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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…
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Gratitude Journal #10
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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The Importance of Story
I found out yesterday that one of my favorite authors, Steven Brust, is helping put together a conference specifically on story this summer. I am super excited about Narrativity, and am working to put all my ducks in a row in order to go. Because story is important. Story is important to all writers, and most creative people out there. Story is not just important in fiction. It is important in non-fiction, including blog posts. It is important in game development, for video games, role playing games, board games. Story is what draws us in and keeps up coming back. Story is how we connect. Way back when I was…
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Gratitude Journal #9
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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The Nationwide College Admissions Scam
I work in higher education, so naturally, I have been following the recent bombshell of the indictments in the nationwide college admissions scam. But let me be very clear, the bombshell, at least for me, is that people are actually being indicted and charged. The history of higher education in this country is not a history of meritocracy. It is a history of the haves over the have nots. College education is expensive, and not generally considered part of public education, because it originally was not something that most, or even many, people were expected to get, need, or even want. It was something for the idle rich, someplace for…
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Gratitude Journal #8
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…
