Happy Friday!

Caught this idea from a new blogger this week, and it’s really been resonating:

“I don’t care if it’s 15-minutes, 30-minutes or more, but you have to bookend your days. What does that mean? That means you control the start of your day and the end of your day. In a crazy world where you feel like you have no control over your life, taking ownership of the start and the end of the day can be an EMPOWERING practice.”

YES!! I’ve been great at the morning part ever since implementing my “Benjamin Franklin” wake-up routine, but I’ll admit I’m not the best at closing out that second bookend of the day…

Going to make it my mission over the weekend to start being better about “me time” before bed and see if it makes as powerful of a difference as in the mornings…

If anyone wants to join me in this, let me know!

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Articles I wrote on BudgetsAreSexy this week:

MONDAY: Do you treat your money differently depending on *how* you get it? — If so, you suffer from “mental accounting” just like I do ;) And this post covers how drastically I’ll treat my money depending on whether it comes from jobs, gifts, winnings, inheritances, refunds, taxes, dividends, and even anything I find on the ground… Even though all money is the same!

TUESDAY: New Book (and Giveaway): “Women with Money” by Jean Chatzky — Answer the following question in the comments and get entered to win 1 of 2 copies! “What’s the one area of your finances that stresses you out the most?”

WEDNESDAY: Top 10 Highest-Paying Jobs With Low Stress — Hint: If you’re good with numbers, you get more cash :) (And if you’re good with risk, you get even more cash!)

THURSDAY: The “endowment effect” and “nudge theory” — Two more excellent examples of “mental accounting!” Which piggybacks off of Monday’s post on how we treat money differently even though it’s all the same.

FRIDAY: 15 of My Favorite Reads This Month ⭐ — Pretty much an amped up version of this newsletter you’re reading ;)

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Things I enjoyed from around the web this week:

This take on writing –> “Writing is the new resume. Whether you’re building a business, leading a project, or applying for a new job, writing is how you get attention.”- David Perell

These facts on investing –> “Since 1916, the Dow has made new all-time highs less than 5% of all days, but over that time it’s up 25,568%” … “Gold and the Dow were both 800 in 1980. Today Gold is $1,300/ounce, the Dow is near 26k.” – TheIrrelevantInvestor.com

This article on leaving legacies –> Building Generational Wealth – The Complete Guide // “When my grandchildren are born I want to give them their inheritance. Each grandchild will receive the same amount of money, which will be $16,000. $8,000 from me, and $8,000 from Mrs. C. This money will be placed in a taxable brokerage account with their parents as the guardian until they are 18 years old… $16,000 at 8% annualized returns will be $60,000 at 18, $700,000 at 50, and $1 Million at age 55. Effectively I am funding their retirement.”

These thoughts on what we “deserve” –> My Wife Deserves a $2M McMansion // “What I think my wife wants, and what she actually wants, are two very different things. What she deserves, and what she actually values in life are completely different also.”

This life-saving penny! –> Pocket Penny That Saved Soldier’s Life to be Sold // “Pte John Trickett would have been shot in the heart if not for the coin he kept in his breast pocket. Instead, the bullet ricocheted up his nose and out through the back of his ear, leaving him deaf in his left ear.”

This musical ode to the Dollar Store –> DOLLAR STORE WITH LIZA, THE MUSIC VIDEO

XOXO,

*Killer bookends up top via Etsy: Tentacle Attack Bookends

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Today’s newsletter is brought to you by P. Diddy, who brings mad insight on life such as that subject line featured up top, as well as this little clip from the hit song, “Been Around the World”:

“Now my dividends be the new Benjamins”

Haha… and let’s not forget other gems gleaned from years of empire building:

“If you want to fly, you have to give up the things that weigh you down.” – Diddy

And:

“Don’t be afraid to close your eyes and dream but then open your eyes and see.” – Diddy

Then finally:

“Don’t chase the paper, chase the dream.” – Diddy

Thanks for all the years of rhymes and encouragement, good sir! We salute you!

And now, onto the best articles from around the web as well as my own little “diddys” I wrote this week ;)

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New articles on BudgetsAreSexy:

MONDAY: When luxuries become necessities — A list of things I came up with that I once never needed in my life but now can’t live without :)

TUESDAY: Would you ever bank with Amazon, Facebook or Google? — Where we talk about the stat: “58% of Millennials would consider banking with Amazon, Facebook or Google if these tech giants enter the banking space” (NOPE!)

WEDNESDAY: 9 Questions to Ask Before Buying a House — A list of questions to help determine if you’re financially ready to buy a home or not.

THURSDAY: Do you make more than your spouse? How is it going for you?? — In which I realized that for the first time since knowing my wife she’s actually making more money than me! Hubba Hubba!

FRIDAY: Some money jokes you can use to impress people 😂 — Which includes such classics as “If you have five dollars and Chuck Norris has five dollars, Chuck Norris has more money than you” and “Did you hear about the dry cleaner who’s been accused of money laundering? He’s ironing out a deal.”

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Things I enjoyed from around the web this week:

This reminder from Austin Kleon –> You’ve got to be kind.

This idea of “stripping down” and starting over –> The Full Reset // “To understand the power of starting clean, you have to know the nuance of why the Nazi military became as strong as it did. It starts at the end of World War I, when the defeated German army was stripped clean.”

This pledging of 1% of your salary to support environmental issues you care the most about –> OnePercentForThePlanet.org (Hat tip to Cait Flanders who just committed to this!)

This realization of luxuries –> “One of history’s few iron laws is that luxuries tend to become necessities and to spawn new obligations. Once people get used to a certain luxury, they take it for granted. Then they begin to count on it. Finally they reach a point where they can’t live without it.” – Yuval Noah Harari

This plan from Burger King –> A month of coffee for $5? That’s Burger King’s plan to rule breakfast. // “Burger King rolled out its own coffee subscription service: a cup a day for $5 a month. The chain is betting on the service to get early risers in the door — and away from other big names in the fast-food breakfast game.”

This idea for a side hustle –> “I have a friend who flips cars as a side hustle, and the best time to flip and sell a car is around tax time. Great business model, and clears an extra $20,000 to $30,000 per year doing so.”

This auto response from someone I emailed this morning:

Howdy,

Unless you are very Jewish or live in Israel, you probably have never heard of the minor Jewish Holiday of Purim. It’s a fantastic story of court intrigue, politics, murder and salvation set during the time of the Persian Empire. As always, Wikipedia has you covered here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purim. If you have the time, I highly recommend reading the Book of Esther which is the codified text of the holiday.

The tldr; of the holiday, like many Jewish holidays: They tried to kill us, God had other plans, We won, let’s eat! (The Persian plot line is more relevant today then ever.. cf. modern day Iran etc).

Anyway, I’m out partying with my family, so I’ll get back to you next week.

And lastly, this coupon that was redeemed 36 years later :)

Happy savings!

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Morning!

Caught this quote the other day and I am DYING still!!!

“The only reason a great many American families don’t own an elephant is that they have never been offered an elephant for a dollar down and easy weekly payments. ~ Mad Magazine

Haha… how true, and sad, that actually is… ;)

Lots of good discussions and finds to share with you this week… Hope you’re still getting something good out of these emails! Let me know your thoughts!

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Articles I wrote on the blog:

MONDAY: Are you a member of the Mileage High Club?! ;) — A continuation of my twitter post that went viral and had everyone sharing how much more frugal they are than me, lol… Have you hit 100k on your car yet?!

TUESDAY: “Buy your home like a landlord, live like a renter.” — An excellent way of managing your home’s finances! And something I’m going to set up myself in order to better separate my emotions from it all ;)

WEDNESDAY: The World’s Best Banks According to Forbes — A survey that finally polls *real life customers* on banks they love and use vs typical business analytics… And SPOILER ALERT: USAA came in at #1 in the U.S. – woo!

THURSDAY: What are you doing with your tax refunds? — A list of 10 great ways to use your tax refund if you’re like me and prefer getting a nice chunk in the end instead of throughout the year… Which most people end up spending anyways even though they like to gripe that it’s better than “giving the government an interest-free loan!”

FRIDAY: 80 Years of Financial Hindsight — An article by an “old fart” about his thoughts and concerns on money over his 80 years of living… (Along with an excellent list of financial tips at the end from both him and me)

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Places I was featured this week:

Business Insider: These 20 questions can help tell you how close you are to becoming financially independent — A spinoff of our post last week on that Financial Independence checkpoint test by Cashflow Cop.

Four Pillar Freedom: Where Were You At 23? — An old post that started getting passed around again that featured a lot of us $$$ bloggers… Here’s where I was at at 23 y/o if you’re interested ;)

“At 23 I didn’t know anything about anything relating to money, other than I REALLY wanted a lot of it and I was hoping it would magically come some how without much work on my behalf :)

Now – over 10 years later – I’m thankful that not only have I started paying attention to my finances and grown my net worth from around $20,000 to over $500,000, but that I *appreciate* what money can do and no longer chase it just to “be rich,” but more to gain *freedom*. The freedom to, ironically enough, never have to think about money again if I don’t want :)”

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Things I enjoyed from around the web:

This free mindfulness course by David Cain –> 3-Minute Mindfulness (3MM) // “It comes in five simple lessons. It will teach you: What mindfulness actually is, three ways you can practice it anytime anywhere, and why you might want to do that. Your homework is literally one minute a day.” (Took this course last week and so far has stuck with me!)

This Twitter “moment” on the WWW turning 30!! –> Remembering dial-up internet as the World Wide Web turns 30

This history on Virginia lotteries –> “Lotteries date back to the earliest days of Virginia… It began in 1612 to help raise funds for the struggling Jamestown Settlement; it raised ₤29,000 for the Virginia Company. Lottery proceeds helped establish early universities (including Virginia’s College of William and Mary and University of Virginia), churches, and libraries.” – Wikipedia.org

These tips on how best to eat rolled oats –> twitter.com/BudgetsAreSexy/status/1105898626855915522 (Scroll to the comments section where everyone chimed in after my debacle!)

These people in the “Million-Mile Club” –> The World’s Longest-Lived Cars (You will crap your pants when you see how much mileage that first person has racked up so far!!)

This article on movie money –> Where does fake movie money come from?

And this simple way to ensure you are focused on what matters –> “A simple way to ensure you are focused on what matters: Imagine everything gets wiped. You inherit no tasks or responsibilities from your past or present. Then, add back only what you miss. Choose what to add to a blank slate, not what to keep from a full plate.” – @JamesClear

Blessed weekend,

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Morning!

This week I’ve been obsessing over two big things: 1) finding a way to convince my wife to let us keep renting instead of buying a home again (see blog post articles below!), and 2) trying to be better about remembering peoples names.

So far it’s a big fail on that first one, haha, however I’m proud to say that the second one has seen some major progress.

I REMEMBERED *THREE* PEOPLES’ NAMES THIS WEEK!

And apparently I’m not the only one who sucks at this as one post on Twitter and the internet almost breaks, haha… But as Dale Carnegie liked to say, “A person’s name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” And plus – it’s just a nice thing to remember as a human :)

Hope you find this, and everything below, helpful!

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Articles I wrote on The Budgets:

MONDAY: Net Worth Update #133: $877,998.20 [+$29,332.73] — part of our Net Worth Series where we show a real-life snapshot of money (my money!) in hopes it helps put more perspective around this stuff…

TUESDAY: My wife is itching to own a home again (!!!) — As we approach our upcoming move back to the greatest state in the nation this summer (Virginia is for lovers!), my wife’s hints of revisiting home ownership again are getting harder and harder to ignore…

WEDNESDAY: Excellent home searching advice, especially for first time buyers… — If you’re new to the home buying process, or dipping your toes back into it again after some time off like us, this is for you.

THURSDAY: Advice From a Coffee Mug ☕ — If you never thought your mug could change your life, think again ;)

FRIDAY: Where are you on your path to Financial Independence? Take this test. — Answer 20 super easy questions, and it’ll spit out your rank and where you stand in your journey towards financial freedom right now :)

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Places I was featured this week:

Business Insider: 7 money habits that have a high rate of return — This is an oldie from my blog, but still jam packed with nuggets that’s sure to excite any wallet out there ;) Habit #6 is is my favorite.

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Things I enjoyed around the web:

This personal finance tip from Nicki Minaj –> “Don’t spend your tax refund”

This mega way of paying it forward –> D.C. restaurant feeds the poor and homeless every single day // “This immigrant-owned restaurant in Washington, D.C. just blocks from the White House feeds the homeless and poor every single day as if they were full paying customers, no questions asked.”

This idea on limiting phone use –> “We are trying a new routine at our house from now on. We are putting the phones in a kitchen drawer from the time we both get home from work until the baby goes down for bed. Once the baby is secured, the phones can come back out.” – Ramp Capital LLC

This wild fact about $100 bills! –> There are more $100 bills in circulation than $1 bills, and it makes no cents // bonus point for the pun!

This backstory on Justin Bieber’s mom –> en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattie_Mallette // don’t ask me why I was googling that, haha…

These random invention facts –> “It took 50 years after the invention of canned food for someone to invent the can opener. And we put a man on the moon before we put wheels on suitcases. How is that possible? The can opener had to wait for thinner cans: early tins were too hefty to submit to anything less than a chisel. In the case of wheeled luggage, the barrier may have been social acceptance. Luckily Robert Plath, who patented the two-wheeled Rollaboard in 1991, was a Boeing 747 pilot with Northwest Airlines, who began selling his invention to other pilots and crew. When passengers began asking to buy them, he started the Travelpro company.” – Rory Sutherland via David Perell’s newsletter

This children’s book my boys and I are obsessed with –> “Little Pea” by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

(Links to Amazon page // affiliate link)

And this beautiful love a mother in our community has for her son who was recently diagnosed with cancer –> “just came out of hospital bathroom after shaving my head again… His eyes light up.. he says “MAMA! They gave you the medicine so your hair doesn’t grow!!!” I said yep…He reaches for me.. hugs me..Pulls me back to smile at me and says “I love you mama” and gives me a big fat kiss on the lips… This is what I live for. To make that boy smile and show him I care and now I’m crying in the bathroom.” – @FrugalPharm

Every day really is a blessing,

* Subject line adapted from a quote by Rear Admiral, Robert C. Lee

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Morning, beautifuls!

A fresh new month with fresh new goals to hit! Anyone beat me to it this morning and already update their ol’ net worth?? ;)

If so, enter e-high five here.

For everyone else, let’s move, baby! Tracking it is one of the best things you can do for your money, besides earn it! And I’ll be reporting back on my own come Monday, which will make the 133rd month in a row and quite literally 28% of my life, haha… Guess there could be worse habits to have though?

My favorite reads from the week, as well as everything I wrote on BudgetsAreSexy, are below… There were some zingers this week!

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Articles I wrote:

MONDAY: The average 401(k) balance by age — Which almost broke my site this week! Apparently it got featured on Chrome’s “recommended articles” list and gave me the highest day of page views since the site’s creation (40,000). It was a good post, but not sure it was that good!

TUESDAY: A Saver Checklist + Tips! — The perfect way to celebrate “America Saves Week!” See how many things you can cross off this checklist (I hit 12 of 15), and then scroll to the end to learn about a $750 giveaway going on for anyone who pledges to save throughout the year.

WEDNESDAY: Would you give up sex for a year in exchange for a free year of college tuition? — What about if it’s for your kids?? What about if it erased a year’s worth of *student loan DEBT?* :) We do an unofficial poll on the site, and then test our fortitude whether or not we could actually pull it off, haha…

THURSDAY: Obscure financial holidays to mark on your calendar :) — A bunch of great – unknown – holidays that are actually GOOD for your budget!! Like “Library lovers Day” (2/14) and “National Thrift Shop Day!” (8/17)

FRIDAY: Favorite articles from around the web this month ✨ — Basically a roundup exactly like this newsletter here, only the best from the *month* of which you’ve already mostly seen ;)

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Things I enjoyed from around the web:

This nerdy FIRE calculator –> Will My Money Survive Early Retirement? // “It helps to answer the question: If I start out with $X dollars at the beginning of my retirement, will I run out of money before I die?”

This idea for all website owners –> How to Make Your Website Carbon Neutral (BTW, it’s Really Easy) // “Every time someone visits your website a server somewhere needs power. More often than not that power comes from a “dirty” electricity source. Websites now produce a huge chunk of global greenhouse gasses.”

This research on happiness –> Happiness research shows the biggest obstacle to creativity is being too busy // “Simply put, creativity happens when your mind is unfocused, daydreaming or idle. (This is why we have so many “aha” moments in the shower.)”

This brilliant investor you’ve never heard of before –> An Optometrist Who Beat The Odds To Become A Billionaire

This fundraising idea –> Church Raises $100K Through Month-Long Fast So They Can Pay Off Student Debt for 34 Grads

This thief who gives all coin collectors nightmares! ;) –> Man Stole $33,000 of Rare Coins And Cashed Them In At Coin Star For $29.30

This perspective on social media by a photographer –> Why I Deleted All of My Social Media and 60,000 Followers

And this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson –> “The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions.”

Happy stretching,

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