My heart started to hammer as I unloaded my grocery cart items onto the conveyer belt and I started to mentally run the numbers. We might not make it under our $200 grocery budget for the month. How could this be? What was different? Did I buy too much fresh produce? Should I put something … [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…]
Latte factor: the total cost of your regular, nonessential spending to show how much you could be saving each year. “Look at all that money!” A student gasped, staring at her calculator in disbelief. Sure enough, that burst of excitement flagged the attention of several other students. “Money?” “What money?” “Whose money?” “Where did it … [Read more…]
There’s a fine line between being polite and being a pushover, and it’s a line that I’ve danced along for the majority of my life. Chaulk it up to a consequence of my incredible awkwardness, but speaking up for myself in person has always been more than just a little bit challenge. Like, a whole … [Read more…]
This past week, I took a long, hard look at my iPhone. Dozens of apps slotted into folders on my home screen – some apps are overused, some never used, and an overwhelming amount of apps that fell somewhere in between. Midway through my quest to clean up my smartphone a la Marie Kondo and … [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…]
Don’t fly in on a Sunday. Play in heavily trafficked areas. Always use a player card. Never use a player card. As soon as anyone heard we were dashing off to Sin City this past December, advice on how to beat the odds in Las Vegas bubbled over. Want the best odds of returning home … [Read more…]
My husband doesn’t read my blog. He convinced me to start it, cheered me on enough to actually convince me to purchase a domain name and self host, and that was about it. Except for one day very early on when he clicked and clicked to get my page to 100 views…and promptly got busted … [Read more…]
Since we’re all friends here and I’m really good at confessing secrets now, I’ll let you in on another one: I’m a supremely awkward human being. Just last week, I was sitting in a work meeting with my boss and my coworker best friend former best friend. Midway through the meeting, I swatted stray hairs … [Read more…]