Week 5 [ 29.11-04.12.2016] How to save money

Source: http://jakoszczedzacpieniadze.pl

6 months ago I did not think about personal finances. I spent what I earned. Some time ago I heard about one guy whose name is Michał Szafrański. Michał worked for an IT department. Then he founded a blog “Jak oszczędzać pieniądze”. On this blog you can find many articles about finances. In 2013 he won the competition - “Blog Roku 2013”. Three years later he wrote a book that I have just read. Interestingly you cannot purchase this book at any store. Michał published it himself. He sold almost 12000 books in the pre-order. Within the first month he earned over 400 thousand PLN.
The book is divided into 10 chapters. Each of these chapters changed something in my life. You can find information about the household budget, loans, financial intermediaries, motivation, investing etc.

Source: http://finansowyninja.pl/

The book gave me an incredible kick into action. After reading the chapter on household spending I could write a small home budget for the next month. The bride asked me to do it long time before :)
I learned the contents of the mortgage. I know that interest rates always changing. I recognized the power of compound interest. And finally I learned how to save money. Unfortunately, it is made up of small steps. Every day you have to be careful what you spend money on.

On the other hand, many people do not think about saving at all. It's terrifying. Michał writes on his blog that about 20 million Poles do not have any savings. What if such a person loses his job or has a car accident? What about savings for retirement? I do not know how such people may think that ZUS will pay them enough money to survive. When I am I would like to get about 3,000 PLN per month. It will let me pay all the bills, go shopping and even I could go on holiday once a year. I cannot imagine living for 800 zł per month, so I try to save money :)
Savings should be invested or deposited in a savings account. You can read about it in one of the chapters. As it turns out this is necessary because of inflation. Unfortunately, the deposits have relatively low interest rates.
You can read more about this book at http://finansowyninja.pl/

Do you save money?
What do you think about compound interest?
How do you see yourself in retirement?

Week 5 [ 28.11-04.12.2016] The pre-Christmas rush

As we all know,  Christmastime is very emotional. People get ready for Christmas days or even weeks before. Most of us go to malls to get perfect gifts for our loved ones to show them our devotion. This phenomenon wasn’t omitted by businessmen who foresee a great opportunity to  enhance their income. Christmas rush started some time ago even though we still have almost a month to the holiday. 

Every single year we see the same scenario. At the beginning of November shops are getting full of Christmas decorations, carols, and Santas. On TV, brands began to start their Christmas advertisement. It seems that every year the Christmas rush arrives earlier.

Source: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/travel/2015/12/16/bronners-revels-christmas-rush/77090440/

In the past we used to watch a white bearded elderly man  in a red suit (who eventually became imprinted into your mind as Santa Claus) driving its truck full of soda drink. There were a bunch of children laughing and playing as they watch their favorite drink pass by.

Source: https://www.tumblr.com/search/coca%20cola%20and%20santa

Nowadays more brands are trying to become icons of Christmas. Either they’re mobile service providers, banks, shopping malls or sweets producers, all of them are looking forward to use our instincts and the atmosphere of Christmas for their own benefit.  

1. What do you think about Christmas commercials in November?

2. Is there any Christmas commercial that you like?

3. Have you already started buying Christmas presents?

Week 5 [ 28.11-04.12] Does our happiness depend on the number of 'likes' below our photo or post?

Nowadays social media portals and blogs are becoming more and more popular. It is a great way to share an opinion about passions, interests with others. Blogs are especially famous among young people;  they are some kind of a diary.

When I was a teenager I wrote a diary. I put my thoughts, memories and everything what happened to me that day in it. I wrote about problems and solutions to them. But I did  everything to keep my diary in secret and I did not want anybody to read it. I kept it in a safe and I did not allow anyone to be interested in reading it,  including my family and friends. When only I thought about a situation when somebody could read it, I felt scared. I remember that all my friends wrote them and they kept them in secret. Why do people share their emotions and thoughts today? Doesn’t it mean that our life is becoming more predictable and available for everyone?

I am sure that you have at least one friend who shares a lot of content on the Facebook wall , including tones of photos of food stuff, places, complaints about politics or just bragging. In my opinion people for ages have been willing to share their lives. Who was not tired after scrolling twenty albums with photos during his/her first visit at the partner’s home. There is a small difference between sharing a physical album that is hidden in a shelve instead of sharing photos on the Internet where everything stays once it was published. Showing others where we are currently, what we wear, what type of cosmetics we use or what film we will watch at the cinema – all these things are is addictive, especially when we want to stay in the center of attention.

There is one question – is this real life of this person? In the virtual world we have a chance to create  a “better” version of ourselves. We brag and share everything, we collect “likes,”  like they were so important and valuable. If  our everyday life is totally average, 200 “likes” below a post are important, don’t you think? We increase our self-esteem. Unfortunately we do not realize that it can have an impact in the future. Nowadays it is something normal that employers check potential candidates on the Internet, before an official interview. How many people did not pass it because of photos from some parties? Do parents think about what their child will tell in the future when he or she sees a photo of himself tagged: “First bath of our daughter”? This daughter can become a famous politician in the future and for sure she will not be happy with this publication.

My message is presented in the short video below:

I encourage you to watch it. :)

And please, answer the questions presented.

Week 4 [14.11-20.11.2016] Disruptors – companies which are shifting the goalposts

http://www.doz.com/cms/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/prepare-for-disruption.png

At the beginning I want to explain what “disruptor companies” are. In business, it relates to radicall changes in industry or a business strategy, which leads to the lunch of a new product or service on the market. Disruptor companies completely change the way of thinking about a product and how it should be developed on the market. These innovative companies reorganize the market-- all companies have to reorganize their business models.

I recommend watching this short movie about the disruptive innovation:

https://hbr.org/video/embed/2688242135001

Big potential of the Internet causes that more and more young people use such products and services like: Uber, Airbnb, Spotify, Netflix and many others. Nowadays people are looking for innovative companies. They don’t want to call a taxi, but they ‘d rather click one button in an app and be in a car going to their destination point. People don’t want to call to rent an apartment, they’d rather use Airbnb application, which will help them contact apartment owners directly.   Old, boring and outdated products are no longer interesting. Disruptors break all existing norms and create products, which people are not able to live without.

A few example companies:

1. Uber

http://www.businessofapps.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/video.yahoofinance.com@40d2db72-2976-37c8-b12d-b4858de5bb20_FULL.jpg

Uber is an American industry, a creator of mobile application called the same name as the company. This application is described as a tool which is connecting a passenger with the driver. After pushing the button a request is send to the driver. After a few minutes a driver who is using his own car will drive you around the city. Around the Uber topic, there are many discussions about the legality of its business. Uber company disrupted the taxi market with theirs applications which leaded the simplicity of using. For me all this noise about Uber companies is caused by the case that Uber left everyone behind with their innovative product. It offers a service that is much cheaper from standard taxi and much enjoyable to use. This company shows how much this modern service with a little bit of different thinking have changed the taxi industry.

2. Airbnb

http://suitelife.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/airbnb-a8707ed9_original.jpg

Airbnb is a peer-to-peer online marketplace network that allows people to rent their houses to people who are looking for some apartment to sleep. This company was founded in 2008 and now its fortune is valuated between 10 to 25 billion dollars. This big platform and application is making a big disruption in the hotel industry.

https://e27.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/disruption.png

I think that if you want to build a brand, disruption, innovation and a completely new way of thinking should be your main goal. I want to finish my presentation with a sentence which Richard Branson said. He is an English business magnate, investor and philanthropist, founder of the Virgin Group which controls more than 400 companies. I totally agree with this statement, said by a man who is wealthy and whose companies are disruptor on many markets.  

“Disruption is all about risk-taking, trusting your intuition, and rejecting the way things are supposed to be. Disruption goes way beyond advertising, it forces you to think about where you want your brand to go and how to get there.”

1. Do you know any well-known companies which disrupt the market?

2. What action should companies take to react to disruptors? What should they do to stay on the market?

3. Do you think disruption always comes with innovation?

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Branson

http://www.forbes.com/sites/avidan/2015/11/29/the-25-most-disruptive-brands-of-2015/#503fd2d12504

https://hbr.org/2015/12/what-is-disruptive-innovation

https://hbr.org/video/embed/2688242135001

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uber_(company)

http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/who-are-the-digital-disruptors-redefining-entire-industries-1298171/2

http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/how-incumbents-become-digital-disruptors

http://digitalintelligencetoday.com/the-10-business-models-of-digital-disruption-and-how-to-respond-to-them/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbnb

Week 4 [14.11-20.11.2016] Online-friendship

Nowadays we spend more and more time sitting in front of our computers. That kind of lifestyle affects not only our body and level of activity but it also changes ways of communication and creates new types of emotional bonds.We'd rather stay home than going out and meet some friends, because it's more convenient and saves us a lot of time. However, we need to consider if a virtual relations are able to replace the regular love or friendship relations. Sometimes people choose to have virtual contact with others, because they are shy and scared of being rejected or scared of standing face to face with someone who can say something harmful to them. On the other hand it's a new form of social relations. 

Photo: http://www.smartrelationshipadvice.com/wp-content/uploads/online-friends.jpg

The technological revolution gave us many different opportunities to interact with other people. We can speak everyday with someone without even knowing his real name or how he looks like, but still share our secrets with that person. That kinds of relations are much more platonic that the regular ones. Very often we overinterpretate our interlocutor's words and feelings, because we can't see they're reaction through the distance. That type of relation is called an "online-friendship" and it includes all social media relations such as Facebook, Pintetest, Snapchat, Instagram etc. Statistics among the young people having "online 

friendships" are still growing.

Photo:http://www.top10bisexualdatingsites.com/advice/making-friends-online.jpg

 Virtual relations became something natural for teenagers, but to many parents who don't have that much knowledge about the internet, they are dangerous because they may affect on the real contacts with people in the future. Virtual relations also have a great influence on how much time we spend online. It's natural that we feel the need to stay in contact with others so we spend most of our time by using our phones, laptops or other devices. It turns out, when one of them breaks we suddenly feel empty and cut off from the world. I think that virtual reactions carry a threat in front of a sense of true intimacy and a sense of loneliness, when the number of these contacts decreases. We're becoming addicted to the social media and it makes us want to use them more. However, virtual relationships will never replace the real and true friendship.

Questions:

1. How much time a day do you spend on social media communicators.

2. What do you think about the virtual relations?

3. Do you prefer to talk to people on the Internet or face to face?

4.Do you think the social media are a threat to the regular relationships?

Sources:

http://goinswriter.com/online-friendship/

https://www.psychologies.co.uk/self/friends-online.html

http://friendship.about.com/od/Types_of_Friendships/g/Online-Friend.htm

Week 4 [14.11-20.11.2016] Is the world going to end now?

Is the world going to end now? 

2016 has been a year of improbable and even unthinkable political changes actually taking place. I’m not referring to our own backyard, that’s a whole different story, but with Brexit, President Trump and a possibility of Le Pen winning next French elections millions of people feel concerned or even go into full panic mode. Is there a reason to? Are those genuine threats or are we being carried away? Let’s give it a thought.

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Europes-Far-Right-Emboldened-by-Trumps-Triumph-20161109-0007.html

Europe is falling apart!

Or at least that is what one might think having read first reactions to Britons deciding to leave the EU. Truth be told I was shocked myself. Plenty of people acknowledged the rise of cheap populism, but still wanted to believe reason would prevail. Well, it did not.  That brought on the first panic attack of centrist and liberal media suggesting the EU is about to fall apart. The truth is the EU is in a deep crisis. Before we even managed to properly recover from economic setback we were struck by migration crisis. Plenty of people consider EU unable to deal with the problems and Euroscepticism is on the rise. On that background Brexit might seem as a big step towards it’s decomposition. Is it really though? All those problems and Brexit itself have triggered not only anti-european movements. It has also strengthened parties in favor of stronger integration, ones that look what was the cause of crises and EU’s inability to deal with them. The cause to vast extent may lay In insufficient integration, lack of common policies such as e.g. the monetary one and ineffective decision making process. That suggests right wing which today claims to have the solution might’ve been the cause itself fighting against stronger integration. That view is shared by plenty of EU leaders and one of the strongest movements within the EU leaders wants to tighten the integration. The effort is being lead by Italy, Germany, France and the Netherlands with support of plenty other countries, so Brexit might as well turn out to be an impulse towards a stronger EU. Where our country with its current foreign policy will find itself within it… Well, that is something I don’t really like to think about.

http://castle2016.com/brexit/

Have we been nuked yet?

So it’s happened. Despite all the polls and all the experts the candidate often portrayed as xenophobic, incompetent, lacking respect for women and pretty much any minority has won the race for the White House. His controversial remarks have worried pretty much every foreign leader in the western world. Transactional approach towards alliances such as NATO, admiration for Putin and threats to break agreements already in place are a cause of thousands of headaches. Should they be though? Of course he is going to be much more of an unpredictable President than any other candidate would. Personally I’d cast my ballot for Lucipher himself rather than Trump. Luckily populism can only go so far. What may work in a campaign to get uneducated votes just doesn’t work when it comes to running the state. Trump has already withdrawn from some of his promises and the first names that come up as his future administration are well-known and respected Republicans. Also Congress does not seem to be willing to approve funding of such ridiculous proposals as the famous Trump wall. It seems that after all he is going to act like a typical politician and he just won’t do what he promised. Except in this case it’s actually something we should hope for.

https://deemention.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/on-a-post-caring-world/

1. What do you think about Brexit?
2. Do you think Trump will make a better president than Hilary would?
3. Do you think those events will have big influence on Poland?