When You Can’t Always Earn More
There’s a dirty little lie in the personal finance world. Fine. It’s not a lie. But it’s not the universal truth that it’s held up to be either. “You can always make more money.” Can you really? Can I?
Plan
When You Can’t Do A Lot, Do A Little
“Maybe we should just give up.” A blank stare greeted me. “OK. Not give up, but we could just push a really big pause button for the next five or ten years.” I got no reaction. Instead, silence hung in the air. Finally, something. “If that’s what you want. But I know that’s not what … [Read more…]
Our 2018 Summer Goal Checkpoint
I contend there’s no better city in the world in the summertime than Chicago. Kanye put it in a song, so it must be true. Though summertime Chi does coincide with construction season (if you’re not familiar, that’s any season that there isn’t still snow on the ground), summer is a pretty magical time here. … [Read more…]
Actions Over Words: 2018 Second Quarter Recap
It’s a funny thing: to write about the meaninglessness of words. On a blog. Using my words. But I stumbled upon a quote that seemed really profound. Essentially, our words are who we’d like to be, but our actions are who we are. I set some lofty goals for the second quarter of this year, … [Read more…]
Why I Prefer Extra Income to Emergency Funds
The calendar invite notification chirped. There it sat in my mailbox. A 9:00 am meeting appointment for three days from now with my boss. No subject. No agenda. No explanation. Despite having just completed my summative evaluation where I earned the highest rankings, I automatically assumed I was about to be fired or transferred or … [Read more…]
Am I Making Room for My Priorities?
I’m not sure what it is about time. Some moments, it feels like it’s crawling. Then, all of a sudden, you blink and almost half the year is gone. I started off the year with good intentions. Scratch that. I started with priorities. Rather than worry about where I’m headed or how far I still … [Read more…]
6 Things My Son is Helping Me Understand About Minimalism
To say that I’m not sold on minimalism is an understatement. Maybe it’s not minimalism as a whole that I’m skeptical of. Just the kind that comes with a podcast and a really expensive travel bag for sale. But the idea of decluttering and being more intentional with what is allowed to take up space … [Read more…]
Here’s to Failure: 2018 First Quarter Recap
There’s perennial talk about the importance of goal setting in personal finance. SMART goals, checklists, apps abound. All of these posts and tools are designed to set people up for success. Looking ahead, though, I am not just interested in success. I’m looking to fail. Here’s why: Looking to Fail There’s real bravery and power … [Read more…]
Wellness Screening Penalty: Putting a Price on Health
“It looks like an advertisement, but don’t recycle this one.” That was all the email said. After checking my work mailbox, I realized exactly what the sender meant: the piece of paper looked like any other flyer from the wellness screening our work partners with forces us to utilize. But instead of some hoaky seasonal … [Read more…]
Easy Ways to Save Time and Money
It’s here! The most sleepy day of the year. It isn’t just the day after the start of Daylight Savings Time that makes for a tricky morning, though. In fact, there isn’t a day on the calendar that I don’t feel like I could use a little more time. In that spirit, I thought I … [Read more…]