Gooooood morning, beautiful people!!

It’s your old pal J. Money! What’s good?!

I’m not gonna lie, it’s been a hot mess over here this first half of 2022 so had to lay low and hide for a bit as I was NOT a fun person to be around, haha…

From getting hit by a rare, nasty, autoimmune disease that landed me in the hospital for a week, to just general malaise of not being very creatively motivated, I had to take a break from almost everything online and just focus entirely on my health and mental clarity…

AND IT WORKED!!! Because here I am juiced up and ready to activate this 2nd Life again!!  Even if it is due to the handful of meds I’m on, lol… And I’ll tell you something… nothing gives you such an appreciation of life going from feeling like your on death’s door to just being “normal” again… I will never $hit on boring “normal” again – it is magnificent!!

And I gotta give mad respect to all others out there battling autoimmune diseases too because I had no appreciation of what that truly means in life, and how drastically it can affect you… I am in complete awe of  y’all living out your best lives despite it, and want all your secrets please!!! :)

So that’s been my life lately…

Oh, and I almost got hit by a car yesterday crossing the street in my euphoric state, lol… 3rd Life activated!!

Here’s a quick update on some other things, and then hoping to get back to our more regular weekly postings again starting next week if you’re up for it?

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#1. All-Star Money shut down! (The curation site I helped build for The Motley Fool) We had a good run for about a year, but the direction from up high sadly changed and it didn’t make sense anymore for us to continue so I got the ol’ axe…. Which actually felt kinda neat to be honest as it had been a while since that happened, haha… And a lot less scary when you don’t depend on the income (thank you personal finance!!).

What it also means, is that for the FIRST TIME since striking out on my own 14+ years ago I have absolutely *NO* active projects or websites or anything to work on!! I am a complete free bird waiting for my next wormies to sink my teeth into!! Exciting and scary at the same time! So many possibilities to choose from, but without any force pushing you in one direction over another – a decision making nightmare for people like me, lol…

[click to watch my Insta pitch!]

But maybe you can help me with this?? Maybe there’s a project that YOU’RE super passionate and excited about that I can help turbocharge for you?

Because in all my years the *one* thing I know is that the person who absolutely LOVES what they’re working on will have a ton more success with it than those just doing something for the money or fame. When you live and breathe something the Success Gods guide you!!

And if you think I could be a good mentor for you, I’d love to chat and learn more about it :) You don’t even have to pay me in cash – you can buy me something off my WISH LIST!

#2. PF Swagger is effectively shut down. My random site I put together two years ago for fun – “The hottest merch in finance” – hasn’t felt the love by me (or mainly anyone else for that matter, haha) so it’s been on the back burner waiting to come off life support.. Maybe I’ll freshen it up one day and get going again, but probably not. It served its creative purpose for me back then and there’s just not enough merch coming out from our community to really make it thrive… Or even people to buy it all as Lord knows how frugal this lot is!!! ;)

#3. Coin Thrill effectively shut down. My coin collecting blog I started back in 2014. I still very much enjoy collecting and visiting my local coin club every month (NERD ALERT), but publishing wise I just haven’t had the urge to really make it “a thing.” The online community for coins and currency is so drastically different being filled with octogenarians and not the most tech savvy, haha, but I do genuinely enjoy the hobby so I’ll keep it online for a bit longer and see if anything comes of it…

#4. I’m still skating!! AND LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT! Been posting some of my new moves on Insta if you’re interested in following along – instagram.com/jmoneyyyyyy

This new hobby has probably done more good for my health and mental state than anything in recent years… Gets me in better physical shape (when I’m not breaking any bones at least), gets me OUTSIDE and breathing fresh air, and gets me a whole new community of friends to play with…  Even if they’re decades younger than me and prefer more illicit drugs than myself, lol…

#5. Money. Still paying attention to it! And growing! Past the budgeting and tracking every penny these days, but I do still update my Net Worth every single month going on year #15 now and still one of the best things I’ve probably ever done, finance-wise…

I’ll have to talk w/ the wife and see if she’s comfortable with me sharing an update after so many years (maybe if it’s just to you guys here in this newsletter than public site?!) but as they say, once a money nerd always a money nerd ;) I hope you all are coping okay through the madness that’s this stock market right now!! You know I don’t have to say it but of course I will – it’s a helluva buying period!!

#6. Derek Sivers collection of books. Lastly, here are a handful of books I’ve been obsessed with lately by Derek Sivers (of CD Baby fame). Something about the way he writes just really impacts me and actually makes my brain CHANGE the way it intreprets things… And each one of these is super short and easy to consume, as well as looks fantastic on the books shelf too :) Highly recommend!! More: https://sive.rs/

(I’ve read the first, second, and fourth one here – but not the music one… The first one (How To Live) is a fantastic way to stretch your mind on all the different lifestyle paths (all extreme) whereas the “Hell Yeah or No” one is more about decision making in life and business, etc… And then “Anything You Want” is super good for launching businesses and how to think about it all and treat it.)

Here are some passages that hit me:

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Okay that’s enough about me!

Tell me what’s going on in your worlds, please!! What have you been getting into that’d been life changing?? Learning and exploring anything new?! Any super interesting wins – or fails?!

Hit reply to this email and tell me all about it!

The one thing I’ve missed the most over the past couple of years are all the people in our beautiful community here… I’m not sure what my next project will hold, but I do know it’ll revolve around connectivity in some form or fashion, and of course spew *positivity* to help balance out all the nastiness in the world out there…

Ain’t nobody got time for more toxicness in their lives!! Life is short!!! Let’s goooooooooo!

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[How ironic would it be if I bought this ;)]

Good morning, friends!

Hope your summers are going well! We’ve been on a major pool binging over here, trying to see how many *different* ones we can jump into by tapping everyone we know :) I think yesterday’s adventure hit 5 so far and the kids are having a blast! (and I’ll admit I am a little too, haha…)

I’m also still doing a little work throughout as well (first half of day = hustling, second half = playing!), and after months of making them I can now show you those videos I created for All-Star Money last year!

Check it out! –> JAY’S OSCAR WINNING VIDEOS

[Fair warning: some of these are pretty ridiculous, and may or may not have a point, haha… But they were fun to create! And I now have a MAJOR appreciation for what it takes to produce such things, man… Not gonna lie, some of these took us over 15 hours to make from start to finish and not even sure you could tell?!]

We’ll see if All-Star taps me to do more (?), but they were a fun experience and always nice when you get to see your finished products floating around the web :)

Here were my favorites if you don’t want to wade through the archives:

A Recap of 2020, lol

The 3 Budgets You Need to Have
(Lean, Moderate, Fat)

The Power of Compounding!

Adventures in Opting Out
(where I throw a lot of stuff!)

A Trick to Handling Rejection
(where I kick a lot of stuff!)

In other news, I jumped on a new podcast this month where we chatted about everything from home ownership to minimalism to my new obsession with skateboarding.

It comes from a NEW friend I’ve really enjoyed getting to meet (and learn from!) lately, Meg Nordmann:

• Journey to Freedom: Ep. 7 – J. Money on Minimalism in Business & Finance

And that’s it for me over here! Anything juicy going on in your world? Either financially or otherwise?

It feels soooo different these days compared to a year ago, and while I know we’re not out of the woods yet, it sure is nice SEEING PEOPLE again and visiting coffee shops! It really is the simple things in life that bring the most pleasure, isn’t it?! And simple usually tends to = free!

That’s it for this week… As usual, my favorite reads from around the web lately are featured below.

Don’t be a stranger!

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FAVORITE READS AROUND THE COMMUNITY:

How to Remember You’re Alive by Raptitude — “One way to appreciate virtually any moment of your life is to pretend that the whole thing is already over. Your life came and went a long time ago, but for some reason you’ve just been sent back to this random moment, here in this office chair, or in line at Home Depot.”

The Difference Between a Museum and a Warehouse by Steve Adcock — “Don’t expose your heart and mind to just anything. You aren’t a warehouse. Instead, you are a museum. Your life is a beautifully-curated collection of truly valuable things that add something positive and meaningful every day.”

Why I’m Not Hustling Like a Mother via She Picks Up Pennies — “This isn’t just about hustle porn and the people who buy into it. That Mom Hustle maternity shirt is symptomatic of something much greater: that this might be the very worst place in the world to take parental leave.”

It Is Better to Donate Than Resell via Becoming Minimalist — “More than any other, the most significant and recurring motivation to minimize our possessions comes from the opportunity that our possessions represent. Our excess could become a blessing to somebody else.”

Why “Follow Your Passion” Is Good Financial Advice via Incognito Money Scribe — “The primary purpose of accumulating wealth is to gain full ownership of your time for the things you’re passionate about. The ability to do what you want, when you want, for however long you want.”

It’s Time to Start “Requalifying” For Your Job Each Year via Accidentally Retired — “Even if your title is the same, even if your role is the same, continuously learning and improving is the single best way to guarantee yourself a big raise, promotion or job on the open market.”

“Could This Be a Heirloom Someday?” via The Frugal Girl — “Whenever possible, before you buy something that’s supposed to last, join me in asking, “Will this be useful and treasured for years to come?””

The Amount of Cash Flow You Need to Change Your Life via The Darwinian Doctor — “I believe there are two levels of cash flow that can be life changing: $1 of cash flow, and cash flow equal to 20% of your annual income.”

Series I Savings Bonds: A Safe Investment With a High Return via Get Rich Slowly — “I have never purchased a savings bond. That’s about to change. Right now, I like them better than a savings account or CD!”

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And lastly, an awesome graphic I’m sure many of you can relate to :)

[via Accidental Fire]

Happy Weekend!

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Good Morning!

It’s been a hot minute, eh? Y’all good? Anything juicy going down lately? :)

I built that DIY sunglasses rack up there that I was pretty proud of, haha… 3 years of figuring out how to keep all these things organized and then BAM – the idea hit me out of the blue! So funny how our brains work…

Other news around the Money household lately:

I’m still skateboarding almost daily! I can now ollie (jump) over things, and getting super comfortable going up and down skate ramps with much less fear too. Similar to other things in life, confidence is key! Only it hurts a LOT more when you fail at skating, lol.

I’m still dabbling in cryptos… and definitely losing more money than the opposite – hah! But shockingly it’s been a pleasurable experience. Mainly just cuz it’s so nice to be doing something different than indexing all the time, though of course 99.9% of our money is still invested there. Right now I have some Bitcoin, Ethereum, COIN, and of course Doge.

I’m still tracking our net worth every single month. Going on 14 years straight now! And while we don’t share them publicly anymore, you can see our last one here if you’re new to my stuff –> Net Worth Report #139: $1,131,601.03 (it was a juicy one!)

I’m still curating the best articles around the PF community at All-Star Money. Probably one of the best job I’ve ever had as all I do is read articles about money every morning and then share my favorites with the world! Similar to the Rockstar Finance days, only I actually get paid for it :) Been about 4 months now and looks to be growing nicely…

Speaking of All-Star, if you created anything COOL and FUN last year during the pandemic (2020), send it over to us as we’re putting together a page highlighting some of the best stuff and would love to include yours! It can be a video you made, an article, meme, gif, arts & crafts, whatever! As long as it’s *money* related we’ll consider it. Shoot anything you’ve got here –> allstarmoney.com/2020

We’re gonna be (finally!) sharing all the videos *I made* from last year too, which is great as I spent like 60 hours on them and they came out kinda fun!

Here’s a short one I put together for the “2020 fun” ASK if you wanna get a sense of the look and feel of them, or if you just wanna see my face because you forget what I look like :)

[Click to watch]

And lastly, I thought I’d share something I’ve been doing lately that’s REALLY helped me with spending money on stuff I want – especially as a minimalist.

And that’s the idea of always having a *back up plan* for whatever item I bring into the home. I’ve tried the “one in, one out” rule before, but that’s never stuck and so far this new one has really put me at *ease* whenever I’m considering something.

Basically, any time I really want something (a new book, antique, pair of shoes), I force myself to first come up with a Plan B for it so that way a) if I come down with a serious case of Buyer’s Regret once home I know *exactly* what to do next, and b) if it doesn’t fit, or it sucks (i.e. bad book), etc, I also know what to do with it next SO IT DOESN’T ADD CLUTTER TO MY LIFE – both physically and mentally! The worst is buying something only to then have that something bring you pain vs joy and now you’re really feeling awful about it.

Some of these Plan B’s have been donating it to a thrift store (bad book), re-selling it to a local shop (antique w/ buyer’s remorse), and then my favorite: donating it to a museum! Something I plan on doing with all my rare books/coins from my hometown unless my kids end up wanting them one day (not likely). Some of them are so specialized you can’t really just sell them anywhere, and while I could hawk them at my local antique shops similar to the antiques idea, the notion that I’m helping build out a “collection” that could one day be displayed for others to enjoy brings an IMMENSE sense of joy to this minimalist at heart :)

Though of course you still have to be careful with these Plan B’s as it does help you spend more freely, but at least it’s with double purpose!! First purpose: for myself to enjoy, second purpose: for others to enjoy, haha…

And really, isn’t that what happens with ALL THE THINGS we have? We may own it now, but it’s only temporary. Your house, car, TV, couch, it will all one day belong to someone else or something else  (dump) whether you plan for it to happen or not. So why not plan for it?

Your friend in finance,

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Some of my favorite finds from around the community last month:

This lesson from nomad life –> “You cannot rely on outside factors to make you healthy or whole. You have to provide that for yourself.” – APurpleLife.com

This mindset behind charity –> “When we see someone in need, we want our first thought to be, “how can I help?” not “what did you do wrong?” – ALawyerandHerMoney.com

This idea of taking “massive imperfect action” –> “It’s okay to trip, it’s ok to fall, it’s ok to make mistakes, as long as you are moving forward… It doesn’t have to be perfect. Making something happen is way better than perfect.”

This money date idea! –> “Once a month or so my wife and I have a money meeting. We jokingly call this meeting our monthly “Coffee Chat”. These clandestine meetings take place in the morning and under the noses of our sleeping daughters. On any given Saturday morning, we’ll make our way downstairs, cat burglar-like, to the kitchen to plot our escape from the workforce.”

These bad (?) arguments against Bitcoin –> The Top 9 (Bad) Arguments Against Bitcoin (I still can’t tell which facts are true and which aren’t, but it does help reading about both sides of the coin to better formulate your own thoughts)

This idea of being more effective in your giving –> Don’t Let Randomness Rule Your Giving Strategy

This realization from Steve after a visit to the casino –> “The day we arrived our net worth was at an all time high, the next day it dropped by $15,000. During that time I had lost a total of $5 at the casino and felt worse about losing the five dollars than I did about my portfolio losing fifteen thousand! What was that all about?” (I’m like this too! But also with money I *get*, like dollars I find on the ground or someone gives me, etc… Always feels better to receive *that* money than thousands more in my paycheck, haha…)

This recent podcast I was on –> From Sexy to Rockstar to All-Star: The Evolution of J Money (Earn & Invest Podcast)

And lastly, this quote from Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank fame:

“Whatever you pay attention to, grows.”

Have a blessed weekend 🙏🙏

Happy Friday!

Hope your investments and bitcoins are going well! 😂

Stumbled across this old post on Budgets Are Sexy when bitcoin was hovering around $130 if you can believe it! And even then most of us thought it was too expensive – if we even understood any of it (hint: we did not, lol…)

Crazy world we live in… But how fun to be in it :)

Here are my favorite finds from around the community this week – hope something inspires you!

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This method of writing and saving better –> “What can your crappy little elf do for you?”

This idea of celebrating “the middles” –> “We celebrate beginnings and ends but the middle is the hard part… Don’t wait until you’ve reached a milestone to be proud of yourself. Be proud of every step you take toward reaching your goal, whatever it may be.”

This idea of applying minimalism to more than just cleaning out closets.

This benefit of not making as much money –> “It made my transition to self-employment a lot easier because the income I had to replace was much less.”

These thoughts about Warren Buffet and his (lack of) opinion on crypto –> “I once thought the idea of Warren Buffett sitting behind his desk doing deals all day without a computer was charming. I don’t feel that way anymore… [He] doesn’t seem to want to learn or understand more about Web3, the decentralization wave, digital assets, distributive computing, autonomous and electric vehicles, AI, machine learning, virtual reality, app-based gaming, quantum computing or any of the other things that are shaping our lives today and gradually taking over from the 20th Century technologies that came before.”

This idea of a mullet portfolio 😂 –> “The unruly mess your portfolio has become if you haven’t re-balanced since before the 2020 stock market run up.”

These 8 reasons that renting isn’t “throwing your money away.”

This lesson from a life as a professional writer –> “Just because someone you admire tells you “You can’t do that” or “Nobody will take you seriously” doesn’t mean that it’s true.”

This reminder from Ben Carlson that –> “the more successful you become when it comes to your career or your finances, the more overconfident you become in your own abilities as an investor.”

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And that last one is exactly why I only “dabble” in crypto, lol… My indexing and blog game has nothing to do with bitcoin regardless of how well it’s treated me over the years. Just cuz you’re good at one thing doesn’t mean you’ll be good at everything! :)

But it’s still fun to try sometimes, haha…

A beautiful crazy world we’re in!

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Good morning!

And a happy early Mother’s Day to all you amazing women out there!!! Thanks for all you do, especially for creating us! ;)

Lots of great stuff out there this week so let’s just dive in!

Favorite finds from around the community:

These long distance friendship lamps –> Friendship Lamps

This way to see if you’re a good person or not, lol –> The “Shopping Cart” Theory

This stuff you can learn from minimalism, even if you’re nowhere close to adopting it –> Let’s Clean This Mess Up

These pros and cons to Real Estate Syndication (been hearing a lot about it lately and Joel does a great job breaking it down in this post) –> What’s a Real Estate Syndication?

How much these famous memes have been selling for –> Meme NFTs!

This story at the center of this article! –> Leaving a Legacy That Matters

These thoughts on investing by Darius Foroux –> “Investing is not a goal, activity, or task; it’s a habit. It’s something you do regularly, just like you work out, meditate, read, or anything else that takes time to yield results.”

This strategy for when you want to create something but you don’t know where to begin –> The Soulja Boy Strategy

This post on efficiency –> Efficiency is the Enemy

This video that I teared up on bad!! –> I Was Almost A School Shooter [7:28]

This question to think about over the weekend –> Do You Like the Person You Are Becoming?

Be well 🙏🙏

// That’s me and my mom up top, circa 1980 :)
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