REAL-WORLD COMPUTER PROGRAMMING FOR KIDS
BONUS POST: HOW TO SAVE YOUR PARENTS UP TO $20,000,000 PER MONTH
Math can be fun! Math can be your friend! Don’t believe me? Check this out:
Suggestion: Ask your parents for a “new deal” on your allowance. Instead of them giving you whatever it is they are currently giving you, propose that they start off giving you a penny on the first day of the month and then doubling it each day (2 cents on the second day, 4 cents on the third day, etc.) If they go for it, this will end up being a catastrophically bad deal for them, but a really good deal for you. Are you a little dubious about that? Note what you will get under that plan:
Day 1: $0.01
Day 2: $0.02Day 3: $0.04Day 4: $0.08Day 5: $0.16Day 6: $0.32Day 7: $0.64Day 8: $1.28Day 9: $2.56Day 10: $5.12Day 11: $10.24Day 12: $20.48Day 13: $40.96Day 14: $81.92Day 15: $163.84Day 16: $327.68Day 17: $655.36Day 18: $1,310.72Day 19: $2,621.44Day 20 $5,242.88Day 21: $10,486 (rounding to whole dollars now - we don't care about pennies anymore)Day 22: $20,972Day 23: $41,944Day 24: $83,888Day 25: $167,776Day 26: $335,552Day 27: $671,114Day 28: $1,342,228Day 29: $2,684,456Day 30: $5,368,912
You might have to scrimp the first few days -- when your parents are only shelling out a few cents to you -- but it doesn’t take long before it’s a pretty sweet deal for you, and your parents are sweating bullets. At the end of the month, you will have squeezed over 10 million dollars out of them (which is double the last daily amount).
Note: Don’t make this deal for a February, especially during a normal February (which only has 28 days); you will only go up to $1.3 million on the last day, for a monthly total of a measly 2-and-a-half mil or so. If you can wait until then, wait for a month that has 31 days in it (January, March, May, July, August, October, or December) - then you'll get an extra 10 million dollars (approximately). If you do that, pretty soon you’ll be talking about real money in your piggy bank. You must choose the optimal month to try this, because it's likely your parents will renegotiate the deal once the month is over. Any reluctance on your part to go along with their plan is likely to result, not just in furrowed brows and stern looks, but also in short rations along with additional KP duty.Note #2: This suggestion will only work out well for you, all things considered, if your parents are multi-millionaires. It might not even work out so well in some ways even if they are, but it’s for you to decide whether it's worth making them this (seemingly) generous -- or naive -- offer.Now, once they are embarrassed (because they didn’t see this coming – they thought they would only have to pay you maybe a buck or two by the end of the month, because they are not wizards at math), you can offer them a way out. This is how the conversation will go (if you play your cards right):
You: “Hey mom and dad, you know that $20 million you owe me?”
Them: “Uh...yes?”
You: “I’ll make a deal with you.”
Them: “Oh, you will, will you?”
You: “Yes.”
Them: “Well ... what?”
You: You can either purchase a subscription to this great, educational, and funny newsletter I’ve been reading online – which will teach me programming, which is a great skill to have – or...”
Them: “Or what?”
You: “Or you pay me the $10 to 20 mil that will otherwise accrue to me each month.”
Your parents look at each other. A smile creeps over your dad’s face, and he winks at your mom.
Them: “Just what is this newsletter, and how much does it cost, anyway?”
You: “It’s called Real-World Computer Programming for Kids, and it’s only $7 per month, or $70 for a whole year!”
They do some calculating in their heads and, although not exactly math wizards, they can see that this will let them off the hook “cheap,” saving them up to approximately $20 million dollars per month.
Them: “What’s the catch?”
You: “There is no catch (except in a try...catch block)...”
Them: “What?!?”
You: “Never mind; there is no catch. If you purchase the subscription for me, I will learn a lot, broaden my horizons -- even have some fun -- and you will save the money you will need to buy me a Lamborghini later. And in fact, in months with 31 days, your cost to me to stick with the allowance plan you agreed on would be $20 million rather than $10 million!”
Them: “Well, we’ll talk about that Limburger part of it later [right!], but sure – we’ll do it!”
You: “Great!”
Them: “How can we pay for this cheap-at-a-million-times-the-price subscription?”
You: “Whip out your credit card and go to kidslearnprogramming.substack.com.”
Them: “Okay, it’s a deal. Put ‘er there – let’s shake on it. Now … no more math tricks!”
You: “Agreed. And by the way – by subscribing, I will also get a set of PDFs of the four books the author of the newsletter (he calls each newsletter post “A Step in a Journey”) is writing that coincide with the main four legs in the journey: The first one on Windows Forms Apps, then one on Databases, one on Web Technologies, and finally one on Mobile Apps.”
Them: “Yeah, whatever that means. Okay, sounds good.”
You see, it’s a win-win-win situation. Everybody wins. You get the subscription, your parents save tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars (or more), and it’s a win for me, too.
To listen to this Bonus item to the normal Real-World Computer Programming for Kids Steps, the audio of it can be found here: