Here are the results:

Of the 75 people who answered, a majority replied giving $200 or less on a single gift.

The rest gave some pretty nice gifts, and 1 in 5 said they spent more than $1,000.

In hindsight, I realize that I set up really bad categories for the poll. What I should have asked is how much people were planning to spend for holiday gifts.

The American Research Group does an annual survey of gift giving. In 2011, it found that people planned to spend about $650 in gifts. (via: frugal zeitgeist)

Spending $1,000 or more on a gift is a lot, but perhaps not that surprising. After all, there are many parents who would exceed spending $1,000 in a gift to a child, in the form of something like education/a car/downpayment on a house/a laptop.

Thanks to everyone that answered this poll question!

There’s something wonderful about Calvin’s energetic and child-like approach to life. And while my teachers never let me read these comics in school–it was strongly discouraged during free reading time–I felt there was a lot of educational value to them.

Looking back, I can see there are some very important lessons I learned about money. Here are 3 lessons that come to mind.

1. You don’t need a lot of money to have fun

In college, people always complained about not having money to go out to movies, bars, or restaurants. Nowadays, I hear the same complaints, except it’s for more expensive things, like not being able to get a dream house, car, or vacation.

Guess what, you don’t need all that money to be happy!

Calvin always has the time of his life, and with little need for money. All he requires to have fun is his imagination.

Calvin didn’t have an iPad or computer to play games. He was happy to be Spaceman Spiff saving the universe. Or he could pretend to be an angry god about to lay vengeance to the universe he created. And it just got wilder when he invented a time machine or the even crazier transmogrifier–a machine that turned him into any creature he wanted, like a dinosaur or a frog–both constructed out of a cardboard box.

When winter came around, Calvin did not stay indoors and be bored. He would go on his sled and talk about the meaning of life, contemplating his mortality as he faced one epic crash after another. If he wanted additional attention, Calvin would craft the snow into very animated snowmen that would catch the attention of anyone driving by.

And let’s not forget the greatest game of all: Calvinball. A game that requires no specific equipment, and has no rules except that one never play the same game twice in a row. Calvin could never be satisfied with organized sports. He played by his own rules and won the game his way.

As you can see, you don’t need to be rich to have a lot of fun. Just have a childlike joy for life like Calvin.

2. Don’t blindly trust everything your parents say

Calvin’s dad is well intentioned and always makes Calvin do things to “build character.” But like many parents, when Dad doesn’t know the correct answer, he is going to make something up rather than admit ignorance.

My favorite exchange between Calvin and his dad are the following (collected on this page). Here Calvin is asking a question to his dad:

Q. How come old photographs are always black and white? Didn’t they have color film back then?
A. Sure they did. In fact, those old photographs are in color. It’s just that the world was black and white then. The world didn’t turn color until sometime in the 1930s, and it was pretty grainy color for a while, too.

Q. But then why are old paintings in color?! If the world was black and white, wouldn’t artists have painted it that way?
A. Not necessarily. A lot of great artists were insane.

Q. But… But how could they have painted in color anyway? Wouldn’t their paints have been shades of gray back then?
A. Of course, but they turned colors like everything else did in the ’30s.

Q. So why didn’t old black and white photos turn color too?
A. Because they were color pictures of black and white, remember?

Dad manages to thoroughly confuse Calvin who does his best to pick holes at the theory.

In another comic strip, Calvin wanted to know how ATM’s worked:

Q. How do bank machines work?
A. Well, let’s say you want 25 dollars. You punch in the amount and behind the machine there’s a guy with a printing press who makes the money and sticks it out this slot.

Q. Sort of like the guy who lives up in our garage and opens the door?
A. Exactly.

We can laugh at the things Calvin’s dad says. But the truth is that many parents are well-intentioned and give the same sort of misinformation to their children about money.

Remember to question the things your mom and dad taught you. As you grow up, it’s your money, and you should be doing things for your reasons.

3. Beware of advertising

People love to show off their new Jordan shoes, their designer Versace handbags, or the latest gadgets from Apple.

Calvin always found the irony in this type of advertising.

Calvin: Nowadays, ads don’t just sell a product. They sell an attitude! Look at this one! Here’s a cool guy saying nobody tells him what to do. He does whatever he wants and he buys this product as a reflection of that independence.

Hobbes: So basically, this maverick is urging everyone to express his individuality through conformity in brand-name selection?

Calvin: Well, it sounded more defiant when he said it.

And then there was Calvin’s critique of inconspicuously branded merchandise:

Calvin: I wish my shirt had a logo or a product on it. A good shirt turns the wearer into a walking corporate billboard! It says to the world, ‘My identity is so wrapped up in what I buy that I paid the company to advertise its products!’

Hobbes: You’d admit that?

Calvin: Oh sure. Endorsing products is the American way to express individuality.

(quotes from this page)

These particular quotes can be seen as reflective of the artist behind the comic, a certain defiant and reclusive Bill Watterson. He refused to merchandise his beloved strip, at great financial cost, and he fought hard to make comic strips a larger part of newspapers with more freedom in the format for artists.

I’m not one to be nostalgic for the old days (after all, it’s new technology and blogging that provide my well-being). Still, there is something to be said for the good old-fashioned lessons in Calvin and Hobbes. I can only hope future generations continue to be entertained by Calvin, and learn a thing or two along the way.

While you may not be able to prevent identity theft entirely, you can take steps to reduce your risk. Simple things like shredding up personal information and being vigilant can help you avoid being an easy target.

How good are you in protecting yourself? I found an interesting “risk assessment survey” that gives some idea.

Identity theft risk assessment quiz

The survey can be taken over at Rutger’s website. Here is a link to the quiz:

ID theft risk quiz

There are just 20 questions, along with a few demographic questions. You need to enter all the demographic information for survey purposes, but there is nothing too specific to worry about them collecting data on you.

The great part about the quiz is the results indicate areas that you can improve. Some of the simple steps you can take are:

–using a shredder for mail with personal information
–being careful about giving out personal information
–having mail in a locked box, or collecting it immediately

I did pretty well, but I was not perfect because I did not always take protective steps.

How well did you do?

We were deciding between getting individual 9 inch pizzas at $7 a piece, or splitting a couple of medium 14 inch at $14 a piece.

For fun, I wanted to know which pizza was a better value in terms of total area (as is customary, the size refers to the diameter of the pizza). Usually it is the case that larger pizzas are better values, but it is not always the case, so I like to verify.

As I was slowly making the calculation on my cell phone calculator, my friend quickly calculated the 14 inch pizzas were a better deal.

How did he figure it out so fast? Here’s the neat trick he used.

The mental math my friend did

My friend used the following logic: he would compare the ratio of the cost to the ratio of the pizza size.

The ratio of cost is easy: the medium pizza is 2 times as expensive (14/7).

The question is: do you get more or less than 2 times pizza? Rather than think about circular areas and radii, my friend compared the ratio of diameters squared:

Ratio of areas = (14/9)² = (1 + 5/9)² = (1.55…)² > (1.5)² = 2.25

My friend explained that for 2 times the cost, you are getting more than 2.25 the amount of pizza. Therefore, the medium is a better value.

(Now I’ll admit, the above calculation relies on some other tricks too, like knowing 5/9 is 0.555… (similar trick for other integers from 1 to 8: like 4/9 is 0.4444), and knowing that 15 squared is 225. But I’d hope that arithmetic is part of one’s civic education).

Why does the trick work?

The textbook way to solve the problem is to compute the total areas of each pizza, and then compare the ratio of the areas.

But when you take the ratio of two areas, certain terms will cancel out, like the factor of π. Additionally, there’s no need to calculate the radius of each pizza and then divide: the factor of 1/2 on the diameter also cancels out.

Here is a proof of why the ratio of diameters squared is the same as the ratio of areas squared. Let’s say the larger pizza has radius R and diameter D versus the smaller pizza has radius r and diameter d

So there you go, the ratio of the diameters squared is the same as that of the total areas.

Long way to solve the problem

Here’s the way I was goign to solve the problem in three steps:

1. Figure out the radius of each pizza (d / 2)
2. Calculate the area each pizza, but ignore the π term (r²)
3. Calculate the unit cost of each pizza (cost/area)
4. Compare the unit costs

This method will give the same exact answer, of course, but it takes a lot more time and gives precision that is not necessary.

Accordingly, some people I know save energy by unplugging big energy devices like gaming systems or TVs, or by using power saving surge protectors.

But occasionally, it’s worth applying the same principle to smaller devices, as explained in the story below.

Coffee maker savings

The non-profit Citizens Utility Board works to help customers in Illinois save on utility costs.

A program it is running now called CUB Energy Saver works with customers to lower their energy usage by using simple and personalized efficiency tips.

Here are a few examples on their website:

I was quite impressed that someone saved $65 in a year by turning off their coffee maker after brewing.

Then I did more research and found coffee makers use upwards of 1,000 watts of power when in use–though newer models at least have a standby after brewing. One person estimated it cost them $22 a month just to run their coffee maker.

Small changes can matter, so it’s always worth looking at incremental changes. I am far from perfect in my energy saving habits, so I will try to be more diligent when in the kitchen. What appliances could you unplug when not in use?