Good morning friends!

Hope your money, life, and overall vibes are on the up and up! You made it to Friday – woo!

Here’s another piece of good news for you: I’m giving away (2) copies of JL Collins’ new book over on Budgets Are Sexy 💪

Pathfinders:
Extraordinary Stories of People Like You on the Quest for Financial Independence―And How to Join Them

Here’s a clip about it from The Man himself:

Pathfinders has been two years in the making and it is a book I have wanted to bring to you since 2016 after The Simple Path to Wealth was published.

Within months of that book’s release I began to receive incredible stories from people all over the world telling me how they had taken the approach laid out and applied it to their own unique lives, location and circumstances.

Since contracting with Harriman House to publish Pathfinders, we’ve collected more of these stories and in these pages present ~100 of the very best.

If you’re interested in it, pop on over to Budgets Are Sexy and enter! I might also be throwing in another of his classics as well ;)

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In other news – I’ve now made it to TWO MONTHS of doing yoga consistently! Over 50 classes (!!!). And have even upgraded to “intermediate” yoga now to really have my ass kicked, lol… I’ve also somehow managed to go 4 weeks without a single (alcoholic) drink too, but that’s more to keep my wife motivated who’s on month #3 (!!) so I don’t tempt her ;) Sooner or later though I’m gonna have to sneak in a whisky while she’s not looking, haha…

Still – for the first time in my life I feel like I’m actually *in charge* of my health for once and God willing I’ll keep going… Not sure why it’s taken me 43 years, but hey – you gotta start somewhere! And hopefully you’ve jump started whatever goals are important to you too :) If not, be sure to read the first article featured below and hopefully that will do the trick 🖤

Yours always,

PS: I got a new tattoo:

[A gentle reminder to always love no matter what. Or whom.
(And especially myself)]

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Favorite Reads Around The Web Lately:

Personal Goals Have to Happen Now @ Raptitude — “The reason it’s hard to get going on personal goals is that you’re already using all of your time. No matter who you are, you’re already using all 24 hours, every day, for something. Because this will always be true, goals that happen at all must happen now, while you still don’t yet have time. Belief in the mythical state of “when I have time” is a common pitfall.”

How to Change Your Life One Week at a Time @ A Lawyer and Her Money — “Over a decade ago, I vowed to do at least one new experience every week (“one new thing a week” or ONTAW). I had some ideas for what kinds of “new” things I would do but for the majority of the times, anything new counted, whether planned or not. It could be visiting a new restaurant, trying a new recipe, visiting a new city, trying a new hobby.”

Living More Intentionally by Thinking Less @ No Sidebar — “You may think that being distracted means you’ll think less, but when you engage in things like social media you’re actually making choices every second: Do I watch this video, do I comment on this post, what do I say, what do I think about this message, and a thousand other decisions throughout the day. By the end of the day, you don’t have the mental energy to plan for tomorrow.”

What If Money Expired? @ Noema — “A long-forgotten German economist argued that society and the economy would be better off if money was a perishable good. Was he an anarchist crank or the prophet of a better world?” (Hat tip: Apex Money)

Optimism @ 1500 Days — “Mindy and I are in NYC and woke up early one morning with one goal in mind: take a great photo of the Charging Bull. I’ve been fascinated with this sculpture since I learned that the creator plopped it down illegally in the middle of the night with help from 50 (!) of his friends. I wonder what his co-conspirators thought?”

Frugal vs. Independent @ Collab Fund — “Most people are wired to seek status and success, not necessarily happiness. It’s remarkable to watch someone fight back against that trend. From the outside they appear frugal. But in fact they’ve rejected what the world tells them they should want and looked deeper, finding their happiness elsewhere.”

Do You Live in an Ingredient Household? @ The Frugal Girl — “It’s a home that stocks mostly, well, ingredients, instead of ready-to-eat foods. Like, instead of oatmeal packets, you might have jars of oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon, and there’s milk in your fridge. You can eat oatmeal for breakfast, but you do have to make it… Basically, if you open the fridge and pantry, there’s not much that you can just grab and eat.”

Investing Is A Double-Edged Sword @ A Teachable Moment — “We have bigger houses but smaller families;
more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense; more knowledge but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicines but less healthiness.”

The Lifestyle Change That Simulates “Falling in Love” @ Inside Hook — “A person with a one-hour commute to work has to earn 40% more money to be as satisfied as someone who walks. At the same time, shifting from a long commute to a short walk would make a single person as happy as if he or she had found a new love.” [Hat tip: Apex Money // This is a dream of mine!! To live in a walkable community/mini-town like Mr. Money Mustache is experimenting with!]

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Other news around the community:

RIP Charlie Munger @ My Money Blog — “Many investors around the world were saddened to hear that Charles T. Munger passed away on November 28th, 2023, only about a month before he would have turned 100 years old. Most people discovered him through his long friendship and business partnership with Warren Buffett, and many of us enjoyed the fact that he was more bluntly honest, more revealing at times, and overall a great compliment to Buffett.”

This is The End @ The Reformed Broker — “Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final post I will be publishing at The Reformed Broker. After today the site will be inactive, forever. I began this blog in November 2008 without any idea where it would take me. I had a negative net worth, was working at a dead-end brokerage firm job and absolutely no career prospects whatsoever – a washed up stock broker at 31 years old in the middle of a global financial crisis. So I began to write. Honestly, humorously, fearlessly. And you began to read…”

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Video of The Week:

André 3000 Talks His New Album and Life After Outkast @ GQ (via YouTube) — “It’s been years since rap legend André 3000 released new music. Now, on his own creative terms, he’s unveiling his first solo project—and talking candidly about where he’s been, how he’s changed, and why he made a record (New Blue Sun) that nobody could have expected.”

I love this so much because he’s just DOING HIS THING!! Releasing a record with *wind instruments* only and no lyrics whatsoever despite being one of the best rappers of all time… So much wisdom and PEACE in his vibes too – he knows what he’s about!

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Have a blessed week 🙏

 

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