Telco trickery; Principled versus predatory capitalism; Behaviour Gaps; 10 reasons you are poor; Facing up to debt

By Amanda Morrall

1) Teleco trickery

Some interesting shifts afoot in the telco sector of late. Since the arrival of newcomer Flip NZ, which has been seducing customers with it's offer of $49.95 for a landline and 5GB of broadband, price benchmarks have started to fall. Shortly after Flip arrived on scene, my own provider launched a similar offering dropping its price by $10 a month. Of course, they didn't bother to tell me about this when I was in the process of shifting house. I had to learn about it on-line a week later when I was trying to find out just how far out their packages were from their new competitor.

While I gave up more data, I decided to drop down to 5GB because I'm not a 'heavy user' and reasoned I was paying for something I wasn't using. I was pretty pleased with myself until I got a notice that I was close to blowing my limit and was threatened with the worst punishment an Internet user can face, short of being cut off altogether: dial up speed!  

Before I could go on-line to check when my monthly allowance would turn-over, I got another letter in the post saying that my data limit had been extended to 30 GB a month, for free.  

Competition is great but ultimately it is up to you and I as consumers to a) pay closer attention to our actual consumption versus what we are sold; b) getting more proactive about finding what the competition is up to; and c) taking it to the next step by switching. 

Here's some more pointers on controlling Internet costs for personal and business use from the Globe and Mail. Different market but some lessons to be gleaned.

2) Principled versus predatory capitalism

Tom Clark, writing for the Guardian,  looks at moves afoot in the U.K. to address the yawning gap between not only the rich and poor but the super rich and the middle class, which is predicted to be squeezed harder than ever in the coming decade. Well worth a read.

3) 10 reasons why you're still poor

Can the 1% fairly be blamed for stifling wealth creation among the masses? Not entirely. Individuals, for their part, do a lot to sabotage their own success. Invesitwisely.com comes up with 10 good reasons why you are still 'poor.'

4) Behaviour Gap

Carl Richards, author of The Behaviour Gap, shares a similar view. Markets may not perform as we want them to but ultimately, it's our behaviour - what we do and equally what we don't do - that impacts outcomes. Personal finance blogger retireby40.org explains why it's important to have a plan that accords with your own personal goals.

5) Face up to the facts

One thing for certain that will hold you back when it comes to building personal wealth is debt. The hardest part is facing up to it. Manvsdebt.com lays out a plan to get your head out of the sand and get on with the business of digging out.

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