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Blog

Musings on personal finance and more...

On losing a friend

  I’ve talked before about being grateful: for your health, for your security/safety, for your freedom, but most of all for your friends and family. You may think that your most important work is your job, career, hobbies, or art, … Read More … Read More

How much float do you need?

  In my last post, I talked about the importance of having “float” in your checking account. Float is that extra cushion of money in your account that’s above and beyond the money that comes in from your income. The … Read More … Read More

Why you need float in your account

  If you’re most people, you have a single checking account that you use as your primary reserve of money. (If you don’t have a checking account and live out of the contents of a cookie jar, that’s a little … Read More … Read More

Why rail trails are great, sort of

  The Springwater Corridor Trail is a rail trail in the Portland area. It starts out on the eastern waterfront, and follows the Willamette River south for about 4 miles before turning inland along Johnson Creek, through the towns of … Read More … Read More

If you’re not doing it, stop

  I like to think about ways to get myself people to accomplish things and not just say that I’m they are “going to, someday”. I’m fascinated by what it is inside ourselves that causes us to self-sabotage. (The book … Read More … Read More

Is there ever a reason to buy a new car?

  New cars are alluring. Who can deny that? The combination of something being all new, mixed with the sense of freedom (real or imagined) creates an intoxication that is hard to resist. Notice I said “intoxication.” Like lots of … Read More … Read More

Ignore interest rates on debt

  “This card has a 12% APR.” “My student loan is fixed at 5%.” “I can get a new car with a 0% interest loan.” Interest rates are talked about quite often when it comes to financial matters. Mostly, this … Read More … Read More

Why cheap travel isn’t the best

  I spent the night of my 23rd birthday on the floor of the Greyhound Terminal in San Francisco. … Read More

Run the numbers after your trip

  When I come back from a long trip, I tend to do three things: Sleep copiously (though not necessarily in the correct hours for my current time zone) Dump the contents of my bag either into the trash or … Read More … Read More

Travel hacking to get free hotels

  I stayed at the Holiday Inn in Gwangju, South Korea. The question that invariably popped up whenever I told anyone that I was staying in Gwangju (even Koreans all said this) was, “why!?” Yikes, do they know something I … Read More … Read More

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