The Addison Cafe

How do you make a purchase? Do you shop at the store or site with the cheapest price? Best service? Most established brand? Renown quality?

Recently my wife bought shoes from Zappos. Usually, they do free shipping. However, on her order, just for the heck of it, they sent her an e-mail thanking her for her business and letting her know they upgraded the shipping to over night for free. Keep in mind, my wife isn’t a regular shopper there, her order wasn’t big, and she didn’t do anything special. Zappos just did it…because.

Even if they aren’t the cheapest, they will get our business again. (And note that the experience was good enough to share with others, and it wasn’t even mine).

How do you decide who to buy from?

Remember long family car rides? Kids always ask how much farther it is, and parents always reply, “Just over the next hill”.  Sometimes it seems like people have the same reaction with their finances. When asked how much money is enough, most people say 10% more than they have (regardless of their class).

Will you ONLY be happy when you earn X, weigh Y, or have Z? Does happiness really come just over the next hill?

It’s easier to go out for lunch instead of packing one. It’s easier to just swipe your card rather than budget. It’s easier to use credit than to show restraint. And it’s also easier to feel anxiety after you do those things rather than peace.

Are you trying to acquire “stuff” or “freedom”? Would you rather sit back and marvel at everything you have, but have little savings, or choose to have less and instead be free to do whatever you want with your time and energy?

The hard road is usually the good road.

I don’t think I need to spell out the lesson here. Funny how the pursuit of money isn’t always (rarely, actually) the same as the pursuit of happiness.

I think it’s obvious that Domino’s isn’t the cream of the crop when it comes to pizza. But they aren’t trying to be; that isn’t their niche. They provide an acceptable product at a lower price…kind of like WalMart. And that’s ok with me. In fact, going through my college and newlywed years, I enjoyed many Domino’s pizzas at an affordable price.

However, my cheap pizza bubble was recently burst when I ordered a large two topping pizza. When I went in to pick it up, there was a giant banner outside that said something to the effect of “Customer Appreciation – Large 1 topping pizza for $5.99″. In the past with deals like this, I would order the special and just pay a buck or two for an extra topping. So you can imagine my surprise when I walked up to the counter and asked if I could take advantage of the offer and pay for the second topping and was told, “Nope. You have to mention the offer on the phone”.

Me: “But you didn’t tell me about it, so how would I know?”

Them: “You have to mention it on the phone.”

Me: “Yeah, you just said that. Is there any way possible you can give me that offer?”

Them: “No, you have to mention it on the phone.”

Me: Blank stare.

Them: “That will be $17.99 please.”

So I had to pay 18 bucks for the “customer appreciation” pizza plus a topping. I didn’t feel very appreciated. And you know what? I haven’t been back since.

On the other hand, T-Mobile doesn’t need a “special” to show appreciation to their customers. They just do it, every time I call.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “What you do speaks so loud I cannot hear what you say.” Thanks Ralph.

Maybe. We just launched a new promotion called “Bank Intervention” and you can check it out at bankintervention.com (imagine that).  Two things to think about:

1.  It’s our first stab at video like this. I am curious if you love it or hate it. There’s a series of 7 short clips that are supposed to be funny (we think they are).

2. It’s also our first time weaving Twitter into a campaign. Just tweet your thoughts about big banks and include #bankintervention and be automatically entered to win $250. You don’t even have to be a member.

Let me know what you think.

No, I am not your father. The truth you need to be aware of is what makes a credit union what it is; something that seems to be a well guarded secret these days. Sounds super boring, I know (hang in there, I’m going somewhere with this). So here is a quick and dirty overview of the core principles of a co-op (borrowed from here and the complete list can be found here):

The 7 Cooperative Principles:

Principle #1 (inclusive): membership should be open to all
Principle #2 (voice): members should call the shots
Principle #3 (benefit): rates and fees should benefit our members
Principle #4 (independent): autonomy and independence set us apart
Principle #5 (education): financial education should be free and available to all
Principle #6 (cooperation): cooperation among cooperatives is vital
Principle #7 (community): concern for community

While we serve our members on every one of those levels, I wanted to focus on number seven: concern for community. Sounds like typical corporate speak…except it isn’t. You see, we just invested a lot of time, energy, and money to launch an online community called Addison Avenue Groups where you can go join a discussion (or start your own) about any financial issue, topic, or question that comes to mind. You can now leverage the wisdom of thousands, online, any time, for free. Instead of typing a bunch of instructions here, I will let you explore it for yourself. Just go groups.addisonavenue.com and enjoy.

(Note: you must be logged into Online Banking to post anything)

I went surfing for the first time last month. Well, I wouldn’t call it surfing. More like falling over a bunch and drinking gallons of salt water for several hours.  While I was busy doing that, my wife was busy having the time of her life bodyboarding. Despite my insult to the sport of surfing, it was a blast. So much so that we now both own wetsuits and body boards (yes, I bought a bodyboard and not a surfboard…success comes more frequently to me on those).

The wetsuits were on sale and we bought your basic run of the mill bodyboards. Overall, the cost for one person is about $250. But from here on out everything is free. Using the ocean? Free. Time limits? None. We don’t have to put a quarter in to ride a wave (oops, hopefully I didn’t give the government any ideas). If the gear lasts a while, as it should (years hopefully), we now have a free hobby outside the cost of gas.

Hobbies like that are the best kind…finding something you can do that once you’re setup, the activity is unlimited and free. Kayaking, photography, most forms of exercise, clubs for things like chess and cribbage, etc.  Ironically, watching movies and cable television, while fun, continually cost money and provide little benefit.

Any good free-once-you’re-setup hobby suggestions?

Sometimes we get so used to life that we start to trust everything and question nothing.  Specifically, we forget that every company wants the same thing and they will do anything to get it: your money. Sure, they can be nice, quality, and ethical. But at the end of the day, they just want to make a buck off you. I have been taking some advertising classes and realizing how hard people work to get you to trust a brand name. Don’t get me wrong, this can actually be a good thing. It’s just amazing to look at the psychology behind consumer purchases.

For instance, you know that new car smell that you love so much? Turns out it’s fake. They manufacture a scent that they spray into the carpet to give it that smell. Cologne for cars. Sure, the car will naturally smell new to a degree, but you are primarily smelling a chemical designed to appeal to your sense of smell and entice you to buy the car. Sneaky.

I wonder what would happen if people started wearing it. I probably could have benefited from some in high school.

Careful how quickly you trust; sometimes you have no idea how bad people want your hard earned money.

When it comes to life, happiness, and money, there are two extremes: the Donald Trump approach and the Mother Teresa approach. The below quotes do a nice job summing it up:

“A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of.” -Jane Austen

“All you need is love.” -John Lennon

What do you think? Right in the middle? More towards one than the other? All I know is that one of them smiles and one of them doesn’t…