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Gratitude Journal #13
Apparently, you can train your brain to be happier by keeping a gratitude journal, so I am giving it a go. My goal is post about 100 things I am grateful for over the course of the year. (This should average out to just a little over 2/week.) However, I am going to try and stay away from the standard family/friends/pets. Please know I absolutely am grateful for my family, friends, and pets. I would not have made it through the past couple of year without each of them. But if I am trying to train myself to be happier, then I want to start recognizing the smaller things in…
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Let’s Talk About Emergency Funds (part 2)
This is a continuation of the post began on Wednesday about the importance of Emergency funds, and how much you need to have in one. But what about those who say you should have 3-6 months worth of living expenses set aside? This is an emergency fund for people who are further along in their financial journey. They are not living paycheck to paycheck, and their debt is low interest and easily manageable. And the 3-6 months living expenses is on the theory that if you lose your job, you will have plenty of time to find a new one. This is not a bad idea, but this forgets that…
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Let’s Talk About Emergency Funds (part 1)
Monday was tax day, so this seems like an appropriately themed week to return to my roots as a personal finance blogger. I had been considering running an updated version of my You Are Not Paying 35% in Federal Taxes from 2016, partly because I paid a lot more in taxes this year than any previous year and still did not come close to paying 35% in federal taxes, but honestly, I just never found the time to sit down with the numbers. And then, another topic came up. A lot of the time, when I write about finances here, you will see me refer to Stacking Benjamins. Stacking Benjamins…
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Gratitude Journal #12
Apparently, you can train your brain to be happier by keeping a gratitude journal, so I am giving it a go. My goal is post about 100 things I am grateful for over the course of the year. (This should average out to just a little over 2/week.) However, I am going to try and stay away from the standard family/friends/pets. Please know I absolutely am grateful for my family, friends, and pets. I would not have made it through the past couple of year without each of them. But if I am trying to train myself to be happier, then I want to start recognizing the smaller things in…
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I miss being my daughter’s mom
I know, I know. I will always be a Mother. I will always love my daughter. I will always worry about her. I will always want what is best for her. And I will always be here for her, no matter what. That is all true, but it is also not what I am talking about. I miss my daughter every day. And I miss being her every day mom. I miss being the person to hear her confidences, to see her smiles, hear her giggles on an every day basis. I miss being the person who holds her when she cries. I miss being the one who helps her…
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Gratitude Journal #11
Apparently, you can train your brain to be happier by keeping a gratitude journal, so I am giving it a go. My goal is post about 100 things I am grateful for over the course of the year. (This should average out to just a little over 2/week.) However, I am going to try and stay away from the standard family/friends/pets. Please know I absolutely am grateful for my family, friends, and pets. I would not have made it through the past couple of year without each of them. But if I am trying to train myself to be happier, then I want to start recognizing the smaller things in…
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Sometimes We Cause Pain
Last week I wrote about the importance of story, and that I am trying to figure out how I want to tell my story here. And there are lots of details about my story that will never make it here, because they are not just my story. It is a story that belongs to a lot of people, and I believe those people also have a right to control how much information is out there in a public forum. So I do not share details here. But what I can share is that the last three years, for me, have been a balancing act, and not an easy one. They…
