I received a sobering comment the other day… “Joel, thanks for the nice stories and happy emails but please give us some content that’s actually worthwhile in terms of making and saving money.” Ooops … I guess I’ve been a little sidetracked with random stories on the blog. I figured that most regular Budgets readers already know the basic “how to” stuff. But now that I
Advice
2 Big Investing Mistakes That Actually Made Me Smarter
Back in 2013, I bought 25 shares of Tesla stock. I remember seeing electric cars starting to pop up around my neighborhood at the time and thought they were so cool! Like most beginning investors, I checked the stock price every 15 minutes after making the trade. (Actually that’s a lie -- I probably checked the prices every 5 minutes! 🤣). My $1,350 investment in
Why You Need an Investment Diary (With a Backup!)
Digging through my old emails, I found this one I sent to my brother five years ago... > On May 27, 2015, at 10:03 PM, Joel <@gmail.com> wrote: > Good news: We have signed all closing documents and transferred closing money to the escrow account. Just waiting for confirmation that all was settled correctly. We are officially homeowners as of 5/27/15! > Bad
A Dog’s Guide to Personal Finance 🐕
Happy Friday, you stunningly beautiful and handsome people! (I don't know what you actually look like in real life, but when I close my eyes and imagine, you're all gorgeous!) Today's guest poster -- Jesse from the Best Interest blog -- learned all his personal finance knowledge from his dog! Just kidding -- Jesse has a natural gift for breaking down complex personal finance
“My financial journey began when my father passed away 1.5 yrs ago”
Morning, fam! So we got this entry into our giveaway-palooza last week (winners listed here btw), and after reading it I couldn't help but pry a little and share her story ;) Here's her original note below, followed by my peppering of questions which led to a bunch of great tips and resources from Kylee. Hope this helps you along your own journey! J-MONAY! Good
10 Ways to Help You Get Closer To Your Best Life
Morning!! So continuing our trend of sharing great ideas from the community this week, here's a handful more tips and ways to *think* about things differently today. More so around life and being a better person than finances, but of course they're all intertwined when it comes to Living Your Best Life. I hope you find something here that resonates with you!! If you
The time will pass anyway
A quick reminder today: Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway. - Earl Nightingale The next week, month, year is going to come no matter what we do - might as well go after what we really want in life!! Take one small step towards it this weekend and get the ball rolling... Make a phone call Do a
A New Year’s Secret
Most people don't know this, but I promise it's true. A fairy once told me, Now I pass it on to you! He flew into my bedroom, late one New Year's Eve, to tell me The Secret, which I was thrilled to receive. He said "when the clock hits 12, and the old year's replaced, it's time to start fresh! All fails get erased!" I couldn't believe it, these words that I
“Inhale confidence, exhale doubt”
Caught that quote at the end of an email from a reader (thx Nikeya!) and been trying to practice it all week :) When I'm walking down the street after a tough morning... "Inhale confidence, exhale doubt" When I'm wrangling my kids away from the toy section mid-breakdown... "Inhale confidence, exhale doubt" When I'm battling stores to get my long lost furniture I
Let’s use up those forgotten gift cards!
Morning! So today is not National Use Your Gift Card Day, but I just learned that it's a thing (celebrated January 18th in 2020), and rather than wait for that glorious day to come I thought we'd kick off the party early since EVERY DAY is a great day to cash in those forgotten gifts ;) And forgotten is an understatement as apparently we give up close to $1 BILLION of
