Money Tips Network

Working in a professional environment, particularly any environment that requires any level of teamwork or collaboration, offers a pretty challenging balancing act for everyone involved.

On one hand, you need to establish good relationships with your coworkers. Having good relationships with the people you’re working with when you’re going to need to rely on them sometimes is absolutely vital. If you have good relationships with your coworkers, not only will the time spent with them be more enjoyable, they’re also more likely to provide useful help when you need it. They may even help you find other work in the future.

Hobbies can often be very expensive, but there are plenty of low-cost options that are no less entertaining, educational, or rewarding.

What are your favorite low-cost hobbies? What do you enjoy most about these hobbies?

When I was a boy, I told my father I wanted a fish. I meant that I wanted a little orange goldfish in a small bowl that might live on the kitchen counter, just like other kids have. My dad knew that. But instead of buying me a goldfish, he went to the pet shop and purchased a 20-gallon aquarium with a bunch of expensive tropical fish.

The fish were fun for a day, but I was seven or eight or nine years old. I lost interest quickly. The fish became more of a nuisance than a novelty. And, eventually, one of us three boys — I can't remember which — broke the tank, and then we had no more fish.

Dad was like this.

Last fall, our greyhound Tivo refused his breakfast on a Friday morning. He didn't eat or drink water all day, and we were worried. That night, we took him to the 24-hour emergency veterinarian and Tivo was diagnosed with a bacterial stomach bug and dehydration.

I'm pleased to report that seventeen days into 2020, my mental health seems to be making some marked improvements. I'm happy, engaged, and productive. I'm not ready to claim victory over my anxiety and depression, but the changes I've been making — more exercise, zero alcohol, separating work life from home life — all seem to be helping me get back to normal.

“Let's talk about your anxiety,” my therapist said to start our session a couple of weeks ago. “You say that you've always had depression but that the anxiety is relatively new. Why do you think that is?”

“I'm not sure,” I said. “Kim and I have talked about it. We know it wasn't there when we started dating in 2012. In fact, I didn't have trouble with anxiety until sometime after we returned from our RV trip in June 2016.”

“And after you returned, you made some big life changes.”

Hello! My name is Wendy Mays, and I'm super happy to share a bit of my story. In the past couple of years, my husband and I have taken several big steps to change our financial future.

From the outside looking in, it appeared we had it all: a perfect family in a beautiful, Pinterest-worthy home in sunny San Diego, California. We'd reached the pinnacle. We were living the American Dream.

The reality, however, was that we were drowning in debt, burned out, and coming to terms with the fact that if things didn't change, we'd carry our debt to our graves. As we explored changes we could make to improve our financial situation, we realized that the biggest and best move we could make was to sell our dream home.

Turns out that selling our home was the best financial decision we have ever made.

Theoretically, a sudden windfall should reduce your financial worries. Who doesn't appreciate getting suddenly richer?

However, making good decisions with a large infusion of cash can feel overwhelming, especially if your windfall comes about because of something negative.

I'm pleased to report that 2020 is off to a fine start. As I mentioned in my year-end review, 2019 sucked for me. I have high hopes that this year will be a vast improvement. So far, it has been.

The biggest change is that I'm not drinking alcohol. While this is meant as a January-only test, it's possible that I'll extend the experiment. It's saving me money and making me more productive. Plus, it may be helping with my anxiety and depression. I like that. (Thanks to the GRS readers who sent me private notes about their own struggles with alcohol. I appreciate it.)

I've made other small changes this year too. While I didn't make any resolutions — I rarely do — I'm using the new year as a prompt to alter some of my habits, to do things differently.

It's easy to think you'll get your finances together "next year" or when you finally get the promotion you've been after.