Blog

Musings on personal finance and more. Not written with AI since 2012.

Listen to what makes you defensive

Posted by on | Featured

  When discussing my experience on the Slow Carb Diet, I mentioned getting upset when I first read that the best way (purportedly) to lose weight was to eliminate/minimize grains and eat lots of meat. And I mean actually upset. Almost … Read More … Read More

Tags: , , , ,

How to lose 20 pounds on the Slow-Carb Diet (without eating meat)

Posted by on | Featured

My experience on losing weight with the Tim Ferriss “Slow-Carb Diet”, as made famous in his The Four Hour Body book. I live a good life here in Portland. Almost too good at times. With excellent food at overly reasonable prices … Read More … Read More

Tags: , , , ,

How to get fake internet for free when flying

Posted by on | Featured

  I’m one of those people who thinks it’s nice not to have internet access everywhere and at all times. It’s one of the reasons why I don’t use a smartphone, but also, it’s one of the reasons why I … Read More … Read More

Tags: , ,

The surprise I got from spending only cash for a month

Posted by on | Featured

  For the past month, I have spent nothing but cash for all my expenses. (Bills were paid automatically.) You can read about why I did this in greater detail, but more than anything, I basically just wanted to see … Read More … Read More

Tags: , , ,

You are no longer allowed to say you didn’t know your college degree wouldn’t pay off

Posted by on | Featured

  College tuition in the US rises somewhere in the vicinity of 7% a year. Wage inflation rises between 1%-4%, depending on the source you consult and how good a year we’re having. This is clearly, mathematically unsustainable. You don’t … Read More … Read More

Tags: , , , ,

How to do college wrong

Posted by on | Featured

  There were parts of college that I did pretty stupidly. I mean, I guess everyone is stupid in college in some way, but I mean that I made some decisions (or rather, didn’t make some decisions) that I would … Read More … Read More

Tags: , , ,

How entering the job market during a downturn is like a disability

Posted by on | Featured

  Media likes to talk about “Millennials“. And there’s nothing that is said about them that isn’t a total contradiction. Are they slackers who just want to pursue their dreams without having to pay any dues? Or are they all … Read More … Read More

Tags: , ,

Income, Bills, and Expenses: a glossary

Posted by on | Featured

  I often capitalize three specific words when talking about personal finance: Income, Bills, and Expenses. I’ve defined these ideas in different posts throughout the history of this site, but I’ve found that I haven’t actually devoted a place to … Read More … Read More

Tags: , , , ,

The necessity of being a millionaire

Posted by on | Featured

  So I talked about how being a millionaire is both more achievable and less meaningful than ever before. In fact, I’ll go even further by saying that for many of us, it’s also effectively mandatory. Yes, I’m saying that … Read More … Read More

Tags: , , ,

How to succeed at your first month of budgeting

Posted by on | Featured

  Let’s say you finally decided to make a change and create a budget for your finances. Perhaps you’ve become suitably inspired, or, like the parable of the burning building, the alternative had become that much worse. So what do … Read More … Read More

Tags: , , ,