The Simple Dollar

Sometimes even the best-prepared households get knocked sideways, financially speaking. Illness, unemployment, divorce, a car accident that triggers a lawsuit – these and other situations can quickly put a hurt on the budget. […]

I recently came across a wonderful essay by Michael Barrish entitled System. In it, he describes a model for life made up of three stages: In 1988 Laura and I created a three-stage model of what we called “living process.” We called the three stages Good Thing, Rut, and Transition. As we saw it, Good Thing becomes Rut, Rut becomes Transition, and Transition becomes Good Thing. […]

What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to summaries of five or fewer words. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question. 1. Advice on working remotely 2. Finding a frugal shampoo 3. 529 funds and uncommitted student 4. 30 day challenge difficulties 5. Making the right decision 6. Deciding on a bank 7. Deciding on fresh produce 8. […]

I get a lot of somewhat irregular reader questions like this: What do you use to manage your to-do lists? Are you still using Todoist? And this: How do you use a pocket notebook? […]