Today’s post is an email interview that I did with an acquaintance of mine whose father recently suffered a stroke and lost the ability to handle his affairs. Without a power of attorney, it caused a lot of headaches and hurdles as he was unable to step in and help his father out. With as
Over the last 20 years that the internet has been around (thanks Al Gore) everyones’ purchasing methods have changed. Little did we know the invention of the internet would be such a UBER disruptive moment for so many industries. One of those platonic shifts is in how people purchase products. In my own life, I’ve used
Taking a play out of Oprah’s playbook – we have decided to do another “Favorite Things” post – but with a little twist. All of the items listed are some of our favorite thrifty things from 2015 that (one way or another) help to save more money. Along with our list, we are giving away one
Thanksgiving is a great holiday. It hasn’t been overly-commercialized like Christmas – and remains focused on togetherness and gratefulness. Like many holidays though, it can come with a little bit of stress. Especially if you are gathering with family or friends you don’t see a lot. There can be awkward moments and family drama. Oftentimes,
Every holiday season brings with it a lot of joy and excitement. But with it – there is also some confusion and stress. For me, the stress often comes from trying to find the perfect Christmas gift for the people that I really care about. Sometimes (I’m often guilty of this with my wife) I get so
This past week I stumbled on a link from the Google homepage to the film HUMAN by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. The filmmaker spent three years collecting real-life stories from 2,000 women and men in 60 countries. Since I’m a pretty big fan of documentaries and listening to other people’s stories, I found the first volume (there are 3 volumes)
When I was in 4th grade my parents scared the living daylights out of me. I was crying/complaining on the way home from not getting a toy at the store, and my mom slams on the car breaks. Immediately she burst into tears, and says, “Charlie! We can’t afford the toy! The farm isn’t doing
In 2013, my family was contemplating whether or not to send our oldest son (going into 4th grade) to private school. At the time, tuition for sending our only son in school would cost our family a good chunk of money. Fast forward to today, and at the start of next school year, we will
This article became a real life realization to me in 2008 when my Dad announced to our family that the bank was foreclosing on his 10,000 head pig operation and 500 acre farming operation. Like I’ve blogged before, this event had rippling affects on our family. In March, of that year, we all thought it would
Recently, my friend Dave and I were visiting a burrito establishment for their BOGO offer and discussing life and money-matters. The subject soon turned to “things we purchase today that our grandparents would shake their heads at”. Knowing the generation that came before us has endured quite a bit by way of the Great Depression
