Credit Cards

        The American Express card was one of the first credit cards to be produced, and it came out in 1958. Another early credit card, that was invented in 1946, was actually the very first credit card, and was invented by John Biggins. John Biggins worked for the Flatbush National Bank of Brooklyn. Back then the credit card program was actually called "Charge It." He invented it for bank customers and merchants. Credit cards are actually like a easily transportable way of doing a loan. If you use a credit card, you are required to pay back the certain amount later in the future. Sometimes credit cards are confused with debit cards, which actually take the money right out of your bank account. Usually, your credit card is tied to your credit account, and makes it so that you don't go over the amount you have to be willing to pay back in the future.
Also, instead of getting a loan and then spending the money, credit cards make it so that you only borrow the exact amount you are paying, right as you are paying it. Also, if used responsibly, credit cards can help you build a good credit history, allowing you to get loans at cheaper interest rates in the future. Paying off a credit card also isn't like paying off a loan, because when you pay off the loan, if you want another one, you have to apply for another loan. But when using a credit card, you just have to set goals in order to stay out of debt. A credit score is basically like a resume, of past history of not paying, or paying off the money you borrowed with your credit card. It can let the people you are buying from, know the chances of you giving back the money you are borrowing. A good way to use your credit card, is to make sure that you don't use it to buy items that are very expensive. Otherwise you might not be able to pay back the money in time, and you don't want to go into debt, because you can't pay back the money. So, that is how a credit card works, and a good way to use them.

Our Budget

I asked my dad about our budget and how much everything costs and man there is a lot of stuff
you have to pay for as a grown up. First of all he talked about his salary and how much he makes
per month. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you how much he makes. First, he talked about tax and
that it takes a lot of money out of his paycheck. Second he talked about all the big bills, like the
house bill, car bil, and food. Also, the student loan he is still paying off.

Next, are the little bills like utilities and stuff like that. I learned that when you grow up you have to
pay for a lot more than you do right now. Also that it is pretty expensive so you will need to make
a good living. Now I know why we need education and to go to college. It’s so when it is time for
us to earn a living and support a family we will be ready for the job that comes to us.

My Cooking Experience

By: Lilly Wittwer

For my blog post I decided to do the cooking tutorial, since cooking is usually
my friend. However, I soon learned that cooking cookies by myself is actually
pretty difficult. I was looking online for good cookie recipe, when I ran across
a recipe titled, “The World’s Most Delicious Chocolate Chip Cookies.” Since it
said it was the world’s most delicious cookies, I decided to try to make it. I put
in all the dry ingredients, like it said, and mixed it up. As soon as I turned it on,
I realized that I hadn’t put anything over it to cover it, and immediately flour was
flying everywhere! As I observed the enormous mess I was creating, I stood
absolutely still, from shock. I then lunged into the cloud of dry ingredients,
(mostly flour), and sacrificed my clothes to turn off the monstrous device that
was shooting flour everywhere. Since most of the flour had shot out when I
didn’t cover it, I had to start over again from scratch.

The second time I put in the dry ingredients, I made sure that I covered the top
of the mixer. (Trust me, I learned that lesson.) Next, I added in all the wet
ingredients, such as milk and vanilla, and mixed it up until all the ingredients
were mixed in. Then, I added in the chocolate chips, and mixed them in. After
that, I used the cookie scooper to scoop the cookie dough into little balls that
put on the cookie tray, and put them into the oven. Following the instructions
on the recipe, I set a timer for 15 minutes so I would know when the cookies
were done. However, what I didn’t remember was that my mother had told me
a couple days ago that our oven cooks a little bit fast, so if I don’t want to over
cook my food, I should check on it a couple minutes earlier than it says. So,
when I took my cookies out of the oven, they looked somewhat hard and
crusty on the outsides of the cookies. They ended up tasting fine, but they
weren’t nearly as soft and gooey as I’d hoped. Even though the cookies
ended up as kind of a disaster, I learned some very essential things about
cooking: 1; always remember to cover the mixer when I mix ingredients.
2; always check on my food that’s in the oven a couple of minutes before it
says to check on them.

What makes someone a good friend?

I think what makes someone a good friend is being nice and always there for your friend. Never talking behind their back and making them feel good about themselves and building them up. Basically, a good friend is always there for you. I interviewed three friends and here is what they said when I asked, "What makes someone a good friend?". 

I asked Tegun Whitehead and he said, "They can be trusted, loyal, and won't make fun of you. You can always talk to them when you need it, always be nice, caring, wont talk behind your back and make you feel good."

I asked Chloe Vowell and she said, "They're nice to you, don't gossip behind your back. trustworthy, loyal and don't spill your secrets. A good friend is always there for you! They support you and your decisions and if you are having a bad day they will cheer you up". 

I asked Mrs. Nyberg so I could get a teacher point of view and she said, "They have character traits that are honest, truthful, they will always be true to themselves, they stand strong in what they believe in and they don't fall for anything. A friend is a good example of never quitting and having perseverance even when things get tough. A good friend is loyal and the friendship isn't upon conditions. They will be there for you unconditionally and will listen to you without judgement. They exhibit a lot of leadership qualities, such as being responsible and kind."

I learned a lot asking and getting a lot of different point of views!!

Credit Cards

Credit cards are different than debit cards.  Debit cards take money right out of your account and credit cards are borrowing money.  The down side to credit cards is that you have to pay interest on the money you use. Like a loan. So I would say they aren't a good idea.  But I started researching a little more and talking to my parents and learned that some credit cards have "perks".  For example, some credit cards give you credits to use toward airline tickets when you use the card.  Some give things like cash back when you purchase items.  So I decided they can be good to use to get those perks but it's good if you pay them off quickly so you don't have to pay interest.

Easy Money
     
                I think it is smart to start saving up your money at a young age. You can even put in like a dollar a day into your bank account and it would help out when you get older. There are a lot of ways you can safe money. Another way is to earn the money. You have to be careful though because you don't want to spend all of it, so you'll have to learn how to save it.

                Another thing that is smart is to do more than one job. That way you can earn more money. If I had to earn money in a short period of time, I would ask my neighbors or cousins if they need anyone to watch their kids for them while there away. You could do a bake sell on the corner of your house, or even do something simple like take the garbage out every single night of the week. I can ask my parents what jobs make good amount of money and I can learn about saving your money. That's so I would make $100 in a short period of time.

Researching about Cars

Many teenagers want to drive a car, but a car is very expensive.

Yeah, a parent could buy you a cheap car, but you also have to think

about car insurance (You are just 16, you aren’t that great at driving),

fuel costs, regular oil changes, and maintenance repairs. Right now according

to consumerreports.org, the Top 10 most fuel efficient cars are the

(10) Honda Insight, (9) Toyota Prius, (8) Hyundai Ioniq, (7) Toyota Prius Prime,

(6) Honda Accord, (5) Toyota Camry, (4) Toyota Prius C, (3) Kia Nitro, (2) Toyota Avalon,

and the (1) Chevrolet Malibu, but we also need to have car insurance, and that

costs around $1,100 a year ($92 per month). Gas is also a factor we need to

remember, gas now costs around $3 a gallon, that doesn’t sound like a lot, but it is!

For example, let’s say that you live 4 miles from the nearest high school in your area.

This means that for every 3 days we drive to school, we have to pay $3 (remember that

you have to drive back home) Now, there are 180 days of school, we divide that by there

(for the 3 days) and times the quotient by 3 (for the three dollars), that is $180, it still doesn’t

sound like a lot (because we are not counting the gas that you used to get around town during the
summer), but when you have to commute to work, then that’s a lot.

Say you live 20 miles away from your office, you only work on the weekdays and

get 7 vacation days with 5 sick days a year. That leaves 249 days of work.

Do some math and you get about $1,500, and we are not counting the gas you used

to drive to California on your vacation days. We are also forgetting the maintenance

repairs for the year, which I would estimate at about $1,000 a year.

So, after adding all these numbers up, you get $25,640,

including the car, car insurance, car repairs, and the gas mileage for all 3 years of high school.

In conclusion, that is what you will have to think about in a few years, no pressure.

What I think I learned is that I don’t want I car, I can just stay home, tag along with my parents when
they are going to a grocery store to get the stuff that I want, which saves gas.

My parents also think that getting me a car is pointless since I live right by Snow Canyon Middle and
High, so I can just walk to school.

I also learned that I should probably get a Tesla or a Toyota Hybrid, and maybe live in a average city
like St. George, where you don’t have to drive too long to get to the other side of town.

Also, a car is usually expensice to maintain and I would also have to work to buy my own gas. This is
what I learned from doing this blog post.

By a Human