Tim Ferriss. He’s out of touch. If you somehow missed it, there was this one time when he spitballed the fact that people have $5000 in disposable income to spend each month on his podcast. No, dude, they don’t. But he’s not the only person who might be out of touch with money. Last week, … [Read more…]
I am terrible at setting goals. I also don’t really share numbers here. At least not in any streamlined way. If you read my posts about unexpected expenses and the $24k in debt we killed last year, you’ll get a fairly decent picture of my income and my spending. But let’s leave a little mystery … [Read more…]
I’m afraid of getting sick. Not in the sense that I’m actually afraid of germs. Goodness knows how many germs pass through my fingers (literally) on any given school day. Normally, the concept of illness lurks in the back of my mind and then lurches to the forefront when a student gets sick (literally). I’m … [Read more…]
If an extra expense cropped up, how would your budget fare? Would you cut back? Would you hustle harder? There are challenges to both. If your budget is already fairly bare bones, there may not be any remaining notches to tighten the belt. If your work week is already jam packed, carving out extra hours … [Read more…]
Where are all my bi-weekly paycheck people at? If you pick up a paycheck every other week–or every week–then you know that there are months where you’ll land an “extra” paycheck. For me, one of those months happens to be September this year. While my monthly budget is structured based on two of my husband’s … [Read more…]
Is your budget really as smart as you think it is? One of the first things many people do when they are trying to get their financial fitness on is to create a budget. Undeniably, there is a requisite amount of trial and error involved in the first few passes. A budget should meet everyone’s … [Read more…]
When I walked into work on a Friday halfway through my first year of teaching, I was smiling from ear to ear. The day before, I had my summative evaluation and my boss checked the recommended for rehire box. We shook hands and took turns signing on the dotted line. I set down my bag … [Read more…]
The first time I mentioned the revolutionary concept of financial independence early retirement (FIRE) to my mom a few years ago, I was met with a scoff. She applauded the idea of financial independence. But early retirement? It was met with pursed lips, a decided frown, or the click of her tongue behind her teeth … [Read more…]
At the start of the year, I wrote two different posts about debt repayment. First, I talked about how we paid $18,000 towards our mortgage. Then, I copped to the fact that we actually paid $24k towards debt, because Mr. P still had a car loan until one final click paid it off in full. … [Read more…]
Growing up, I celebrated nearly every birthday at an arcade. It was magical: bumper cars, skeeball, Bozo Buckets, Whac-a-Mole, and more. The lights and bells that signaled a win delighted me almost as much as the sound of the mechanism churning out tickets. Ever so gently, I would remove my winnings from the ticket dispenser, … [Read more…]