Henry David Thoreau the environmentalist? I appreciate. Henry David Thoreau the abolitionist? I applaud. Henry David Thoreau the father of simple living and the minimalist movement? I have a bone to pick with you.
Here’s the thing: I don’t drink coffee. I can count on one hand the number of sips I’ve tried. It’s so repulsive to me, I cannot swig it down in a Frappuccino that is 87% sugar, 11% heavy whipping cream, and 2% coffee. I won’t even eat tiramisu, failure of an Italian American that I … [Read more…]
Last month, The Minimalists did a podcast on debt. That podcast led to a profusion of tweets about the drawbacks of credit scores. In fact, the underlying message–ripped out of Dave Ramsey’s playbook–was that no one should want a credit score. The Minimalists by way of Ramsey tweeted out that a credit score is nothing … [Read more…]
Bill Nye once said, “Everyone you will ever meet knows something that you don’t.” And therein lies the danger of the single source. She’s the mouthpiece of personal finance. He’s the only financial expert Americans need. I shudder when I hear people speak about any singular financial figure and his or her theory as prophet … [Read more…]
Titles of favorite personal finance books are volleyed about all across social media. Books that win favor based on their content as much as their titles, like The 4-Hour Work Week and I Will Teach You to Be Rich. Then, there are the heavyweight financial gurus: Suze Orman, David Bach, and even Dave Ramsey. I … [Read more…]
Letter grades are one of the hallmarks of the American education system. Whether it’s an A or an F or something in between, letter grades define our academic abilities as students for nearly two decades of life. And then what? People still talk about succeeding and fret at the notion of failing. What would happen if … [Read more…]
There’s something about money: It brings out the best, the worst, and the most awkward side of people. Since I’ve dedicated a fair amount of time this summer to side hustling, I’ve had to do some explaining for how I’m spending my time. I get it. A lot of people think teachers have summers off … [Read more…]
Though it seems entirely too much like a dream to be reality, I’m part of the Tip Yourself team. I alluded to it when I discussed my summer side hustle plan. And before I tell you what I’m doing and how you can help, I thought I’d tell you why I’m doing it. It turns … [Read more…]
There goes the neighborhood. Over the past month, there have been a string of break-ins in our neighborhood. It all started with a singular incident in which $14 was stolen from someone’s kitchen. When I heard the news, I was nervous. But it seemed like an isolated incident, and I brushed it off as teenagers, or … [Read more…]
I did something in Vegas that made quite a few passersby uncomfortable. In a city known for tolerating proclivities of all kinds, I take pride in the fact that I literally stopped foot traffic on the Strip. Most people froze; some continued walking but executed a wide berth. A few mouths went slack jaw. One … [Read more…]