Favorite articles from around the web this month 📚

Morning!!

I’m knee-deep in packing over here for our upcoming move (a few more days now – eek!!), but couldn’t leave you hanging on this fine day, so here’s a list of my favorite reads from across the web this month :)

There were some REALLY GOOD ONES out there!

Should be more than enough to inspire you over the weekend :)

XOXO

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side hustle spreadsheet

145 Side Hustle Ideas Ranked in a Free Google Spreadsheet via Tiller — “These side hustle ideas pay in money, not rewards or points. And we only chose hustle ideas that could realistically net $1000 in three months or less working 15 hours per week. Further, 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.”

Grilling and chilling with Warren by Bill Gates — Every time I get to see Warren, I’m struck by his surprising, insightful, “upside-down” view of the world. He thinks differently—about almost everything. For starters, he credits his amazing success to something anyone could do. “I just sit in my office and read all day,” he explained… And, as I’ve learned again and again during my visits with him even his diet is oddly upside down. Instead of ending his day with dessert, that’s how he likes to begin the day. He counts Oreos and ice cream among his breakfast foods!”

How I Convinced Myself to Stop Buying Stuff by One Frugal Girl — “I grabbed a pen and a spiral notebook and wrote down every article of clothing I planned to get rid of. Line by line I filled the pages of that notebook. First I wrote down the name of the item. Next to it I wrote down a rough estimate of the price I paid. Then I placed a star next to the items I’d worn, used and loved a lot. This was a painstaking process. It looked a little something like this…”

a little free pantry

Little Free Pantries are like Little Free Libraries — but with food via The Washington Post — “McClard’s proposal was simple: Anyone could build a Little Free Pantry, anyone could add food, and anyone could take food… Two weeks after McClard opened the first, a stranger built a second Little Free Pantry in Fayetteville; a few months after that, more than 100 had cropped up across America and the idea had gone international — someone had built a Little Free Pantry in New Zealand.”

If 100 People Lived on Earth… [2 min animation via @Marc_Perrone] — “If 100 people lived on Earth, 56 would have no internet, 14 wouldn’t be able to read, 13 would have no clean water, and 1 would have 50% of the money.”

32 Thoughts From a 32-Year-Old by Ryan Holiday — “Try to think less about results. Just try to make contact with the ball. Give your best effort, make contact with the ball. The rest takes care of itself.”

summum bonum quote

Summum Bonum via Daily Stoic — “Summum Bonum is an expression from Cicero, Rome’s greatest orator. In Latin, it means “the highest good.” And what is the highest good? What is it that we are supposed to be aiming for in this life? To the Stoics, the answer is virtue. If we act virtuously, they believed, everything else important could follow: Happiness, success, meaning, reputation, honor, love… As Marcus Aurelius writes in Meditations, “Just that you do the right thing. The rest doesn’t matter. Cold or warm. Tired or well-rested. Despised or honored. Dying…or busy with other assignments.”

We are verbs, not nouns by Austin Kleon –“Oscar Wilde said that if you know what you want to be, then you inevitably become it – that is your punishment, but if you never know, then you can be anything. There is a truth to that. We are not nouns, we are verbs. I am not a thing – an actor, a writer – I am a person who does things – I write, I act – and I never know what I am going to do next. I think you can be imprisoned if you think of yourself as a noun.”

Curious Origins of The Dollar Symbol via BBC — “The dollar sign is among the world’s most potent symbols, emblematic of far more than US currency. It’s shorthand for the American dream and all the consumerism and commodification that comes with it, signifying at once sunny aspiration, splashy greed and rampant capitalism… Yet despite its polyglot ubiquity, the origins of the dollar sign remain far from clear, with competing theories touching on Bohemian coins, the Pillars of Hercules and harried merchants.”

Harriet Tubman stamped bills

Harriet Tubman is already appearing on $20 bills via The Washington Post — “Minutes after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday that he was delaying the new Harriet Tubman $20 bill until 2028, a New York designer tweeted: “We’ll see about that.” Dano Wall, 33, has created a 3-D stamp that can be used to superimpose a portrait of Tubman over Andrew Jackson’s on $20 bills. Wall said he has sold out of the stamps and is hurrying to produce more. ”

In Floyd, engagement and wedding rings grow on trees via Roanoke.com — “Hyldahl has devised a method of tying half-knots into growing twigs on his trees. He wraps the twigs around a ring-sized form, then lets the tree grow. With a douse of his special frankincense oil, luck and a few years, the knotted ends of the twigs ultimately graft themselves into a seamless ring.”

Forest App — An app that helps you “stay focused and plant real trees on the earth.” (Recommended by Pete of DoYouEvenBlog.com)

*** Video of The Month ***

Why I Created Mini Museum via Hans Fex [4:53 mins] — “I just desperately want people to appreciate each other. And the world. And all the amazing fun things we can learn – together. And that, I feel that we can – ONLY – enjoy all of this world if we can enjoy each other.”

[Direct link to these mini museums here – they’re so cool!! –> MiniMuseum.com]

And lastly, here’s a pic of what a fire hydrant looks like out of ground if you’ve never seen one before :)

fire hydrant out of ground(via Nate St. Pierre)

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Back to packing I go!! ;)

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12 Comments

  1. Bryan June 28, 2019 at 7:34 AM

    Unrelated, but I just like sharing with you. My question, does anyone know why they don’t make refrigerators like they used to. You know, the one you had growing up which lasted 20 years which you never gave a second thought. The one that sat there like a silent sentinel doing its sole purpose of keeping your food cold. Fast forward to today. Purchased a new home in 2013 with a gleaming stainless steel French door behemoth that was nothing but a moody, noisy, repair prone drama queen that now finally died. That’s a six year life span. Yesterday, I just purchased a new one ($2,000.00), yes that made me itch too. I asked the nice elderly salesman what he thought the lifespan of new fridges are. He said about 8 years. 8 years! Sigh. That’s my rant…thanks for listening.

    Reply
    1. Nora June 28, 2019 at 7:59 AM

      Not to rub it in, but in my mother’s basement is a post-war Frigidaire. Her parents bought it right after my grandfather returned from World War II. It has been repaired once (in 1987). On the flip side, you could probably drive a Tesla from coast to coast on the electricity it uses in one year. Good luck with your new one!

      Reply
    2. Working Mom June 28, 2019 at 11:19 AM

      I asked our local appliance dealer about this when buying a washing machine. He said it’s because of government regulations–they can’t use the same materials they used to. He also advised to buy the least-digital model available. I loved the manual-dial top-load Speed Queen I bought from him and sadly had to leave it behind when we moved. I inherited a front-load space-ship looking digital-everything washer and hate it.

      I’ve heard the same with refrigerators and also got the advice not to buy one with the ice/water in the door. Opening the door constantly is not good for those things and they break quickly.

      Reply
    3. Angie June 28, 2019 at 1:14 PM

      Two words – planned obsolescence.

      Reply
      1. J. Money June 28, 2019 at 3:26 PM

        y’all are too much, haha…

        made me re-read my post to see where the hell I mentioned refridgeraters ;)

        Reply
  2. Financially Fit Mom June 28, 2019 at 7:57 AM

    ooooohhhhhh, it’s getting real!!!! Good luck with the move!

    Reply
    1. J. Money June 28, 2019 at 3:27 PM

      thank you!!! i will take every ounce of that luck, please… not the same these days moving with a gaggle of kids :)

      Reply
  3. Life Outside The Maze June 28, 2019 at 9:50 AM

    Like Warren Buffet, you must read a lot J Money. Your lists are always interesting and genuine. The tiny pantry thing has me asking what is next? Tiny tool shed? Tiny garage for cars? Maybe this is the seeds of a movement toward more community ownership rather than individual ownership?

    Reply
    1. J. Money June 28, 2019 at 3:27 PM

      that would be something!!

      endless opportunities to help your fellow man or woman!

      Reply
  4. Primal Prosperity July 1, 2019 at 12:56 AM

    Hey J! Just saying hi! :) The little free libraries and pantries are soooo awesome. :)

    Reply
    1. J. Money July 1, 2019 at 7:00 AM

      Hi ol’ friend!!!

      Whatcha been up to over there?? :)

      Reply
  5. catseye July 3, 2019 at 2:50 PM

    J. Money, I realize that this is NOT your fault, but I couldn’t read the story about little free pantries because the Washington Post won’t let me have access without paying for a dang subscription first. Apparently the Post doesn’t let you read any free articles any more. *sigh*
    Very cool idea, though. If I ever find the location of a nearby free pantry, I’ll donate.

    Reply

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