Infamous Crook: Comparison

Joy, money, and relationships

The Pyramid of Luxuries

The Bespoke - $1,000 Mobile Phone Shopping Spree

The Ultra High End - Air Tag or Tile

The Superpremium - Meat Floss

The Premium Core - Zebra F-701 Pen

The Accessible Core - Infamous Crook: Comparison

The Affordable Luxury - TRIVIA: Oldest Social Media Platform?

The Everyday Luxury - Online Social Finalized

The Bespoke

BESPOKE WINNER ANNOUCEMENT

The winner of July 2024 Bespoke Contest is…

VU from ARLINGTON, TEXAS! Congratulations on winning the $1,000 Mobile Phone Shopping Spree! Here was his submission for “something that gives you energy”:

Check out some of the other submissions for the month of July:

Don’t be disappointed, the mobile phone prize was such a hit that I will be making it the prize for August! Submit in August for another chance to win your own $1,000 Mobile Phone Shopping Spree!

Click on the banner to enter The Bespoke Photo Contest. Click here for the Official Contest Rules.

• Prize: $1,000 Mobile Phone Shopping Spree [ARV $1,000]

• Odds: For every 130 Ducky Tran premium member by the time of judging, I will give out one (1) Shopping Spree

• Contest Period: July 31, 2024 at 10 AM CST to September 3, 2024 at 10 PM CST

The Ultra High End

Previous Contest Winner

The winner of Issue 36 Ultra High End contest is JENNIFER from GARLAND, TEXAS! Here’s her submission for “something you just can’t have one of”:

Congratulations JENNIFER, you won the 3D Printing Pen Set so now you can duplicate all your non-edible stuff. Check out the other submissions:

Your submissions made me crave snacks. But I’ll use my technique of combining everything to make it only one item! If you didn’t win anything yet, you have another chance every week, and for this week I’m giving away one of my favorite travel essentials.

This Week’s Contest

Click on the banner to enter The Ultra High End Photo Contest. Click here for the Official Contest Rules.

• Prize: Set of Four (4) Air Tags or Tiles [ARV $99]

• Odds: For every 70 Ducky Tran premium members by the time of judging, I will give out a set of four (4) tags or tiles

• Contest Period: July 31, 2024 at 10 AM CST to August 6, 2024 at 10 PM CST

GPS trackers were huge when they first launched decades ago, but they were not compact enough for consumer use. However, in the last decade GPS tracker size have been reduced to a mere credit card or quarter size. The best thing about the modern trackers isn’t just its size, but the ease of use has been improved to the point where you no longer need a computer science degree to turn it on.

When I travel, I secure a tracker on all my luggage and the baby strollers, this allows me to feel peace of mind but also find a stroller in the sea of strollers at Disney!

When not traveling, I still secure them to the strollers just in case. Surprisingly, I have had to use to figure out where one of our strollers were… in the garage, I thought it was in the trunk like it normally is.

Regardless how it is used, the value of the trackers is usually minor to the cost of the valuables they are attached to, such as a wallet, stroller, or luggage. Submit this week to win a set of four (4) Air Tags [Apple] or Tiles [Android].

The Superpremium

This week’s Superpremium topic is Meat Floss. For some, that just sounds gross, but for others, it’s nostalgic and makes you drool. This is one of those cases where there is no translation for a foreign item, so in English we just translated it to what it looks like. It’s meat and stringy like floss, meat floss.

In reality, it is closer to jerky and probably should have been called string jerky, but I’m sure people would think it’s just a longer Slim Jim. Now that we got that over with, let me tell you why meat floss is the Superpremium topic this week.

I LOVE MEAT FLOSS! I don’t think those words even describes my love and craving for this stuff. It is second on my top-tier list of go-to foods for myself. I could eat this alone, on rice, on bread, in a baguette, in soup, or with more meat floss. It is a nostalgic thing for me since my family used to eat this all the time, but there’s more to it. I’m a salty eater, and the one my mom used to make is considered super salty compared to the normal meat floss, so that’s where my craving comes from.

Store-bought meat floss normally has a sweeter, savory, and slightly salty taste. Some people call is meat cotton candy due to its fluffy nature. But like jerky, the process of making it results in an expensive product, even though, it is actually considered a poor man’s food in Asian countries. This intensive process is why you rarely see it on the menu at restaurants, but you can find it at some authentic Chinese shops and bakeries that use it as a bread topping.

In Asia, meat floss is normally added to congee (rice porridge) or between a French baguette. Normally made from pork, meat floss comes in different varieties like beef, chicken, turkey, and fish. I like them all, but pork is definitely the go-to as it produces the best fluffy texture and savory, salty taste.

Writing about it is making me crave it! If you haven’t had it before, I highly recommend it. You can get it at a local Asian grocer, normally as Pork Sung (Chinese) or Cha Bong (Vietnamese). Or if you have an Asian bakery nearby, they often use it as a pastry topping for their savory breads. Have fun trying it out, let me know what you think.

The Premium Core

School season is coming up and my family is collecting supplies for the kiddos. That’s when I came by my favorite pen. The F-701 by Zebra. As an entrepreneur, I sign a lot of stuff so I carry a few nice pens everywhere I go. This is my favorite of them all.

When I was flying for the Air Force, I had to carry pens on me all the time. A few years before I left, I found this pen and have keep it since then. Here are some things that separate this pen from many others:

1. Price. For the quality of this pen, it is extremely inexpensive. I would gladly pay 2-3x more for this exact pen.

2. Weight. The all-metal pen is a bit heavier, giving it a better feel and makes it feel luxurious.

3. Size. The pen is a bit wider than normal pens. I have bigger hands and the pen size helps with not straining them, plus like the weight, it makes it feel more luxurious.

4. Color. I love the aesthetics of the pen. An all-steel pen look is quite modern and feels like an upscale pen.

5. Ergonomics. I like retractable pens. I like pens with clips. I like metal pens. I like ballpoint pens. This has it all and it makes it very user-friendly.

But don’t just take my word for it, if you writing often and are in need of a pen, check out this deal!

Deal #1: Normally listed at $9-$10 each, you can purchase a Zebra F-701 pen for just $4 (including tax) at shop.duckytran.com. There will be 20 available. Come get your new favorite Pen!

The Accessible Core

Infamous Crook: Comparison

We’ve heard of the quote “comparison is the thief of joy”; however, today we will dive into how this crook will also make you poor!

Comparison. It is what we use as humans to put value on everything. Here are some examples:

1. One burger is less food than two burgers so two burgers is more valuable.

2. Cooked meat is safer so it is more valuable than uncooked meat.

3. And a wealthy rapper versus an average person selling the same slip-on shoes will be able to sell for drastic different prices due to brand value, or trust value, or association value.

Although we all use comparison to find value in our daily lives, how value is perceived varies from person to person based on their environment and lifestyle. Let me show you with this example, one small burger is $1 and one large burger is $1.50. The large burger is twice the size of the small burger.

1. Person A orders the small burger because it’s cheaper and they can’t pay for the large burger.

2. Person B orders the large burger because it’s a better deal for twice as much burger.

3. Person C looks at the prices and leaves because they can make it for cheaper at home.

4. Person D orders 3 of each burger for their large family on a road trip.

Notice the different ways we may use comparison to decide; however, this is no all the variations. As this doesn’t include the emotional effects when comparison is between people and not just burger values/prices. This is where the crook really takes its toll.

In this scenario, assume all the shoes are the same but is branded differently.

1. Person A goes to the store and picks the cheapest brand because that’s all they can afford, but they don’t care what anyone thinks.

2. Person B goes to the store and picks the most expensive brand because they are afraid to be caught with the cheap branded shoe on.

3. Person C goes to the store and picks the middle price brand because they heard the brand was a good brand of shoes.

4. Person D goes to the store and picks the cheapest brand since all the shoes looked the same.

5. Person E goes to the store and gets the most expensive brand because they assume the most expensive shoe will be the best quality.

Notice how we can relate or see our peers in these people. Because we compare too often, we not only pick the right amount or value of food, but many times we over-spend on things that are no different than the generics due to brand, association, referral, or price value. But like most things, we can also use the negatives to produce a positive effect.

Here are ways to find the hero to our crook:

1. Use comparison to set a goal. Like physique, healthy choices, or travel goals. Fit like J-Lo, healthy like Russell Brand, and travel like Taylor Swift. Staying fit and healthy so you can live a long life and take your family around the world.

2. Use comparison for positive self-motivation and self-image. Your looks, wealth, or circumstance shouldn’t stop you. Be stunning like Susan Boyle and shock the world with talent, rather than beauty. Work hard to get to the top like Halle Berry who was homeless in her 20s. Continue to strive like “Colonel” Sanders, who didn’t become a millionaire until 74 because he continued his dream.

3. Use comparison to help others. #2 has some examples, but let your peers know the people, even if it’s you, how you overcome difficulties. Many times, people don’t realize hardships in everyone’s lives, and just focus on the pretty visuals. Let them be humbled by the struggles that motivate people, especially if it’s you, to get to “success”.

I hope this shines a light on the crook that can steal your joy and money but can also allow you to become the hero of your story.

The Affordable Luxury

Issue 36 Community Poll Results

Here’s the results from last week:

1. Half of you would rather work 8 hrs/day for $800, and half of you would rather work 2 hrs/day for $400. This is a fair distribution since the assumption is that you can’t have an addition job.

2. For how much you should save for an emergency fund, 50% voted $10K, 30% voted $20K, and 20% voted $20K+. I do understand that emergency fund should vary with your lifestyle and income; however, I think the takeaway is no one believes anything less than $10K is viable in this modern times.

3. The trivia question: “By end of 2023, which state has the lowest average income”, half of you got it correct, it is Mississippi at $37,500. Don’t forget that means half of the income is below $37,500.

This Week’s Community Poll

Here are this week’s poll questions:

The Everyday Luxury

YAY! We have agreed to a date for the online social, it will be on Friday, August 23, 2024 at 7:30pm to 8:30pm. The game and prize will be announced on that day, but I will set it up and provide more information soon. Thank you to all that participated in voting and getting this event to move forward. Don’t forget, I’ll make this event open to invitations until the spots are full so we can have a full house regardless if they are Premium Members or not.

(The referral program is only viewable on the email version of the newsletter.)

Visit shop.duckytran.com with the weekly password: airtag