I’ve had an atypical personal finance ‘journey’, so to speak. I never thought about personal finance for most of my life. My family had a harsh, almost unforgiving attitude towards debt, driven by Shakespeare’s maxim: “Neither a lender nor a debtor be.” I was taught from an early age to spend less than I earned, [...] Read more »
what are the most literate cities in America?
All of us have some built-in assumptions about parts of America. New Yorkers are liberal, Mississippians are conservative, people in Kentucky and North Carolina love basketball and Texans are football-crazy. But here’s one you might not have considered before: what cities READ the most? Well, the data’s incomplete, to say the least, but Amazon put [...] Read more »
near death
Last Monday I was feeling fine in the morning. I had my lunch, which I had brought from home. Nothing unusual – grilled chicken breast sandwich, carrots, chips and an apple plus some seltzer to drink. Shortly after I ate, I started to feel weird. My lips started swelling up and my throat got constricted. [...] Read more »
5 Time Management Quotes by Brian Tracy
Time management skills are essential for anyone who wants to breed success. How you manage your time will determine how fast you will succeed in your endeavor. Brian Tracy, author of books on time management and personal productivity, says one of the differences between successful people and average people is how they manage and value [...] Read more »
Russian Victory Day
Since I didn’t have a post planned for today (surprise!) at Bubelah’s request I’ll post this photo in honor of Victory Day. It’s the celebration of the end of World War II, which Russians call the Great Patriotic War. It’s sortof Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day rolled into one day. So thanks to all veterans [...] Read more »
how to kill creativity
After writing for this blog for a few years, I’ve noticed that occasionally I’m really stumped for topics, to say the least. I don’t really get writer’s block, since once I have a topic I can usually fly away with it, but I do get stifled on overall themes and ideas. I was trying to [...] Read more »
chinese water torture
The biggest mistake most people make in their lives – one that has an impact on their health, wealth, career, education and on and on is a simple one: failing to understand the long-term consequences of short-term repetitive actions. We’re all guilty of it. A soda a day rots the teeth, the guts, adds weight [...] Read more »
mindfulness
I haven’t been mindful in a long time. Mindfulness is the way to avoid the death of a thousand small cuts I wrote about yesterday. I have a phrase I’m always barking at my son (and, given her tendencies towards blissful unawareness, soon will to my daughter): BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS! When I say [...] Read more »
and following up on the color of moneyblogging…
I’ve decided that I’m not going to take any more guest posts, or do any more blatantly commercial posts. But. I have already agreed to run several guest posts from nice people before I made this decision, so I’m going to do a flurry of guest posts prior to ceasing guest posts altogether. I didn’t [...] Read more »
the color of moneyblogging
I’m not nearly as prolific in my writing as I used to be. I started out blogging in 2007, usually putting one sizable post up per day, sometimes more. I guest posted, I participated actively in forums and had a real passion for both the business and art of blogging. I was enthusiastic and enjoyed [...] Read more »
is it better to be busy or have nothing to do?
Being busy or taking it easy at work. It’s a tough choice sometimes. I know that many people think it would be easier to sit in one place all day and do nothing. But it’s not. Another question is whether it would be better to be busy in short spurts, or better to be busy [...] Read more »
interview with credit card assist
Bill Hazelton of Credit Card Assist has put up an interview with yours truly. I’m always happy to do interviews, but I’m doubly grateful for the opportunity when the introduction is so generous! Hop over there and read my thoughts on having kids, losing weight, what I think about debt and other subjects. BripBlap.com – [...] Read more »