What up, what up!

Happy New Year! Lol…

It’s me J$ – remember that guy?? Mohawk rockin’, FIRE wielding, personal finance nerd who went rogue and and forgot all about his friends here?!

Sorry about that. The rumors are false though as I’m still very much alive, just living more in the “real” world than the online one :) I also don’t nearly think about money as much as I used to so I don’t have as much to say about it!

But lately a few things have been on my mind so I actually sat down and typed out a post – a March Miracle! If you want to check it out, click here:

The best gift money gives you.

I’ll give you a teaser…

I talk about the best gift money can get you :)

Hahaha…

But also:

What I have been up to lately (my Free Closet turns 1 and crosses 50,000 items given out to the community!! And a financial blogger donated a cargo van to us so we now have a Clothes Mobile 😂)

My new giving strategy – “The Arsenal of Good”

And why everyone needs a little sexy on the side…

Oh, and I also had to update my Resume of Fails for the first time in a while, womp…

Check out the post, and then let me know what’s new in your world!

Thx for still being here after all these years, even when I disappear and come crawling back 🙏

Yours in finance,

PS: Anyone watch Squid Game, the reality show “Challenge”? I got 75% through casting in this last season when my boys made me apply, but then at the very end I got cut. Would have been a fun experience to take on! Anyone ever been on a reality show before and liked it?! Hated it?!

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Good morning, friends!! Been a while!

I’ve been crazy busy offline lately, but not so much online which has been kinda nice – not gonna lie ;) Things seem to go much more slower and calmer when not glued to a screen! Although I’ll admit my latest project is trying to pull me back in again – everyone in this town uses FB and Insta to communicate!

It all kinda happened accidentally, but a few months ago I started a free clothing closet in my hometown, giving away clothes and essentials to anyone in the area who needs it.

I had brought out a bag of clothes to our free community market once, and it went so fast that I brought another one the following week, and then another one after that, and soon OTHER PEOPLE started donating their clothes and goods to it, and before I knew it I had a full-fledge project on my hands :)

I wasn’t exactly looking to start a new project as I’m still involved with that AI one, and also very much enjoy pretending I’m retired, lol, but as life sometimes does it had a new plan for me and I am not one to challenge it. I fully know that when things are rolling smoothly and growing fast, you run with it as it means you’re on the right track!

In 4 short months we’ve given out over 10,000 pieces of clothing and other goods to the community (bikes, tents, sleeping bags, shoes, hats, toiletries) and the need only seems to be growing. Which is great on one side – we’re helping a lot of people!, but bad on the other, of course, because it means there are so many people out there that need the help :( Which is sad because it’s such a basic necessity of life!

At any rate, happy to share more if you’re interested or even want to donate to it (the next mission is to get a utility van of sorts so we can have a Mobile Closet!!) – just shoot me a note 🙏

So that’s what I’ve been up to lately, how about you?! Summer going strong so far? Anyone else dipping their toes in a fun new project?

Would love to hear all about it if so! And of course I hope all your $$$ is going well too :) Those markets just keep seeming to go up, don’t they? Even when they crash and burn they have a crazy comeback. It’s a good time to be invested!

As always, favorite reads from around the community are below, as well as a couple of new blog posts I’ve recently published. Hope you have a fantastic weekend!

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Posts I’ve Written Recently:

My latest project: a FREE clothing closet! via Budgets Are Sexy — Where I talk a little more about the new project, especially how differently it compares to writing a blog which is completely online and worldwide vs hyper focused and *physical!*

Dryer Coins For The Win! via Coin Thrill — Maybe you’ve found some of your own in your dryer?! They’re super cool!

Rare Mint Error Discovered on New 2024 Kennedy Half Dollar (!!!) via Coin Thrill – For any coin nerds out there :)

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Favorite Reads From Around the Community:

[Not as many as usual as I’m up to my eyeballs in clothes!!]

The One-Box Rule for Keeping Your Home Uncluttered via No Sidebar — “Picture this: in your home, there’s always one open box, sitting quietly in a corner, ready to catch anything you don’t need. It’s not just a box—it’s a promise to yourself, a little pact that says, “I’m choosing a lighter, freer life.” Unlike the loud messages of culture telling us to buy more, store more, and cling to everything, this rule whispers a different truth: letting go creates space for what matters.”

The Lazy Budgeting Guide (That Actually Works) via Lazy Man and Money — “The best budget is the one you’ll actually stick to. The most sophisticated budgeting system in the world is useless if you abandon it. These lazy budgeting methods work because they require minimal ongoing effort. In most cases, you set them up once and move on.”

WeExpire.org — Leave posthumous notes for your loved ones (or enemies?) that can be retrieved with a QR code. If the person tries to scan the code and access the note, WeExpire contacts you to check if you’re still alive. If you don’t respond within the time period you specify, it assumes you are dead and releases the message!

Retired Man Tries to Spend More Money, Mostly Fails via Mr. Money Mustache — “When it comes down to it, money is a tool for survival and if we’re lucky, self actualization. So I’m always asking myself if there’s anything I can change or improve to make the most of this good fortune. I also try to keep in mind an interesting principle of happiness, which says that, fixing your persistent problems is more effective than just doubling down on things that are already good in your life.”

Pure Independence @ Collab Fund — “Independence is the best financial goal for most people. But independence is more than just financial – moral, cultural, and intellectual independence – is one of the highest levels you can reach in life. “There is only one success,” says poet Christopher Morley, “to be able to spend your life in your own way.”’

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Great Book I Just Finished:

“The Happiest Man on Earth” by Eddie Jaku — “Against unbelievable odds, Eddie found the will to survive. Overwhelming grateful, he made a promise: he would smile every day in thanks for the precious gift he was given and to honor the six million Jews murdered by Hitler. Today, at 100 years of age, despite all he suffered, Eddie calls himself the “happiest man on earth.””

PS: In a similar vein, this was also a fantastic read, though not nearly as well written: “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” by Heather Morris

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Have a great weekend!

Email anytime :)

*Book links are Amazon affiliate links

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Hi guys!!

So a project we’ve been working on hard behind the scenes for the past handful of months is finally live!

Introducing….

YouBots.ai – A suite of advanced, powerful marketing tools powered by AI!

It’s not the usual financial field I dabble in (though it can save you a ton of money if you’re a business owner!), but I owe it to my partner in crime whose been absolutely obsessed with AI this past year to the point where he’s changed his entire career around it.

He started building out these customized AI-powered “bots” for companies and selling them for thousands of dollars a pop, and after watching him for a few months I asked why he just doesn’t package them all up under one roof and offer them up to *everybody*? Kinda like the world’s first AI marketing agency, but only at a fraction of the price.

He paused for a few seconds leading me to believe it was a massively stupid idea, haha, but to my surprise he eventually shot back with, “this is the best idea you’ve ever had – we need to build it.” Lol… Okay!

And just like that YouBots was born :)

Can’t say I ever imagined myself doing anything around AI, but it was one of those instances where it just clicked and I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t go for it. So we’ll see what happens! We already have a number of paying clients, and it’s been fun as hell working on the branding and building out the site…

Just look at these cute little robots!!

At any rate, if you run a business and wanna see if these bots can help YOU, check out our site and let me know what you think. It’s set up so that anyone on your team can use it without needing to know a thing about AI, prompt engineering, or even software development.

Our target audience is small-medium businesses who wish they had a bigger budget for hiring (both people and marketing agencies), so we’ve priced it with that in mind and one of our clients is already saving $4,000/mo. It’s beautiful.

Check it out –> YouBots.ai

We’re currently offering a one-week free trial, then 50% off the subscription cost while we’re in beta. No credit card required for the demo, and you can unsubscribe anytime.

So that’s what I’ve been up to over here! How about you? Anyone else dabbling in AI or working on a new project? Would love to learn all about it :)

Your long-time, non-AI powered, friend,

PS: I should note that while AI can do big huge amazing things to make your life and work better, I don’t believe it should be a substitute for YOU. To me it’s meant for *enhancing* your work, not replacing it.

*As previously seen on BudgetsAreSexy.com

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Favorite Reads Around the Community Lately:

“The Half Rule” – A Frugal Hack I Live By via Budgets Are Sexy — I initially caught this over on Frugal Confessions, but loved it so much I asked her if I could re-post it on Budgets and she said yes! So if you like it be sure to send your kudos to her as all I did was copy/paste ;) (I do really hope you’ll click it – it’ll get you thinking about it every time you do stuff!)

Is ‘Benefits Hacking’ Genius? Or Immoral? via The Best Interest — “Many government benefits are based on income, not net worth—so what happens when a wealthy person makes their income disappear? What happens when a millionaire is on food stamps – yes, you read that right. Is it savvy financial planning or an ethical gray area? Is this “benefits hacking” a way of unfairly gaming the system or justly playing by the rules?”

50 Years of Travel Tips via Kevin Kelly — “If you hire a driver, or use a taxi, offer to pay the driver to take you to visit their mother. They will ordinarily jump at the chance. They fulfill their filial duty and you will get easy entry into a local’s home, and a very high chance to taste some home cooking. Mother, driver, and you leave happy. This trick rarely fails.” (Hat Tip Apex Money)

How to Be a Part-Time Minimalist via Maximum Gratitude, Minimal Stuff — “The truth is, if you’re thinking about minimalism, weighing your options, and trying to make choices that are best for you rather than following the crowd to the mall or the big box store, you’re becoming minimalist. You’re learning to be intentional about your time, money, energy, and aspirations, and that’s a big step in the right direction. Maybe you’re not a minimalist in every single area of your life, but that’s okay. You can be a part-time minimalist.”

You’re More FI Than You Think via Millennial Revolution — “Your FIRE number will be very different depending on where you decide to live… New York FIRE and L.A FIRE are very different from ChiangMai FIRE and Oaxaca FIRE.”

Life Gets Better When You Stop Rushing Through It via No Sidebar — “I’m not going to tell you to try and ‘live in the present moment’ because I know reading that line doesn’t help. You need to force it out, because you can only live in the present when you realize that nothing ‘better’ is awaiting you in the future.”

How AI Shaves an Hour Off My Daily Reading Routine via Darius Foroux — “Knowledge is power—especially in today’s world. But here’s the catch: You must apply your knowledge. This is why I don’t want to spend too much time learning. I also want to have enough time to apply what I’ve learned.”

Is This Why Warren Buffett is Hoarding Cash? via Lazy Man and Money — “Over the weekend, Berkshire Hathaway revealed that it had $325 billion in cash and equivalents (US treasury bills). That’s enough money to buy half of Walmart or all of AT&T and have more than $100 billion left over. This isn’t the normal amount of cash he has on hand.”

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Current Book I’m Reading

10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works- A True Story by Dan Harris — “After having a nationally televised panic attack on Good Morning America, Dan Harris knew he had to make some changes. A lifelong nonbeliever, he found himself on a bizarre adventure involving a disgraced pastor, a mysterious self-help guru, and a gaggle of brain scientists. Eventually, Harris realized that the source of his problems was the very thing he always thought was his greatest asset: the incessant, insatiable voice in his head.”

(This is a super fun and interesting read – I always love hearing how drastically different peoples’ lives are, especially those in the public eye. And it’s always great to learn that they’re into the same things as I am too like meditation in this case! Though it has taken about 60% of the book so far to actually GET to the juicy meditation part, haha… It’s def. more autobiography than self-help…)

PS: Shout out to my friend Sarah for lending me this book!

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Thanks for reading!

Have a fantastic week!

*Book links are Amazon affiliate links

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Good morning friends!

Hope you’re having a fantastic New Years so far, and didn’t get too much coal for Xmas like me :)

It’s been a whirlwind of events over here, between family events and kid stuff and the holidays, and then *right* when we were about to get back to normal again the SNOW came in and hit us! Over 10 inches which we never get! The kids were ecstatic, of course, but man it’s finally nice to be back to a regular schedule again…

I did somehow manage though to shoot out a couple of new posts on the blog:

I would rather play chicken with my bills than with my savings

(A pretty interesting chat with a fellow coffee shop goer! Where I repeatedly had to ask him to repeat what he just said to make sure I got it down correctly 😂 A few of my favorites were: “I spend a lot of money looking for women”, “I threw away my debit cards”, and “I would rather play chicken with my bills than with my savings”)

“The Purpose Code” – New Book and Giveaway!

(Giving away a blogger friend’s latest book, centered around one of those things that occupies my brain way more than I care to admit: the purpose of life! Which apparently I’m not alone in, as this “purpose anxiety” has been proven to affect 91% of people! Crazy!)

Give them a shot if you’re looking for some fun reading this morning! Or continue browsing down below to other great articles I’ve bookmarked from around the community…

Hope you’re doing well so far this year!! Any big plans or events or goals??! I don’t really set New Year resolutions anymore as I’m *always* working on some sort of challenge over here, but I do still think they’re great for those needing a little motivation! And hopefully no one’s given up on them yet!

Have a fantastic weekend ☕

PS: check out these stickers I saw on a car recently – our type of person! :)

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Favorite Reads Around the Community:

Why Saving The First $10,000 Is Critical via Wallet Hacks — “Your first goal is to save up $1,000. Scratch and claw your way to $1,000. Then, set your sights on $10,000. $10,000 is far but within reach. It’s also a sum that can be attained through the cutting of expenses and budgeting. You can save your way to $10,000. Then, invest that $10,000… If you don’t, you will forever be trading your time for money.”

The One-Box Challenge: A Simple Trick for a Clutter-Free Life via The Frug — “If you’re interested in decluttering your life but find it challenging to get started, I’ve devised a straightforward method to keep you on track every day. We’ve placed a sizable cardboard box in our hallway, right next to the hamper. Anytime Kelly or I stumble upon something we no longer use or want, it finds a new home in this box. Typically, after about a month, the box is nearly full, and it’s time to swiftly pack it up and transport it to Goodwill. ”

How it’s going after a full week without caffeine via George Poulos — “At what point does discipline cross over the line from being beneficial into a toxic form of self-restriction? As far as I can tell, life seems to be a constant process of experimentation, a never-ending balancing act and oscillation between these two ways of being.”

How to Avoid Getting Lost in Thought via Raptitude — “Humans [have] evolved the ability to hallucinate stuff we’re not presently sensing. We can summon to mind images of territories that exist elsewhere or even nowhere. Money we haven’t earned yet. Predators we’ve never encountered. Disappointments we haven’t suffered yet… This ability has allowed us to build cities, establish moral codes, and go to the moon, but it also presents a huge liability: confusion about what’s there and what’s merely being thought about.”

Don’t Take the Market Personally via A Wealth of Common Sense — “The stock doesn’t know you own it. All those marvelous things, or those terrible things, that you feel about a stock, or a list of stocks, or an amount of money represented by a list of stocks, all of these things are unreciprocated by the stock or the group of stocks. You can be in love if you want to, but that piece of paper doesn’t love you, and unreciprocated love can turn into masochism, narcissism, or, even worse, market losses and unreciprocated hate.”

When ‘Ho Ho Ho’ Turns to ‘Owe, Owe Owe’: 5 Financial New Year’s Resolutions for 2025 via USA Today [Shameless plug as I was featured in it! ;)]

Leaving Things Better Than We Found Them via Frugal Girl — “I don’t think it’s possible to do it perfectly, but I want to live my life so that the places I’ve been and the people I’ve interacted with are better for me having been there.”

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Book Spotlight:

The Purpose Code: How to unlock meaning, maximize happiness, and leave a lasting legacy . This book comes from fellow PF’er, Jordan Grumet of Earn & Invest podcast, and in celebration of its release we’re giving away a few copies of it over at Budgets Are Sexy! So be sure to click over there next and enter if you’re interested in it!

More about the book via Amazon:

“Worried about purpose? Most people are. But no one has to be. Brené Brown meets Malcolm Gladwell in this ground-breaking self-improvement book that reveals how to make a mark and how to set goals in life without falling into the anxiety traps of conventional success principles books. The ultimate in purpose anxiety relief, and a map for anyone to find happiness.”

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APP Spotlight:

Spend — This is a new’ish budgeting app a colleague of mine is working on… I haven’t tried it yet but according to him once people check it out they tend to stay. So maybe give it a shot if you still haven’t found a good Mint replacement? I do really like its “Safe to Spend” feature.

(They have a free version and a paid version ($7.99/mo or $79/yr), but he’s currently running a promotion for anyone who signs up in January: access to the paid version for 1 entire year – free. Let me know if you test it out!)

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*Links to Book are Amazon affiliate links

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Happy holidays, friends!

I hope you have some fun festivities lined up! :) But before we get to all that, I’m on a mission to raise a little money for my cold and hungry homeless friends out there, while also trying at the same time to tackle one of the hardest areas known to entrepreneurs:

OUR HORDE OF DOMAIN NAMES! 😂

Which, of course, are all awesome and *worth millions* if we ever get them off the ground, but as author Derek Sivers is fond of saying – ideas are worth nothing unless executed. And, well, despite how much I’d love to execute on ALL of these one day, I’m pretty sure if I haven’t done it in the past 10 years I never will…

But maybe one of YOU could use these domains? Perhaps one of these is the missing puzzle to finally getting your own passion project off the ground?!

If so, I’d love to make a deal with you today :) If you donate some money to help replenish my Community Fund that goes 100% to my poor – yet positive! – friends living on the streets, I’ll give you one of these epic domain names in return.

What do you say?

Here are the domains up for the taking:

• PFBloggers.com – Great for anyone who wants to bring back a blogger directory to our space! (gone! Thanks Tom!!)
• PFChat.com – Great for anyone wants to bring back a lively *forum* to our space :)
• MoneyLatte.com – Great for telling everyone how much they can save on brewing coffee at home! Lololol… (gone! Thanks Jessica!!)
• DebtDrop.org – Great for anyone trying to help others tackle debt

DM me if you have any interest at all, or check out this recent blog post to learn more: Want Any of These Domain Names?

We’ve already raised $600 for the Fund so far (you can donate even if you don’t want a domain!) but would love more than anything to raise even more. It’s the worst season for our unhoused friends right now ‘cuz it’s so dang cold and nasty out!

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In other not-nearly-as-important-news, I’ve been obsessed with coin boards lately :) Which you can probably still appreciate whether you’re into coins or not cuz it’s super nerdy!

• Check out the “normal” coin board here: Custom Coin Board (via my blog, CoinThrill.com)
• And then the supercharged one here: Custom Coin Board… Table! With Legs!

And then lastly, that very same Derek Sivers mentioned above came onto my blog last month to spit some financial truth… His equation says it all: Wealth = Have ÷ Want

I hope something here helps you in the future!! Thanks for reading all these years, and have a very merry blessed and happy holidays!!

Your FBFF (Financial Best Friend Forever),

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Favorite Reads Around the Community:

You Only Have to Get Rich Once @ Young Money — “The only thing worse than not making life-changing money is losing the life-changing money that you just made.”

Why I Write A “Love Letter” Every Year @ The Retirement Manifesto — “None of us want to die. All of us will. In preparation for that inevitability, I write an annual “Love Letter” to my wife. In the event of my passing, my wife will know exactly what needs to be done.  I’ve never written in detail about my love letter on this blog. That ends today.”

How To Avoid Investment Fruit Loops @ A Teachable Moment — “Simple beats complex. Beware of excess ingredients in your food and investment portfolio.”

Advice For The Kids @ Humble Dollar – “Don’t read too much into texts and emails, especially those from colleagues. Most people aren’t artful in their use of language, so their intent may be muddied, and things will likely be even worse if you try to read between the lines. Instead, until people prove themselves untrustworthy, give them the benefit of the doubt. That attitude will make the world seem like a more pleasant place, and you’ll spend far less time fretting unnecessarily.”

Mary Buffett & The Difference Between Gifting Cash and Stocks @ My Money Blog — “In a recent Fortune article, Mary Buffett shared an anecdote about how her former father-in-law Warren Buffett changed the way he gifted his family $10,000 every year, from cash to shares of stock… Giving shares of stock instead of cash was a small nudge that made a difference.”

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Quote of The Month:

“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” – Arthur Ashe

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