Slow Sunday
Here's the thing about getting paid on the last day of the month: the last few days leading up to that paycheck tend to be pretty lean. It's even worse when those days fall on a weekend, which is when most of my spending tends to happen.  Needless to say, t...

Less Like A Mess
I gave myself a deadline to finish a draft of my current novel by the end of summer. By "draft" I mean a thing that starts and ends, with a conflict that makes sense, a conclusion that surprises yet satisfies, language that sings. Something that looks less ...

Three Hundred Words
As usual, I've neglected this blog for weeks on end. It used to be that summer meant a break from drudgery - that I had fewer responsibilities and more time to fritter away in the sunshine. Then I became a grown up, and suddenly summer is busy, busy, busy. ...

How to Get Started with YNAB
Last week marked a special anniversary in our household - we celebrated two years of budgeting bliss with YNAB . This is worth bragging about, because You Need a Budget is more than a app. It's a lifestyle and a way of thinking that completely transformed o...

Right Here, Right Now: Spring 2018
I have a lot of half-finished budget-friendly blog posts in my drafts folder - an intro to YNAB, a review of Republic Wireless, a chicken update, a mediation on the power of plans - but I don't feel like working on any of those today. I have 30 minutes befo...

5 Frugal Things: Spring is Here!
Two Sundays, two blog posts. Maybe this one-new-post-a-week routine will finally stick! In this week's update, we return to an old favorite: five frugal things. Big or small, every choice that keeps a little more cash in my bank account is a win. Here are a...

The Next Big Thing
Most of us are constantly looking ahead, instead of paying attention to what's right in front of us. How many times have you scheduled a trip or an event because you "need something to look forward to?" How often do you count down the minutes until 5pm? How...

A Simple Trick For Building Better Habits
(I'm going to ignore the fact that I went two months without writing a blog post. I blame a combination of work, novel-writing, and the coldest Wilmington winter ever. In other words: life.)  There's nothing I love more than a good habit. This proclivity is...

The Budget-Friendly Benefits of a Depth Year
A few weeks ago I came across a new-to-me blog, Raptitude, thanks to a post titled " Go Deeper, Not Wider ." The thesis is that humans are flighty creatures who love novelty. To combat this tendency, the author, David Cain, suggests a "Depth Year," in which...

2018 Goals: A Bridge
Despite being a person that loves goals and resolutions and new beginnings, I did not set any expectations for 2017. No blog post laying out a detailed plan for the new year, no single word to serve as my guiding mantra, no resolutions for improving myself ...