Economics and Mobile phone Budgeting

I was hard pressed to write an article for my college magazine and for the life of me, I couldn't think of anything. I was scrolling through my gallery mindlessly and as I was staring at the display, a sudden inspiration hit me. Economics is everywhere and all around us. It's in the cup of coffee we drink early morning, the car that we drive around, food that we eat and the clothes that we wear.. the list just goes on.. That got me thinking about mobile phones and economics.. And I did a little online research on it.. So here goes.. 

      It's a well-known fact that mobile phones are viewed as a bittersweet technology. But one thing people fail to notice is that there is economics involved in the usage of mobile phones. To a keen eye, this may not be of great surprise. In fact, it’s a little more complex than family budget.

Keeping track of the number of calls, minutes, texts, and data is a good way to learn budgeting. According to recent statistics, about 75% of children and teens use mobiles. Teens send enormous quantities of text messages. Half of the teens send 50 or more text messages per day, or roughly 1,500 texts a month, and one in three send more than 100 texts a day, or more than 3,000 texts a month. Older teen girls ages 14-17 lead the charge on texting, averaging to 100 messages a day for the entire cohort.

With the nation-wide limit on the maximum number of texts per day, the attention has turned towards Instant Messaging via data network.

Children and teens should try and master mobile phone economics as it's an easy way to learn how to handle their resources.

The first step is to choose the right kind of plan. There are three general plans - individual post-paid plan, family plan and pre-paid plan.

With any of these plans, it’s important to know some basic information, including:

How long do we talk over the phone?

How much it costs per month, including taxes and other fees?

Potential penalties if you go over your minutes, texts or data?

It’s important to take a closer look at monthly statements. Keeping track of the data usage, texts and calls can help shape behavior. Most companies has provisions for customizing plans to match usage. At times, we lose track of the number of times we recharge our phones, and end up spending more than we intend to do. Mobile economics has tangible and intangible lessons to teach. The tangible lesson being that people start planning the money spent on mobiles. They choose the best plan for them and learn to cut down on expenditure. The intangible lesson being that they learn to prioritize. Since the resources are scarce, they cut back on unnecessary calls and text messages. Thus children learn the basic concept of economics i.e. scarcity and wants. 

May be mobile phones aren’t that bad at all.. Parents, school and college authorities, y'all listening? :D

Confused...

Isn't it strange how we pretend the most around the ones we love? Does that sound weird to you? Just think.. haven't we said white lies to keep up our image to our loved ones? It could be out of love, fear or respect...

Teenagers lie about where they are going and who they are going out with, a man in love lies about his activities to his girl, a wife covers up in front of her husband, parents lie to children and sometimes even friends lie to friends. This happens partly because the ones lying know that they would get into trouble if they own up to it or because they know whatever they are doing in wrong but they are just not willing to accept it..

It's ironic because the ones close to us are supposed to love us unconditionally and accept us for who we are and not who we portray ourselves to be. Isn't that what real affection  is? Relationships are built on faith and a modified version of the truth. This modified truth keeps the relationship rosy and happy. As long as the cat isn't let out of the bag, things are smooth. Many of us are scared that once we show our true selves, we would be judged and our relationship will get spoiled. The question to ask ourselves is whether it is okay to keep lying to our loved ones or steel up the spine and own up. After all, if somebody loves us, it should be because they really us and not a facade created out of insecurity.

Our loved ones always have our best interests at heart though it may not really seem that way at times. But yeah, it is the truth. They may not always see eye to eye with us but they want us to grow as a person and not let ourselves get caught up in mundane things that seem all huge right now. Either accept what they are saying or start being open. Double standards isn't a great way to maintain relationship, be it friendship or within the family.

If there is an utter need to hide your true actions, then there must be something really bad in what you are doing.. Reconsider it, analyse it from every angle till you get a satisfactory answer. Love freely but more importantly love the truth. Illusions don't last long...

A poem....

I was up all night trying to cram theories and formulas into my head. I did everything else but study for my exam and my creative side was bursting to come out and spill itself. My brain is really annoying in that manner, whenever I attempt to write something that is remotely readable, it brings on a severe case of writers block and when I'm supposed to be studying, it lets loose the creativity and out flows the words. Here's something i wrote.....

I sleep all day long

Blind to right and wrong

Where is justice?

Is it still in practice?

Ignorance is not always bliss

Though, the truth is a terrible kiss.

Rise, we must, to stand tall

Or, remain a ceramic doll.

The choice is yours

Let the world hear your roars

Speak up my friend

Write a new end.

Being different.. isn't so different after all....

I just realized that the world is obsessed with being different. People are desperate to stand apart from the crowd and try hard not to follow the herd. In their desperation, even the most mundane thing taken up by them is touted as "quirky" and weird things are being called eccentric. 
For example, a person tries to be different and acquires a taste for Arias while his friends are listening to popular chart busters and rock music. This guy, who is supposedly different, isn't really different, just desperate for attention.

Earlier, when people did charitable works, it was to help people in need. Today, it's turned into a fashion statement, and you  are to different if you pitied a wounded puppy or donated a sum towards a cause or promoted a NGO. People are barging into orphanages and old age homes and hugging the residents, showering them with unnecessary clothes (jeans,t.shirts,skirts etc which they would never use) and distribute sweets just so they can be admired as being different and cool. It's cool to be socially aware, it's cool to wear desi clothes, it's cool to refuse international goods, say no to leather and the list goes on.

The society, rather the youth in particular, are trying all sorts of gimmicks to step out of the crowd. They rebel and wear a certain kind of clothes, put on an accent, and what not.. What they don't realize is that being "different" isn't really different anymore. They have all fallen in the same category which they have been desperately trying to avoid.

People, where's your originality? What is so abhorrent about being original? If you want to listen to a certain kind of music, eat a particular cuisine, dress in a particular fashion, go ahead. But just don't do it for the sake of doing it. Nobody has the right to call anybody shallow or materialistic if you don't want to volunteer at a NGO. Nobody should pass comments if you like using leather and international goods. It's just who you are. The society can't create a false ideal image and expect you to fit in. 

Be original. Hell, thats the new "different" :P

Does love need an effort?

There was a time when people loved freely, no expectations, no altruism involved and basically just free love. Love brought joy, gave comfort and strength in times of need. Love didn't need extravagant displays, it didn't require a show, it didn't need any material evidence. This was the love of the past. Love in today's world is forced, coerced and needy. Love is expensive, love has become an investment of sorts and always have an ulterior motive.

Spiritual gurus preach day in and day out about loving your family, your friends, the county etc. Religious references are being made. For example - "Love thy neighbor as thyself."
The question we must ask ourselves is that why should somebody else come and preach you the message of love? Isn't love a natural feeling? Why is it that a concept of "free love" is so alien?

May be, it is because of the selfish nature of the modern society. Nobody has time for nobody and everybody is busy. After a long day at work, who would you come home to? What happened to our culture of warmth and hospitality? People ignore their neighbors, avoid their relatives and keep friends at an arm's length. Any person who advocates true love is scorned at, ridiculed and made a fool.

Relationships are suffering these days and it all boils down to this. People are scared of being alone, so they try to find somebody that they can get fairly get along with,buy each other expensive gifts, travel to exotic places and have fun. This is the modern day relationship dynamics. This is supposed to be love. Many people describe this feeling with such poetic eloquence at the beginning of their so called love and 3-4 years down the line, it dwindles a little and after 7 long years, poof, it vanishes. There is a certain restlessness in the society, a constant need to keep moving on to different things. Nobody cares about anything but themselves and in a way, the maturity level of the society is also coming down. It is very sad to see how people are ready to sacrifice their love for materialistic things and even hide their feelings for the fear of being taken advantage of or simply being called a push over.

Such is the state of love. Shouldn't love happen magically or is it one of those "myths" Or wait, are we trying to cover up the truth by calling it a "myth?"

Mind over matter....