Time travelling; Hi-tech financial bondage; Cost cutting extreme; 007's fondness for crispy notes; Micro-entrepreneurs

By Amanda Morrall

1) Time travel

As a kid growing up in the foothills of the majestic Rocky Mountains, I spent lots of time on summer holidays tramping, camping and chasing squirrels. No iPads, Game Boys, Wii, PlayStation or iPod touches. The big tech thrill of the day was at the arcade playing Pacman (poorly in my case) or else Pong on my father's primitive '70's era computer. 

Wind the clock back to 1930 in New Zealand and telegrams were all the rage. According to Statistics New Zealand, in its latest CPI newsletter, Kiwis used to send roughly 18 million of them a year. I'd be interested to know how that compares with the number of texts sent today. Stats NZ can confirm that there are more cell phones in the country than people which is probably not too surprising given how quickly the technology is changing. 

History geeks might enjoy the comparisons in clothing prices and communications from yesteryear and today contained in the Price Index News.

And for those of you with old, unwanted cell phones kicking around, why not do a good turn by giving them to Starship Hospital which recycles them for money. Read more about their programme here. 

2) Mobile phone insurance

I won't deny that technology has made life easier in many respects but it has foisted upon us a whole raft of stupid expenses. Given the initial outlay, and our propensity to lose, break or misplace stuff, insuring these gadgets seems mandatory.  Radio Nazis' Jules Older, in yesterday's afternoon show, discusses  the upside and downside of insurance plans and also individual liability with respect to workplace issued technology.

Once upon a time, Roger Moore was my favourite Bond. I only have eyes for Daniel Craig these days. Nonetheless, I was interested to read about Mr. Moore's relationship with money as he was the subject of a recent Telegraph Fame and Fortune profile. He admits a real fondness for the "sheer luxury of crispy notes." I hear you 007 but you won't find any in Amanda's wallet. EFTPOS has killed my paper relationship. 

Here's a snippet about how an early lesson from his father about  having respect for money had no material impact on his behaviour. He's a shameless materialist.   

 

HOW DID YOUR CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCE INFLUENCE YOUR ATTITUDE TO MONEY?

We lived in Stockwell and I remember my father one Sunday afternoon, slippers off, feet up, said, "Pop down the sweet shop, son, and get me a half-pound bar of Brazil nut chocolate," and he gave me 10 shillings to go and get it.

I got to the sweet shop and got the chocolate and went to pay for it and I had no 10-shilling note. It took me an hour searching every crack in the pavement and the kerb on the way back home. God knows what I was going to say. When my father said, "Where's my chocolate and where's my change?"

I was absolutely trembling. "I lost the money," I said. And he said: "Well, that will teach you to be more bloody careful next time, won't it?" And he put the 10-shilling note on the table in front of me and said, "You dropped it on the way out," and I said: "You let me go all the way down there?" And he said: "That's to teach you respect for money." Well, I've had no respect whatsoever my whole life. Now I'm extravagant.

5) Micro-entrepreneurs

Two people I know recently launched their own apps. Because the developers were based in China and India, they saved themselves a small fortune. How much? In one case, a friend was quoted a price of NZ$15,000. They ended up paying A$800. Another, paid less than US$200.  Business Process Outsourcing, a term used to describe this practice of using cheaper overseas skill, is the future. Reuter's Philippines correspondent Jeremy Wagstaff looks at the booming trade of micro-entrepreneurs.

To read other Take Fives by Amanda Morrall click here. You can also follow Amanda on Twitter @amandamorrall