Journal # 10

In the past year I have noticed that I have managed to control my spending habits more. I no longer go to Wal-Mart nearly everyday like I used to. I had such a larger income a year ago and would still live paycheck to paycheck just because I loved "buying things to remember the moment" as my friend once told me. If I want to make a big purchase, now I usually try to abide by the 24 hour rule where if I am still thinking about that item in 24 hours, I can buy it. It sounds cheesy but it really works! I shop at Kohl's a lot now that I work there and that helps since their clothes are a lot cheaper than American Eagle which is where all my paychecks used to go. My goal in the next two months is to stop using my credit card. I pay off my balance every month but I still always use it for whatever I buy instead of my debit card. Slowly but surely I'm working at not using it. If anything I would just like to use it for gas only which was my initial intent when I got my credit card but I got a little out of hand and decided to use it for everything! Hopefully I can continue to improve on managing my spending habits so I can start saving!

Journal # 9

*One achievement that I am proud of is that in High School, I graduated from the Academy of Finance. It was a 2 year business program where we completed college business classes, attended YBA, completed a summer internship and went on our class trip to Minneapolis and toured the Federal Reserve and the Best Buy Headquarters. I'm proud of this because most it has given me a business background that I don't think I would have received from college.
*Another achievement I'm proud of would be that I was voted a Superstar at my work for the month of January. I thought this was awesome since I had only been working there for three months and didn't even know about the program. The even cooler part was that it was my co-workers that nominated me not my managers.

Journal # 8

*Tell me about yourself- I am 20 years old and will be graduating in May with an Associate's in General Studies because as of right now I don't know what I would like to do with my life. I grew up in Sioux Falls, I work at Kohl's and have an older sister. I like photography, art, bubbles, chalk, and scooter rides.
*Tell me some of your strengths- Some of my strengths would be that I am a people person, I am very creative, friendly, good with numbers, and have a good sense of humor.
*What are your weaknesses- Some of my weaknesses are that I'm a big procrastinator, I worrry a lot, I'm a pack rat, and I am usually very indecisive.
*Where do you want to be in five years?- In five years I hope that I will know what I want to do with my life, have a Bachelor's degree, and hopefully have a career that I love!

Journal # 7

I know where my money goes at the same that I don't. I have Wells Fargo accounts so there is a tab where you can see your spending report and it breaks it down into categories and tells you how much money each month you spend in each category. It also tells you the six month average of how much is spent in that category. I know that most of my money goes to clothes and going out to eat but then at the same time, when I do my taxes and see the amount I made, all I can think is that I have nothing to show for it. Fortunately, I don't have any bills besides paying for my gas and clothes but if I did, I would definitely be screwed. I love to shop and one of my friends told me that I like to buy things to remember the moment. Walmart gets me everytime! I go there for a few things and end up with a cart full! There's even a good chunk of clothes in my room that still have tags on them just because I was in the shopping mood and thought it was super cute, and still have never worn it. I'm also a sucker for sales or clearance, just because it's on sale or even better on clearance, I think I have to get it because it's such a good deal.

Journal # 6

I would say that Americans are too materialistic with everything these days. Nothing ever satifies anyone because when they get the latest gadget, something new and better comes out so they want that too. People are wasting their money on new upgraded phones when the one they have is just fine. The clothes they are wearing are getting more and more expensive because they are upscale brand names. They are too excessive with competing with one another to have the better tangible assets. No one seems to be thankful for what they have and a big reason for it is because of technology. With technology there are more commercials and Internent ads on how to be skinny, get buff, and what makeup to wear. Also the advertising for new gadgets has advanced to the point of someone needing it so bad that they open a new credit card and finance it through the company. Since majority of Americans have debt, no one really cares if they do since everyone else does, and plus how else are you going to buy all of those materialistic things? Even presents for kids have to be bigger and better so that their friends can envy them and the parents can feel good about themselves. The world is revolving around money and a bunch of one-uppers.

6.2 Claim Request

March 22nd, 2010

Mr. Orion Murillo, Manager
Customer Response Center
Western Car Rentals
2259 Weatherford Boulevard
Dallas, TX 74091

Dear Mr. Orion Murillo:

I am writing to let you know that my recent experience with Western Car Rentals was very disappointing. My company always chooses Western Car Rentals as our main car rental business. After my recent experience, we will no longer give you business if this problem goes unsolved.

With my recent experience, I rented a car from you from the day of June 23rd to June 26th. Once I picked up my rental car from the Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport, I soon found that the gas tank was empty. Therefore, I had to stop at the gas station to fill the tank.

Upon dropping the rental car back off, I neglected to fill the tank with gas, since that is how I received the car. Once I received my bill from the attendant, I noticed that there was a charge of $69.43 to fill up the rental car I had just returned. I spoke with your attendant and explained to her my situation about receiving the car with an empty tank. She then replied informing me that it is your company policy and she must charge me for a tank of gas.

If you would like to continue receiving business from me and my company, I would suggest settling this matter by crediting me back the $69.43 I was charged for gas. Please let me know what your decision is by Friday, April 2nd, 2010. You can reach me at 330-459-7638 or write to me at the following address;
Impact Group
402 North Griffin Street
Dallas, TX 74105

Sincerely,

Kristen O’Hara
Impact Group, Manager
Phone: 330-459-7638
Email: Kristen.OHara@impactgroup.com

Journal # 5

Commercials that I find misleading are infomercials. The fine print usually says that you have to pay outrageous shipping for each shipment and if it is something like a workout infomercial, then every month they send you a new dvd and charge it to your credit card. Also they usually say that in just six easy payments of $39.99 that item can be yours. So then people fall for the scam and end up in debt since they couldn't refuse such a deal! The axe commercials are cheesy and sometimes misleading. To sell their product they make it look like the guy is going to be a chick magnet if they use axe. Unfortunately for the guys it doesn't always work like that. I do believe some commercials do stick true to their ads however.

Journal # 4

To make the town I live in better, I would change some of the laws. One I would change would be if you're at a park after 10pm you can't get a curfew ticket if you're over 18. I grew up with a park across the street from my house and I hated having to get worried about the cops driving by after it was closed. There were these boys in my neighborhood that would cause trouble so it seemed like for a while the cops would drive by regularly. I just don't think that parks should close. Also I would organize volunteer groups to go around monthly and clean up the city and plant new trees so the community would look nicer. I would also make it so that people with animals in the winter are requried to leave their pets in the garage or in the house rather then outside when it's freezing!

7.3 Claim Denial

February 22, 2010

Ms. Kadence Larios
3591 Allen Avvenue
Baton Rough, LA 70809

Dear Ms. Larios:

Warranty for the NewDay Harmony dryers doesn't cover damage caused by operator error. The motor on your clothes dryer burned out due to a full lint filter. This then clogged and overheated the motor.

Once your concerned was received, we sent out our service technician to make an inspection. During the inspection is when the problem was discovered, the lint filter wasn't being cleaned out regularly enough and caused a clog, which then triggered the motor circuitry to overheat and burn out.

Product details covered in the warranty include:

- Manufacturing defects

- Improper installation by us

During the inspection, no defects in your dryer was found and everything was installed properly. For that reason, We are unable to replace the motor at no charge. Here are some available options for you with the prices listed:

-Intstall a reconditioned motor for $99

-Bring you a new motor for $189

-If either option is chosen we will charge you only half the service fee at $65 rather than full service fee at $130

Please let us know how we can assist you by calling us at 1-800-HARMONY

Sincerely,

Kristen O'Hara
Customer Service
NewDay Harmony Dryers
123 Bella Way, Sparks, NV 89436
E-mail: kristen.ohara@harmony.net
Phone: (775) 123-4567

Journal # 3

I feel like people thrive for bad news just because it's interesting and not the typical boring story on the news. It's almost like how some people say they go to a sprint car race or a nascar race to see an accident. They don't find the fun in just watching the cars do non stop laps. It's like an adrenaline rush debating if the people who crash are going to live or not. It seems like people don't mind bad news as long as it doesn't affect them or someone they know. Everyone is always glued to their tv's when there is something bad going on and they have it set up live for further updates. By all of this, I wouldn't say people like bad news, it's just that they get a different feeling when they hear that than when they hear good news. It's almost like their stomach drops when they hear the bad news and even if they read a story that doesn't affect them. Most newspeople thrive for bad news just to get a top story. It seems like there is more bad news than good news that is top story worthy. I think the news thrives on bad news to make everyone else aware of the situation so everyone isn't running around like nothing is ever going to happen to them.

Journal # 2

I believe that South Dakota should go smoke free. I don't think it would be right for the business owner to have the option because they might see it as, if they ban smoking, they may lose business. Smoking isn't like chewing tabacco where you can keep that to yourself and that only affects you. Smoking affects the person that is doing it and also everyone around. There are very many families that would love everything to go smoke free so that they could feel safe with their decision to take their kids out to the restaurant without having to worry about how smoky it will be. It seems like more and more business are making the switch to smoke free and I don't think I have heard of any of them losing any business. I think the worst places now are the bowling alleys, I don't think I know of a time that I didn't leave there smelling like smoke. If the businesses did decide to go smoke free, I think they would see a lot more people out, even at the bars because for some people they can't stand the smell of smoke so they won't even go out if it's a smoking business. Also, maybe if the businesses go smoke free, it may help people quit smoking since they won't be around the smoke to get the crave.

Journal # 1

The worst boss I have ever had was when I worked at Jo-Ann Fabric. Everything was a matter of life and death with her. I have never been so stressed out at a minimum wage job. She would always tell us that we had to be patient with ourselves since she knew we wouldn't catch on right away, yet when we would ask her a question she would be like, "Didn't I already show you how to do this?!" even in front of the customers. It's almost like she went out of her way to make you feel dumb. When I told her I wanted to put my two weeks in she started laughing and I told her I was serious. I only lasted there a month because I couldn't stand her.

The best boss I have ever had would be when I worked at Wells Fargo Financial. He would go out of his way to make sure that you could get the time requested off, he would sit you down and have a talk with you if you were having a bad day, even though we had sales goals to meet he wouldn't yell at us that we need to hit him but be more realistic that maybe that day some of us were just having off days. Since it was a call center we worked in the turn around rate wasn't very high but after I had been there for about 9 months I decided I wanted to move to Reno for the summer. So I gave him my notice but instead he had a better idea. He put me on a leave of absence so I would still have my job when I got back. When I moved back, I worked there for another year until my department was eliminated. If it wasn't for that I would still be working for him! He still even texts my old team every so often to see how we are doing and what we are up to.