Bizpal, which was an online site that helped business get their licenses and permits. With Bizpal, it will save a lot of entrepreneurs a lot of time searching online to get requisites for licenses and permits. With opening your own business as an idea, I hope that I could do that when I'm older so I wont have to work for anyone but myself.

A one-stop store for auto buffs

About 20 years ago, Ted Wilkinson and his brother started up a one-stop store for everything an automotive fanatic would desire. This business was about selling vintage automotive magazines, shop manuals, clothing, but most importantly the best mint condition miniature models. Ted Wilkinson's store is one of a kind when it comes to selling old vintage items which especially attracts automotive and motorcycle enthusiasts. It would also explain his success in owning his own small business now running side by side with his wife, Lorraine White-Wilkinson. The reason for his success is not only for his store being one of a kind, but also for his love and compassion for automobiles. That was his reason for working so hard in order to make the business work. Some of the difficulties he had were finding suppliers and also there was construction which made it hard for his customers to come.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=04512417-9379-4436-9e35-27e59a63f325

The biggest connection between chapter 11 and this article would be inventory. With Ted's successful business doing $500,000 each year, it must be very difficult for him and his wife to keep track of inventory. As good as his business does, he must always be on top of his game in re-ordering inventory from his suppliers. In business, many customers want their item to be in store instead of them having to tell the manager to order it for them. This has resulted in some very loyal customers that have kept on coming back for 20 years. He also has uses the internet to benefit his business by posting up new featured items on his website. This would allow the possibility for many enthusiasts around the world to buy things online off of Ted's website. When people would order online, many accounts would have to be properly debited and credit to insure that it is a correct transaction.

Ted Wilkinson I believe has done a great job in starting and owning his own small business. I think that in order to be a good business owner, you must incorporate your passion and ideas into one big idea. That is what Ted has done. He had put together his love for automobiles and the fact that there are no other stores around like it. I think that Ted Wilkinson is a modern day entrepreneur because he is selling what many enthusiasts wants which are vintage collectible models of cars. What I also find amazing is how well his business is running with $500,000 in total sales with only 3 employees.

Higher prices siphon savings

The raise in prices for gas, food, and other necessities, people are claiming that it has taken out money of their retirement savings. The most hit part of Canada are those who are living in smaller communities. One-third of them saying that they have reduced their savings a lot, while one in five in major cities say they have. The survey shows that 49% of Canadians had to reduce their retirement savings fund due to rising food and gas prices. The survey shows that Canadians are at top with 49% just above the Americans at 45% and Britain at 43%.

http://www.financialpost.com/reports/oil-watch/story.html?id=583055

The increase of food and oil prices will result cash to loose some of its purchasing power. This has affected many Canadians as you can see in the survey. The cost of gasoline will continue and to increase and we will still be buying it because we need to it run our vehicles. Food which is a part of our necessities will increase and we can't do much about it. With the increase of products, we would have to decrease our savings in order to buy these necessities. In order to not have a huge decrease in our savings, we would need to learn how to manage our money better.

I believe with the rise in oil prices, some people would make the jump onto transit and leave their vehicles at home. Because of this, I think the government should be more involved in transit even more now because they're finalizing a Carbon Tax Law. I think a lot of people are hesitant to take transit because many people do complain that it is slow and mostly not on time. With a lot of money being poured into transit, I personally don't see any improvements in our transit system. Why can't our transit system be like Japans?

SMALL BUSINESS FEATURE: Finding new ways to enrich milk

A man who is currently living in Abbotsford has found a new way to change the way of milk with the help of his 72 cows. Bill Vanderkooi to be exact operates 3 farms with his 4 brothers and is the proud president of Nutrifood Solutions. He recently joined together with Avalon Dairy producing B.C.'s only and finest milk. For that naming it Vitala Naturally Enriched Milk. This is because the milk is produced locally and naturally has enriched DHA Omega-3. Since tuna is enriched with DHA Omega-3, it is the ideal meal for the cows. Why is DHA Omega-3 so great for cows? Milk comes from cows and what they have in their diet is essential to us. Having DHA Omega-3 helps develop our eyes, brain, and nerves.
Link:
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=7c346025-7531-4fb0-b514-071479826bd7&k=14413

This article relates to our chapter in many ways. What Bill Vanderkooi is doing is a selling activity. He is putting money into advertisements to promote and sell his product. In Abbotsford at Save-On-Foods the Vitala Naturally Enriched Milk is already being sold and has been a big success. This would mean that they would have a written contract between them having a certain amount of milk being restocked and when it will be. Direct relation to the delivery of the product. For Nutrifood Solution, it cost them $350,000 to start up the DHA Omega-3 milk producing cows project and in return, the sales for them was $500,000. This shows how much return on investment they're getting. Overall, continuing Vitala Naturally Enriched Milk would raise the ROI substantially.

For a person who drinks milk regularly, I would love to see this on the shelves of our local Save-On-Foods store or any big department such as Safeway and Superstore. I already buy eggs with Omega-3 and why not with milk. This milk would be good for anyone. It comes in 1 percent, 2 percent, and 3 percent partly skimmed milk. With the milk enriched in DHA Omega-3, it helps produce the growth and development of the brain, eyes, and nerves. This milk would be essential for parents who have infants or young children. Researchers say kids ages 2-4 only have 13 percent of daily DHA intake, but with 1 cup of Vitala milk it doubles your daily intake.

VW unveils new minivan to be built in Windsor

German engineering Volkswagen- a car manufacture is planning to rise up to the top by having its new minivan built in Windsor. With a starting price of under US$25,000 Stefan Jacoby, VW's president and CEO expects that VW's new minivan will be between 3 and percent of the North American minivan market. That means Toyota and Honda would loose part of their sales because of Volkswagen's new and upcoming minivan. With such of a big percent, that would mean they would have a production of 30,000 to 40,000 minivans which would help out for the big loss on the Pacifica (Chryslers' minivan) With Volkswagen having this much hype for its new minivan, it just might be enough to bring Volkswagen into the mainstream of the auto market.
Link: http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=290435

With Volkswagen selling its new minivan at an amazing price of under US$25,000, sales would rack in as minivans leave the dealership. How this would relate to ch 3 would be how many accounts are linked together. Its like a domino effect in a good way. Customers buy, vehicles leave the dealership, and the manufacture builds more. That gives VW a higher sales revenue and eventually a net income topping last years. With more income coming in, that would mean more and more workers are hired due to the demand. This directs to wages expense to pay for their workers and the jobs that they do. The pricing for parts and shipping of parts are also included as expenses which deducts income. But having Volkswagen build their minivan in Windsor, the cost for shipping wouldn't have a big effect on their overall success.

Having Volkswagen selling their new minivan at a price like this, I wouldn't mind having a VW. Since I'm only 16 and about to get my driver license in March, I could save up the money that I'am making and buy a Volkswagen. Why wouldn't I buy a VW just because its brand doesn't compete as well as the other German companies. (BMW, Audi etc.) As well, it would be a great commuter around the city and Volkswagens' fuel efficient engines. What more could I really ask for? Decent price for a car with a lot of goods and especially the German engineering. I believe that Volkswagens' new and upcoming minivan would put Volkswagen in the main stream of automotive technology.