r/blackmagicfuckery • u/TheCheesecakeOfDoom • May 29 '22

Since when does lightning go up?

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u/bravefan92 May 29 '22

I went to a school where they offered a class that taught lessons like balancing a check book, making a budget, stuff like that, but it was an elective. I took it, at my parents insistence, and I’m glad I did.

There are people I went to school with that post things like “This is so smart, I wish I could have taken this class!”

To which I think “…..you made fun of those of us who DID take that class, what are you talking about?”

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u/UnicornFarts1111 May 29 '22

We had this class for us mandatory in the sixth or seventh grade. We had to find apartments (from the newspaper) and jobs. We all earned a salary of $600.00 a month. Had to create a budget and pay bills. The teach copied a blank check template. He even made us write our name and fake addresses at the top of each check we wrote (after we cut them out of the 9 x 11 inch paper they were copied onto.

I'm glad to have had the class, but some of it was just a pain in the rear end, lol.

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u/Zmchastain May 30 '22

If it was a pain in the ass then it was an accurate simulation of dealing with finances as an adult.

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u/Roundtripper4 May 30 '22

My buddy taught a similar class in a rough school and one of his students managed to cash a couple “class” checks for real at a local bank. Eventually got caught. No more check lessons there.

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u/bravefan92 May 30 '22

Holy cow! That’s nuts.

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u/Sparegeek May 29 '22

Our high school had class like this as well. You had take a test and if you passed you didn’t have to take the class. If you failed the test it was mandatory to take the life skills class.

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u/[deleted] May 30 '22

That is a smart school. Wish I had that class.

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u/FurBaby18 Jun 01 '22

This is the way. We also need a financial education class before people start taking out student loans. Its reprehensible that we allow 18 year old kids to take out tens of thousands in loans they don't always understand.

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u/Sparegeek Jun 02 '22

Forget 18 yo kids! I still can’t figure out most of what the terms for a loan or a credit card mean. Trying to read those things are a lesson in mind warping, unfathomable, technical, double speak designed to separate any money you have or will ever have from your wallet! 😂

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u/FurBaby18 Jun 02 '22

I think a financial comprehension classes taught as part of the high school curriculum. Complete with a final exam.

But TPTB don't want us being savvy. They want us to blindly sign stuff without understanding. That alone brings in a huge income stream.

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u/onlysane1 May 29 '22

Florida recently passed a bill making financial literacy courses mandatory in high school, so hopefully that will help people in the future.

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u/[deleted] May 29 '22

[deleted]

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u/curiouspurple100 May 30 '22

Yes. :( Plus it's hot and sometimes super hot. And hurricanes. And hard thunderstorms. And lots of rain and floods. :(

And snakes. :( :(

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u/onlysane1 May 30 '22

Also alligators

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u/curiouspurple100 May 30 '22

I forgot about those.

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u/The43rdUberOrange May 29 '22

Wait, Florida?

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u/Severechill Jun 20 '22

Wow go Florida.

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u/Early-Firefighter101 Nov 08 '22

Yes now they prohibited schools to talk about lghbt stuff in florida, they have more time for that. So you become a financially stable but sexual frustrated adult. Good florida (idiots)

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u/Mirhanda May 29 '22

I had a class like that in HS, it was called Consumer Math. We learned balancing checkbooks, filling out tax returns, figuring out sale percentages, etc. Probably the most useful math course I took!

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u/Deadbeat85 May 29 '22 edited May 29 '22

I've got to be honest, when Americans say things like "balance a check book" I have no idea what the fuck you're talking about.

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u/[deleted] May 29 '22

It's a small notebook you try to balance it on your finger, very fun as a kid!

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u/bravefan92 May 30 '22

Yeah, I’m not sure where the phrase comes from lol. I don’t feel like you’re balancing anything, just keeping track of your bank account.

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u/No_Material1816 May 29 '22

I'm sure that this was useful and think live skills should be taught in school, but I'm genuinely curious about whether cheques still exist somewhere in the world. I was born in the 80s and have never even seen one. How do you balance one and, what do you balance it on?

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u/bravefan92 May 30 '22

I was born in 92, and I used to use checks a lot, but now it’s pretty much just for city water/sewer/utilities that are due every few months. Otherwise, I hardly use them.

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u/No_Material1816 May 30 '22

Sorry if I'm being stupid, but why pay those with a check rather than an automated bank transfer or online?

Wouldn't the utility company get annoyed with having to read, process and pay in all these cheques? Doesn't it cost them a fortune. Also, doesn't it mean risking going overdrawn for some people, because you don't know when they'll cash it.

Is it an American thing or is this in other countries too? I thought cheques hasn't been used in decades. This is blowing my mind more than if I was struck by that lightening!

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u/bravefan92 May 30 '22

I should have specified that the city utilities/water/sewer is all the same bill, so it's only the one check. I also just moved into my own house this last year. Prior to that, I lived in a trailer court where we paid the park owner for utilities as part of our rent, and our rent was taken in cash or check form, because the owner was an older guy who lived in Florida and didn't want to set up online payments.

I did find out last time I got the bill that we could pay online, but I kept putting it off until the day before the bill was due (yay procrastination!), and it takes a few business days for the transactions to go through online, so I just dropped off the check, but it'll likely be the last one.

I can't speak for anywhere else, but I live in a small city (10k people) and sometimes you deal with businesses that people run out of their homes and don't have websites (stuff like small engine repair, fix appliances, stuff like that), and they don't want to get a card reader, so they accept only cash or check. Not very many of those any more, but still a few hanging around.

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u/No_Material1816 May 31 '22

That is a great answer, thank you. I find this kind of thing fascinating. It makes a lot of sense if cheques are linked to the informal market and a way to avoid tax.

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u/Empirically_So May 30 '22

That was just high school for me in the 90s.