Today I’d like to give you some facts, statistics, and ponderings on the mighty dollar.

These from the newsletter of the iconic, late Gary Halbert:

More of our fantasies are about money… than sex.

90% of Americans, who own pets, buy them Christmas gifts.

Money is the leading cause of disagreements in marriages.

65% of Americans would live on a deserted island all by themselves for an entire year for $1,000,000.

For $10,000,000 most of us would do almost ANYTHING! Including abandoning our family and friends and our church. A very high percentage of us would, for that same amount of money, change our race or sex. And, 1 in every 14, would even murder someone for ten million bucks.
What’s really strange about this is, the statistics remain the same whether it’s ten million dollars all the way down to three million. For three million bucks, most of us would do the same horrible things we would do for ten million. But, guess what? Few of us would do these things for a “measly” two million.

92% of us would rather be rich than find the love of our lives.

Let’s flip a coin and try to guess whether it will come up heads or tails. Three times as many people guess ‘heads’ than ‘tails’.

Here’s one I personally think really sucks: One out of every four Americans believe their best chance of getting rich is by playing the lottery.

How about this one for a shocking fact: 5% of lottery ticket buyers buy 51% of all tickets sold. (Trust me, none of these people belong to the “Einsteins of America Society”.)

A staggering 74% of us are influenced by how much we can win in a lottery as opposed to the odds of us winning.

That’s a good thing for the Government because the odds of winning a lottery jackpot are about 10 million to 1.

A person who drives 10 miles to buy a lottery ticket is 3 times more likely to be killed in a car accident while driving to buy the ticket… than… he is to win the jackpot.

Sunday newspaper coupon inserts are the second-most read section of the paper, after the front page.

Even though we are fascinated by money, we can’t seem to hang on to it..

From Legacy Educational Resources

Personal Savings At All Time Lows

“People once again spent everything they made and then some last year, pushing the personal savings rate to the lowest level since the Great Depression more than seven decades ago…The 2006 figure (for savings) was lower than a negative 0.4 percent in 2005 and was the poorest showing since a negative 1.5 percent savings rate in 1933 during the Depression.” (Associated Press, Feb. 5, 2007)  

What is this stuff we love so much?

From the  Digerati Life Blog-

How many times does “The United states of America” appear on a new $100 bill? The answer is twelve (two obvious appearances plus ten times around the oval). Franklin’s portrait is framed by an oval consisting of concentric rules, cross-hatching, and white space. Similar, though slightly different, ovals surround the portraits on all US bills. Using a magnifying glass, look at the outermost line of the oval. It turns out not to be a line at all but the repeated words “THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.”

Most people think the symbol for the US dollar is derived from the initials U and S superimposed on each other. Well this is false. It’s from the Spanish dollar sign. The US decided in 1782 that its basic unit of currency would be the Spanish dollar or peso. Its symbol was even then written as $, which was supposedly an ancient Phoenician sign indicating strength and sovereignty.

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing and is where U.S. money is made.
The Bureau prints currency on high-speed, sheet-fed rotary presses, which are capable of printing over 8,000 sheets per hour. The surface of the note feels slightly raised, while the reverse side feels slightly indented. Currency paper is composed of 25% linen and 75% cotton. Red and blue synthetic fibers of various lengths are distributed evenly throughout the paper. Prior to World War I the fibers were made of silk.

 Money it seems, does make the world go around, at least in the hearts and minds of Americans.  This week, as I transition from one aspect of life to another and work up a viable budget, I’d like to share some budgeting tips.  I am making a budget spreadsheet this weekend, and tracking my ugly debt online from this point forward. I calculated last night my medical bill debt, spread out over 13 creditors is something like $24K. Maybe your budget is off due to credit cards or other financial constraints. I’ve found some great resources to share with you regarding debt management. Let the buck stop here.
Here is an excellent link to begin your budget spreadsheet: