Yesterday I watched an amazing 8 min Ted talk by Amy Purdy who really captured my attention (TED talks tend to do this). We immediately watched it as a family and then had a wonderful discussion about it.
If you are my facebook friend, or follow me on Twitter you may have already viewed it. I think it would serve as a wonderful tool to kick off a team meeting discussion about many things…including her theme which was “Living Beyond our Limits”. I especially liked it when she spoke about daydreaming like she did when she was a little girl.
I have included it the end of this T4D which begins with a lengthy but interesting list from Mental Floss about where Americans Spend our Money. 310 Million on Pet Halloween Costumes!! Really?! I made a few comments following most of the listings. Attempting humor but not claiming it. Enjoy.
Last year, Americans spent $10.7 trillion shopping. With that much dough, you could buy over 2000 aircraft carriers, 300 private islands, and still have money left over for a latte. Here’s a taste of the things we bought-and how much we spent on them.
Beer: $96 billion-enough to make 199,937,239 barrels! (Brewers Association) How many barrels can the wall hold? I never went past 99 and I was just singing about it.
Pretzels: $550 million (Reuters)
St. Patrick’s Day: $4.14 billion (National Retail Federation) Lucky Day
Over-the-Counter Teeth Whiteners: $1.4 billion (MSNBC) A Colgate smile is a good thing
Sinus Treatments: $5.8 billion (Centers for Disease Control) sniff sniff
Pet Halloween Costumes: $310 million (The pet industry hauls in a total $50.96 billion!) (National Retail Federation/American Pet Product Association)
Easter: $16.8 billion (National Retail Association) Rabbits can be very expensive.
Romance Novels: $10 billion (Romance Writers of America) I’m not sure this one leads to the next one on the list… but who knows.
Engagement and Wedding Rings: $11 billion (Knot Market Intelligence)
Valentine’s Day Flowers: $1.7 billion (National Retail Federation)
Chocolate: $16 billion dollars (we eat 2.8 billion pounds of it!) Well I admit I do contribute to this one.
Perfume: $4.2 billion (Research and Markets) A big number but at least it doesn’t stink.
Gambling: $34.6 billion (American Gaming Association) (I thought the number was much bigger than this)
Coffee: $11 billion ($1.4 billion is organic!) (Franchise Direct/North American Organic Coffee Industry Report)
Tattoos: $2.3 billion (INC.) Do you want a star upon thars?
Tattoo Removal: $66 million (IBIS) Can any one say Star Bellied Sneetch
Golf Balls: $500 million (Forbes) Wow…
Girl Scout Cookies: $800 million (Girl Scouts of America) The Mint ones are my favorite
Taxidermy: $800 million (Breakthrough Magazine)
Video Games: $17 billion dollars (NPD Group) A few hundred dollars from my youth I would like to get back….
Soft Drinks: $65 billion (National Soft Drinks Association) The more I learn about soft drinks the more I wonder why we buy…but back in the day I was Dr. Pepper man.
Bottled Water: $11 billion (Beverage Marketing Corp.) Water is so wet.
Groceries: $478 billion (USDA) Well you have to eat… but my wife has a goal of eliminating all processed foods from our diet… it’s tough but goals can be like that)
Fast Food: $117 billion (Fast Food Marketing) Not since watching SuperSize me with the kids… but we still do Dunkin Donut Dates with Dad)
Professional Sports: $25.4 billion (WR Hambrecht) (Not qualified to comment here)
Dollar Store Purchases: $30 billion (Security and Exchange Commission) You can spend more here because it costs less to do it…right?
Alternative Medicine: $33.9 Billion (Consumer Reports) We have legalized pot so now we have even more alternatives!
Toilet Paper: $2.6 billion (NY Times) What can you do?
Ringtones: $5 billion worldwide (NY Times) (really?)
Baggage Fees: $3.36 billion (Bureau of Transportation) People with more baggage pay for it… my counsel is to “lighten up”
Credit Card Late Fees: $18 billion (RK Hammer) (this seems avoidable to me)
Lawn Care: $40 billion (Bloomberg) (I have a full acre of grass, 2 sons and 3 push mowers…yes we bond – though they would deny it)
Child Care: $47 billion (IBIS)
Twinkies: Approximately $500 million (WSJ) (never have, never will)
Read the full text here: http://mentalfloss.com/article/31222/numbers-how-americans-spend-their-money#ixzz2KF6O46v7 –brought to you by mental_floss!
AMY PURDY – Living Beyond Limits
Is there a border that you need to push-off from to create and realize your dreams?
Kirk Out
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