Thank you mom, dad and Starbucks

When I turned 16, finance has always been something I’ve taken seriously. Like father, like son. My dad has always been a stickler about how to spend money. 

Ever since I’ve started up a savings account in the fifth grade, my parents made sure that putting some of my earnings in savings was a wise decision...and that I would thank them later.

Thank you. 

Growing up, there were only a few things I had to pay for. Car insurance, cell phone bill, credit card bill and gas were about the four things I had to fork out money for. This is not because some teenager was “spoiled” and got whatever he wanted. 

My parents made me a deal: Hold a job and they will pay for college.

Like any intelligent student with any clue about how fast money can get spent, I said yes to the deal.

Working full-time for three years while going to school full-time was rough, but was worth every penny. Also, paying for tours, equipment and merchandise for my band was something that I could now have the luxury of doing.

Most people don’t realize that $600 for a new bass, $2,000 for a keyboard, $400 for new shirts and $800 for a new amp goes rather quickly and would seem detrimental if college wasn’t being paid for.

But balancing school, work and a social life was getting ridiculous at the time. When I was 20, I decided to step down my work load from full-time to part-time. So I started working at the nearest Starbucks.

Before I got hired, I was considered a regular. I made the trip almost every morning for the previous two years before school to get my $3.00 drink. Let me tell you, it adds up quickly. But I already worked so many hours the last three years of my life that, once again, I had money on the side to spend.

Starbucks was one of the greatest financial gifts that has ever crossed my life. 

Not only did I get all my drinks for free, but I also was able to save my parents a ton of money with their coffee. Every Starbucks partner (just another silly name for employee) got one free pound of coffee a week.

Let’s do the math. 

Since every pound of coffee is at least $10 and I worked for the company for a year and a half, I saved my parents $780.

My drink of choice (grande peppermint mocha) runs for about $3 per drink. Over a year and a half, I saved myself around $1,440.

Thank you Starbucks.

And even now that I don’t work there anymore, I still get free drinks or huge discounts on my drinks from fellow co-workers. But last semester, I got the the talk from my parents that I thought I would be getting a year earlier.

“We can’t afford to pay for college anymore.” Those were the exact words.

And with tuition prices going through the roof, I would once again like to thank my parents for teaching me to save.

Their lesson became valid as I’m now trying to pay around $6,000 a year without taking any loans. I shouldn’t have to take out loans to finish my education. I made it this far already, so why stop now?

I still have a job and finance is still very important to me. The only problem now is figuring out how I can graduate without getting in debt.

I think I might know two people in my life that have already been through it. 

Don’t worry, I’ll thank them again in a year.

A fan with a cheer louder than the rest

Jayson Stark loved every moment of the Philadelphia Phillies being in the postseason.

As the Phillies faced the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS, Stark extends his passion for another year. The Philadelphia native and senior writer for ESPN.com has covered his favorite team for 21 years before he joined ESPN.

Stark was the source for Phillies baseball. At the Philadelphia Inquirer, covering the Phillies was his beat. In an era when a typical journalist fills in for different sections at their respective paper, Stark never strayed away from what he knew best.

In fact, in two different years at the Philadelphia Inquirer, he was named Pennsylvania’s Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.

His awards weren’t given to him for standard writing skills. His ability to write standard news stories with a new twist, rose him to the top of the journalism realm. Stark adapted a way to mix captivating stories with knowledgable opinion. 

Since Stark has been around the organization for so long, he took on the role of telling his honest opinion about his favorite team. 

After game two of the NLCS, Stark acknowledged the fact that the Phillies had little hope in the team winning any away games this series.

“The Phillies hit .175 as a team in AT&T Park this year. They've played 38 games there since the park opened -- and won 14 of them. So had they lost this game, it wouldn't have been another rendition of "High Hopes" they'd have been listening to afterward. "Taps" would have been more like it. But fortunately for them, the man they handed the baseball to didn't seem to think that losing was an option.”

With stats backing up his opinion and Stark being around the organization for longer than most people, makes him reliable to his readers. He writes multiple columns a week for ESPN.com. Not all of them pertain to the Phillies, but all of them pertain to baseball. 

His columns are easy for readers to catch his points, agree with his facts and see a new light to an already spoken topic. And if readers want more of a personal take on baseball, Stark also keeps up with a blog. His blog called the “Useless Information Department” relays more opinion in his published works.

However, his blog is found on the “Insider” section of ESPN.com. This means two things.

1. ESPN labeled him as an “Insider”. If the most regularly watched television network labels someone as an insider, the public subconsciously thinks of him as somebody who knows his stuff. Apparently ESPN would agree.
2. Being on the “Insider” section means a writer’s knowledge is valuable. ESPN charges people to read his blog. This could stray away some readers.

But America does know one thing. He is a baseball guru.

Most people can catch him doing baseball analysis on a few of ESPN’s television shows. Baseball Tonight and Mike and Mike both feature Stark on a weekly basis - usually for his knowledge about Phillies baseball.

His face has become well-known to America. Seven years into being at ESPN, Stark released his first book called “The Stark Truth: The Most Overrated and Underrated Players in Baseball History.”

His second book honed in on his expertise. “Worth The Wait: Tales of the 2008 Phillies” allowed the public to see the baseball season (when the Phillies won the World Series) as a die-hard Phillies fan.

And with the Phillies currently in the postseason, he’ll keep writing about them until somebody tells him not to. That’s what happens as a senior writer. Tough job.