Category: Saving and Spending

Meg’s Musings: (Reducing) Spending Edition

Block Women is to the left of the image with a black background cutout overlayed a brown wood wall.

I offer up these thoughts on spending in the spirit of: If it helps, I am happy. If this is not the right time for you to think about such things, please ignore them! The internet is wonderful (and terrible) in that nothing ever disappears. Come back later if you want.

It’s 20 (40) years until I retire! How do I save and invest for the between-now-and-then? (Video)

We’re pretty good at saving for the long term (retirement). We have our 401(k)s and IRAs. We’re pretty good at saving for now. We have cash in our bank accounts. But what do we do for the *decades* between now and retirement? How do we save and invest for that?

goals investing saving

Okay, I’ve tracked my spending. But how do I make sense of the data?

Flow FP's block woman has assembled a lot of data, but finds the result confusing.

Tiller. Mint. YNAB. Spreadsheets. Pencil and paper.

money management spending spending review values

Do Your RSUs Make Your Annual Income Super High? Treat Yourself, Sure, and Also…

…don’t permanently increase your expenses.

cash flow cash flow planning income RSU RSUs

I Make So Much Money. This Should Be Easy. Why Am I So Stressed Out? (Video)

It’s easy to think that if you make a lot of money, your financial life should be easy. But if you’re anxious, you have every reason to be! Finances in tech are straight up complicated. And the risks of loss or lost opportunity are real.

money mindset

Do you fear a recession might be around the corner? What can you do to prepare?

Flow FP's Block Woman hides in her foxhole, worried about impending catastrophe.

Have you started to hear rumblings from your friends, colleagues, family, or the media that a recession is probably coming soon? Are you nursing a fair bit of anxiety about it? Continue reading

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Why is it so hard to get a handle on my cash flow? Surely this should be easier!

Flow FP's block woman seems to be struggling a little in the flow of cash.

Do you ever feel that your cash flow should be easier to get a hold of? You should be able to automate it? Not have to think about it so much? Not have to move money around with your delicate hands so often?
Continue reading

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Emergency funds. Yes, they’re boring. But do you actually have one that’s big enough?

Flow FP's block woman contemplates her emergency fund.

You cannot cruise the internet without tripping over articles about the partial government shutdown and the increasingly horrible effects it’s having on many government workers and their finances and their psyches.
Continue reading

emergency fund networking risk management rule of thumb savings strategy

Without Cash, We Don’t Know What We’re Doing With Our Money (Video)

Do you remember your parents or grandparents using cash and checks to pay for stuff? You use apps and credit cards. Without a physical relationship with money, we’re much more likely to blindly make the wrong decisions with our money. Continue reading

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Want to Buy a Home? Don’t Forget Boring Ol’ Maintenance Costs. Welcome to My Journey as a Homeowner.

Flow FP's Block Woman looks up a grassy hill at her new house, which appears to entirely made of money (expenses)

I want to paint walls something other than Sherwin Williams Pure White SW 7005. I want to plant a garden and not have to leave it after just a few years. I want a better kitchen! I want to buy a home!

buying a home cash flow home maintenance costs home ownership

A Tesla won’t scotch your financial prospects. Your recurring expenses will.

A lot of my clients fret over a large one-time expense–a once-in-a-lifetime vacation, a huge home remodel, a fancy electric car–and waste much less angst on their monthly expenses. Turns out, they’ve got it backwards.

behavioral finance cash flow expenses time value of money

Retirement is so far away it isn’t real. How can you make sure you’re still saving enough? (Video)

If you’re 30 or 40, retirement can be decades off, and so it’s really hard to envision yourself as a retired person.

emergency fund video