I've read over 50 books since the start of the year. I only buy a book after I've read it 2-3 times. How? Sign up at your local library! (And keep signing up wherever you can get proof of residence; I've managed to collect 4 library cards.) And then find whatever system they have for borrowing e-books (mine work well with Libby). I've found that I almost never lack for books. A kindle or e-reader could be a good investment to limit screen time; you can download library e books onto them auite often.

Browsing the physical library is more fun than browsing online for books. Just pick the covers you like, check if the summary sounds fun, and give it a shot. Never feel guilty if you don't read a book you checked out or put a hold on. Sometimes it just doesn't sound as good two days later.

"a protest against Dutch subsidies and tax breaks to companies linked to fossil fuel industries"

We can do all the activities you mention with a much lower impact. And fighting climate change allows many farmers in developing countries to actually survive. (Think of the problems with cocoa harvests failing or with Mongolian herders losing herds three years in a row instead of once a decade.)

Yes. It's always a good question to ask yourself:

Would you rather be effective or be right?

Thanks. I've been very angry out of a feeling of complete helplessness. I'm reading a book about data bias in relation to gender (invisible women) and it's hitting a lot of sore points that come up being in an office that's 10% female... There's four of us.

Hehehehehe sounds like satire as you point this out to how often the opposite happens

Hey! I'm part of a trend!

Keeping it under 10-12k total. Biggest splurges so far are 1.5k custom tailored three piece suit and 1.6k for photographer to cover the entire day without hour limits. Food will be about half the total cost.

But grocery store flowers, digital invites, thrifted dress, basic rings, picnic area ceremony and restaurant rehearsal. No DJ. No alcohol. No florist.

1. A house is not an asset if it's the one place you can live cost-free in retirement.
2. We all pay into the system with our taxes - including someone who earned enough to afford a home. Why should anyone not benefit from the taxes they paid?
3. Anyone can be sick and in long-term care as they age, including ourselves. As we age, we may not be able to keep working. Those costs add up fast in our healthcare system. And we don't get to make those choices up front for ourselves or our families. The bills come months if not years later. No one says what you owe until it's too late. Why should anyone pay a cost they weren't told would be coming?

I can't argue that the way the US provides many services based off wealth is fair - I believe we should have a universal system that we all benefit from. Why should someone making less than me get better services than me because my job offers worse insurance than they get? We should all benefit.

But, if the choice is that no one benefits or that of our current system. I'll choose our current system. Because I don't know if I'll be the one on the other side 40 years from now.

Wait really?? That makes so much more sense 🤣

I'm dying now because that's literally what I thought when my extended family says it.

What part of California?

Not quite an idiom but term of endearment: petit chou in French is little cabbage but is often used for young kids...

I'm going to put in a third vote for YNAB.

How do you feel it compares to YNAB?

I'm not seeing it yet - but YNAB is my current approach and I adore it.

I used to approach it in a project my income for the month and then assign that money into categories and into a savings pool. It was a good spreadsheet. I liked it.

But I find the envelope system that YNAB uses extremely powerful. You can set your categories (and it encourages you to remember expenses that only come up once in a while and budget for them on a monthly basis) and then you use the money you CURRENTLY have to fund them. You assign every dollar a job. Which means I can totally splurge on a fancy dinner... But it means I might be pulling money I assigned to my ski pass out (I sound ridiculously entitled, sorry... the blog posts they have give better perspectives if you are starting from high debt or low income). And I don't want to pull that money because I've been setting it aside slowly for months... So I don't splurge on drinks and dessert or I suggest street tacos or cooking at home for my friends instead.

I think #2 is unrealistic for a lot of people... The other points aren't bad.

Heehee. At least with money I can know exactly how I'm spending it. I hate the effort it takes to track calories and the level of associated uncertainty.

Not necessarily. You can have a budget at any income level. It just might mean facing the fact that your expenses are higher than your income. No one says a budget can't show you how much your going into debt instead of how much your saving. My partner was there through his college. It's just depressing so you are less likely to do it. I don't know if I would stick to it.

But I think knowing where your money is going and where it is coming from is a key step in motivating yourself to make a change... either to fight for other opportunities or to change spending habits. And it also gives you visibility into what differences it makes on a weekly or monthly or yearly basis.

Envelope style budgeting:)

I'm going to reply to your comment... But check out the philosophy of You Need A Budget. One of their keystones is roll with the punches. If you go on a spending spree, you just acknowledge it, cover those categories with money from somewhere else (or have it be on a credit card where it'll warn you youre going into debt).

Jumpsuits make bathrooming more complicated. I absolutely love dresses for this reason 😁 and you can pair them with just about any style of shoes from sandals to sneakers to boots to strappy heels!

... what were your goals?