the tools you need to be set free
If you are human, you likely have some hang-ups around money. Our brains are wired in ways that make money management difficult. In order to take control of your finances, it helps to understand the unconscious beliefs that underly your decisions. In the financial realm, there are four psychological phenomena that heavily weigh into our money […]
There is so much baggage weighing down our money conversations. Taboos and complicated feelings make talking about money extremely difficult, even though it is important. There is shame, spite, and many strong opinions where money is concerned. The way we spend our money is a reflection of the way we want to live our lives. Everyone has their […]
Last month I published a post on my Top 4 Most Regrettable Purchases, but of course there is a flip side: all the things I in the last year that I am grateful for. The list got quite long– I don’t regret the plants, the art supplies, or the instruments we have, for example, so I […]
The resounding advice for someone looking to control their finances is to know your finances. We all hear this advice: you should know how much money is coming in, how much money is going out, and ultimately where that money is going. Similar to many others, I did not follow this advice for a long time. […]
The purchase of my first car was an epic adventure. It involved six months of research, flying halfway across the country, and learning how to drive stick. In that time I went from clueless (and could-care-less) about cars to a gear-head. Or, more specifically, a Miata-head.
For a long time, I stashed my money away in a bank earning 0.01% interest. In case you are wondering, that is a very bad rate. I did not really care to check or compare, it was just somewhere to put the money. When I started my first internship I was auto-enrolled in a 401k, […]
How old were you when you had the talk? You know, the one where you sit down awkwardly with your parents, going red in the face as you both dance around a topic you would rather not broach? You know, the one where you talked about your family’s entire financial situation, including their income, debt, and net […]
Humans are funny creatures. We spend weeks getting hyped about something and lose sleep wondering when the delivery will arrive. Yet although we jump around in excitement when the package comes, we are prone to forget about it just a few weeks later. The days following the holidays don’t have the same nostalgic twinge as the […]
I didn’t spend too much time at home this month. I converted from hourly to salary at my new job so I flew down to California to go to orientation. I flew out early in order to take advantage of the weekend and crashed at a family’s place in San Francisco.
I recently started a new job, which meant reviewing the multi-page booklet of investment options for my new 401k. It gave me flashbacks to a time when I first started working. The jumble of options, percents, ratios, and expenses looked more frightening than my differential equations homework.