Just before moving to Anchorage I wrote an MSN Money piece called “What I learned from de-cluttering.” But that was before I’d finished packing.
What I’ve learned since then? That I didn’t de-clutter enough.
It was shocking to see how many boxes I wound up putting in the moving van. As a result, I have half a dozen suggestions for your own future moves.
Here’s hoping these tips help you avoid merely paying lip service to de-cluttering.
Well, they’re not. Or so says my MSN Money colleague Liz Weston, aka the most widely read financial columnist on the Internet. Her latest book, “There Are No Dumb Questions About Money,” is this week’s giveaway.
Liz bases her text on real questions people have asked. In other words, this is information that people like you and I can use.
As a writer she is direct but also compassionate. While she understands how people can get into money trouble, she also is clear that the best person to help you usually is you.
This is what happens when you don’t allow enough time to breathe: You turn blue, albeit in a vaguely artistic way.
I haven’t posted much lately, mostly because I was in Alaska. Meeting deadlines and spending as much time as possible with friends and loved ones sucked away most of my hours and all of my energy.
Last week I was so distracted that I never even posted a giveaway. More on that below.
I’m a little tardy in recapping what I’ve been doing lately, and I’m sorry about that. But I won’t be for long.
Yep, I’m over it. That’s because I re-read my June 5 piece at Get Rich Slowly, “The statute of limitations on regret.”
My biweekly gig at Get Rich Slowly took on the pulpy plague of phone-book bundles. What to do with directories you didn’t ask for and won’t use?
After two full weeks of writing the Frugal Cool site for MSN Money, I’ve learned that a five-times-a-week deadline can be less intimidating than a once-every-10-days deadline.
I’d been writing a biweekly personal finance column since spring 2009. Initially I thought this would be easier than my previous job at MSN Money, the three-times-a-week Smart Spending blog. It wasn’t.
Two dates for you:
February 7 – The last direct deposit for my day job
March 11 – The earliest I can expect to get paid again
I’m not saying this because I feel sorry for myself. For reasons I’ll detail below, I’m doing fine. I’m bringing it up to remind other freelancers – and fully employed folks – to get creative about meeting your needs.
My biweekly personal finance column at MSN Money has morphed into a daily frugality blog. Since life never happens quite as you wish, the new gig was poised to launch right when I got sick last week.
My mental picture is of the Fates passing a joint and cackling with laughter as they watched me struggle with computer connection woes six or seven hours after what was later determined to be a gall bladder attack.
Eventually everything was resolved and Tuesday was the debut for Frugal Cool. Despite the semi-preachiness of the inaugural headline (“Frugality: The right life choice”), this is not an eat-your-vegetables kind of site.
Cupid wears a diaper, with no place to put a wallet – but if you’re looking for love there better be pockets on your garments. Deep ones: U.S. residents spent $928 million last year just on dating services.
Love is not only grand, but fiscally prudent. Cohabitation and marriage generally mean two incomes but only one rent/mortgage, fewer nights out on the town, less emphasis on recreational shopping and more focus on shared financial goals.
“There is a real benefit – I call it a financial inoculation against poverty – in being coupled up. You’re better able to withstand tough times,” says Carmen Wong Ulrich, author of “The Real Cost of Living: Making the Best Choices for You, Your Life and Your Money.”
Oh, but the cost of getting to couplehood. Prices for makeup, “manscaping,” marriage vows and mortgages really add up.
These two goals are the subjects of my recent work at MSN Money and Get Rich Slowly — and they complement each other.