There’s never enough money to do things perfectly

dancing skeletons

Happy Friday!

Here’s a smattering of articles I wrote this week, as well as a bunch of other great reads from around the web that may or may not be 10x as insightful ;)

Anything new and juicy going on in your worlds lately?

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Articles from yours truly:

A Peek Inside Amanda’s Money Notebooks! — “When I found out that Amanda used notebooks to track her finances I asked if she’d be kind enough to snap some pics for us, and she not only did that for us, but also included some of her backstory as well. So here’s the backstory along w/ the pics!! Gotta love that cheetah one, rawr!”

#OverHeard at the Coffee Shop – Volume VI — “Please to enjoy: things I’ve overheard at the coffee shop lately! Courtesy of unsuspecting – but very interesting – people unlucky enough to sit near me, haha…”

Meet Miguel – an Immigrant Who Became a Multi-Millionaire Without Any Help or Money — “Most of us have come from a pretty solid background with plenty of opportunities to (easily) take advantage of, but Miguel here is proof that even without any of this privilege you can still succeed – and well!!! – with some good grit and determination. Here’s his story of how he went from nothing to millions, all by the time he reached his early 40s.”

Should Have Listened to Dad… – A gaggle of stories from yesteryear on stupid things I did with my money, despite my father’s advice ;)

What Do You Need More of In Your Life Right Now? — “There’s never enough money to do things perfectly, but there’s always enough money to make a start.”

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Articles from others I enjoyed:

The Financial Turing Test by Of Dollars And Data — “Imagine we could simulate the universe where each time you are born to different set of parents with a different genetic makeup. Sometimes you are born a man. Sometimes you are born a woman. Sometimes black. Sometimes white. Sometimes smart. Sometimes not… What would you do to have the highest probability of becoming financially secure regardless of your background?

The Living Cost Per Hour Calculation – Fun Game to Financial Freedom by Dividend Diplomats — “Occasionally, it is hard to see the impact you are making on a $100, $500 or even a $1,500 dividend stock purchase. Heck, I deployed almost $5,000 in August and I felt like THAT wasn’t even a ding/dent into the journey. Is there a better way to keep the atmosphere upbeat, positive and to continue to motivate and truly see the impact of each and every dividend stock purchase? Yes, yes there is! Enter – The Living Cost Per Hour Calculation!”

Eye-Opening Photos of Hong Kong’s Packed “Vertical Graveyards” on Hillsides via My Modern Met — “With space at a premium in the densely packed city, these cemeteries built into the surrounding mountains loom ominously over Hong Kong. Many of these terraced burial sites were built in the 1980s as a last-ditch effort to create more space in a city that is running out of places to bury the dead.”

The Five-Minute Email Rule Completely Transformed The Way I Work via Fast Company — “We’re all drowning in email. And if you’re spending 15 minutes on every reply, no productivity system is ever going to save you. Not inbox zero, not batching, not turning off notifications—nothing. Your only hope is retirement. My rule: I never spend more than five minutes writing a work email. ”

And then lastly, the thought of the week:

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!””

– Hunter S. Thompson

Happy living, everyone :)

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How to Make $1,000 an Hour

one thousand dollars

Morning, y’all!

Just occurred to me that it’s been a few weeks since sending out one of these, so let’s change that today! Tons of juicy things going on – like selling my blog and hitting $1,000,000 (!!) – so here’s a highlight reel of it all! Followed by some of my favorite articles from around the web…

Hope they spark something!! Would love to hear what you’ve been getting into too?! Hit reply any time!

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Juicy articles on Budgets Are Sexy

New Beginnings, and The Future of Budgets Are Sexy — “So I have something to announce today that I’m super excited – and super scared!! – to share, but as we always do here on the blog I’ll be as transparent and real as possible with y’all… I’ve decided to sell Budgets Are Sexy and help build out a new financial network about to launch, while at the same time still *blogging here daily* as I have been for the past 11+ years ;)”

Net Worth Report #139: $1,131,601.03 (We did it!!) — “11 years and 139 reports later, we’re officially members of the Double Comma Club! Wow! It’s pretty hard to believe since I’m still that same 25 year old party boy in my mind scraping by for beer money, haha, but I guess it just goes to show that when you put your energy towards something, good things happen :)”

“My Ex-Fiancé Spent our Rent Money on Weed” — “I swear that man could figure out how to squeeze $20 dollars out of ten, then go blow it on something worth $5.”

Do you suck at giving gifts like I do? — “Been emailing back and forth with a reader here, and it reminded me just how terrible I am at giving gifts and how I want to be better :) She includes a few good ideas here that I can start working in, but if anyone else would like to chime in and share their tips I’m all ears!!!”

The Beauty of Simplicity — “One of the biggest moves I’ve made in my finances over the years is simplifying them all down to as little accounts needed as possible. I can tell you where every last dollar of mine is snuggling, and in the off chance something happens to me one day my wife and other family members will easily be able to find it too.”

You don’t need to know exactly how you’re going to make a million dollars… — “You don’t need to know exactly how you’re going to make a million dollars, you just need to figure out how you’re going to make more than you’re making today.””

When spending money improves your life — “When was the last time you picked something up that greatly improved your life or productivity?? Even though it may have been expensive?? Are you sleeping okay at night from it?? :)”

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Juicy articles from around the web

How to Make a Thousand Bucks an Hour via Mr. Money Mustache — “Earlier this month, I floated exactly this idea with the members of my coworking space, proposing that we form a group with the witty name “The Optimization Council.” The Council would meet every now and then to talk through life’s biggest expenses and opportunities, and harvest the wisdom of the group so we can all benefit from the best ideas in each category. The response to this idea was overwhelmingly positive.”

The Only Dependable Source of Happiness via Raptitude — “Whenever I’m out in public and I catch myself judging a stranger—for such offenses as poor sidewalk-sharing, or imprecise parking—I resolve instead to temporarily become their secret ally. Unbeknownst to the other person, I’ve gone from silently resenting them to silently watching out for them. For the short time we’re in the same vicinity, I’m prepared to leap into action should they need any sort of help.”

My Bill Murray Approach To Working In Retirement via Leisure Freak — “Bill Murray is famously hard to reach. He bucks the entertainment system’s rules by refusing to have an agent. Instead he just has a toll free 1-800 number that goes directly to voicemail. Those who can get his number and call have 2 minutes to make their pitch. If he’s interested he will reply with a PO Box address to mail a script or other details to. Then you have to wait to hear back from him.”

Being Hungry In America Is Hard Work via NPR — “Hungry people are everywhere: You can’t necessarily tell who they are at a glance. They work with you and live in your neighborhood. They’re members of your church and family. They might even be standing in front of you like I was, sharply dressed in their mother’s hand-me-down suit, asking their community for a little help.”

In Praise of The Inner Crone! via Elizabeth Gilbert — “We live in a society that romanticizes youth. We live in a culture where youth is considered a real accomplishment. You look at a seriously powerful classic crone like the woman in this photo and you see how foolish we are — to imagine that the young offer much for us to aspire to, or learn from. No wisdom like the wisdom of survival. No equanimity like the equanimity of somebody who plants a garden right on top of a nuclear disaster and gets on with it.”

And then lastly, a few lines I can’t stop thinking about:

“You know yourself mostly by your thoughts.

Everyone else in the world knows you only by your actions.

Remember this when you feel misunderstood.

You have to do or say something for others to know how you feel.”

James Clear

Blessed weekend, everyone!

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“For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned.” – Benjamin Franklin

quit like a millionaire

Hey guys!

Didn’t come across much share-worthy content this week (maybe everyone’s too freaked out about the supposed looming recession?? ;)), but here are the 5 articles I wrote this week for those of you who prefer to get them weekly vs daily.

Got an interesting note the other day from someone who said he reads them every morning while brushing his teeth, so I’m glad they’re at least good for something! Haha…

Articles on the blog this week:

And then here was one article I did enjoy from around the web this week that came with a hilarious video to match :)

This Woman Got A Huge Raise And Paid Off Her Student Loans By Asking The “Over/Under” Question via Buzz Feed News — “Do you know that feeling of jumping into a metallic, purple catsuit to express your joy through interpretive dance with two backup dancers costumed in money signs? Probably not, unless you too have experienced the blinding exhilaration of paying off more than $200,000 in student loans. Caitlin Boston knows this feeling — it took her 10 years to get there. And it might have taken longer if she hadn’t asked a simple question of her colleagues.”

Blessed weekend!

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Back from sabbatical :) Here’s this week’s fave articles.

magical tidying book coffee

Morning!

Back from my summer break and ready to get the party started again! Y’all doing well and getting closer to those hopes and dreams??? Anything juicy happen while I was away?

You can see a little of what I’ve been up to here, but basically it was a lot of unplugging and a lot of living :) Mixed in with some ER visits and house repairs for good measure (hah).

I’ve got a lot of new ideas and mini-epiphanies to share with y’all over the coming weeks, as well as a pretty major announcement, but for now feast your eyes on a few recent thoughts I shared below on the blog, as well as a handful of my favorite reads from across the web last month.

Hope they help! And if you ever get tired of seeing these emails, just click the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of them and they’ll stop coming ASAP.

Articles on Budgets Are Sexy this week:

Things I found interesting around the web:

Doors and Windows and What’s Real @ Sivers.org — ”Like everyone, I live in a little house with many doors and windows. One door goes out to my neighborhood… One window looks out at the nature around me… One door is just for my son… But one door is really no fun to open. Whenever I do, I’m horrified at all the shouting.”

Pareto Spring Cleaning @ The Rabbit Hole — “To be conducted every 6 months or so in order to help you lock in and remove unwanted distractions…”

Surreal photos of the beach that briefly existed west of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, in the early 80s @ UrbanFoxxxx “The site, created out of landfill material from the excavations to build the WTC, would later become Battery Park City… On the same site, in the summer of 1982, conceptual artist Agnes Denes planted and harvested two acres of wheat for her installation ‘Wheatfield’ – one of the most memorable images of Manhattan ever created.“

The Thrill of Uncertainty @ Collaborative Fund — “Variable interval rewards are why we compulsively check email. Some messages are really important, but you don’t know when the important ones will come, so you keep checking and checking. Same with checking Twitter and Facebook. Or watching cable news. Or waiting for a boring meeting to end. Find something that captures people’s attention and turns them into crazed animals and you will likely find a variable interval reward.”

This Post Will Change Your Life @ Raptitude — “Every single thing that happens to you—your career, your ideas, your friends, your living situation—emerged into reality from its many parent conditions just like that rainbow did. In fact, nothing happens any other way: conditions give rise to a thing that wasn’t there, it’s there for a while, and then it disappears back into the mist of causality. Appreciating all this helps us remember the abundance of possibility we’re always living in.”

Happy August!

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If it is important to you, you’ll find a way

hanging light bulbs

Blessed morning!

Here are my favorite articles from around the web this week, as well as those from yours truly :)

I’ll be taking a break from sending these over the next handful of weeks as we settle into our new home and lifestyle (want to be able to fully soak it in!), but we’ll be sure to continue the party upon my return and keep the good word spreading…

In the meantime, happy summer! And thanks for being with me all year! :)

Articles on Budgets Are Sexy this week:

Things I found interesting around the web:

This list of side hustles! –> 145 Side Hustle Ideas Ranked in a Free Google Spreadsheet // “The spreadsheet allows you to sort ideas by complexity, how realistic they are, monthly earning range, the average time to first $1000, and even introvert index.”

This article by David Cain –> Two Ways To Get Better At Something // “The gentle ramp demands things of you that the boot camp doesn’t. Staying on it requires you to develop certain aspects of character…The gentle ramp’s great lesson is that nothing really works but consistency over time, and that there’s no replacement for either.”

This penny lover –> Guy Sets New Penny Pyramid World Record // “Cory Nielsen aka the Penny Building Fool, has completed a record-breaking penny pyramid (the attempt is currently being reviewed by Guinness) by stacking 1,030,315 pennies over the course of 3 years.”

This comeback story –> The Man Who Brought Fila Back From Dead Is Worth $830 Million // “They’re the chunky, thick-soled throwbacks to the 1990s known as “dad shoes.” And they’re beloved by millennials, whose fascination with retro footwear has brought Fila back from the dead.”

This quote by Ryan Blair (so true!!):

“If it is important to you, you’ll find a way.

If not, you’ll find an excuse.”

And what a fire hydrant looks like out of ground, courtesy of my friend Nate :)

fire hydrant out of ground

See ya back next month!

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