Author: J.D. Roth

Hey, everyone. J.D. here with four more stories about personal finance, including one that answers a question that’s been bugging me for a year now: Why are restaurant prices so high right now? The article I’ve linked is possibly behind a paywall for you, so I’ll spill the beans: The answer is complicated. All restaurant costs have been skyrocketing (and for a variety of reasons), which means prices have been soaring too. As a guy who eats out a lot, this has caused some pain in my budget. Time to cook more from home, I guess. (And that’s essentially what our first article is about.)

Eating healthy on a budget. [Less Debt, More Wine] — “You probably already know that eating well costs money. But did you know that it also takes time and effort? And even though it may seem like a luxury, eating healthily can be more affordable than you think. If you want to eat healthier without spending too much money, try these tips.”

Why restaurant prices have soared. [The New York Times, so possible paywall] — “At restaurants around the country, staff shortages, supply-chain logjams, the Ukraine war and other forces have driven up the price of nearly everything…We designed a check that reflects the complicated reality of running a single restaurant in 2022, and the sometimes-hidden costs and causes that have led it to charge more.”

Is geo-arbitrage a financial fairy tale? [Mr. Tako Escapes] — “The Tako family recently moved from the Seattle area to a small town not far from Tucson, Arizona. This was a move of about 1500 miles (2414 kilometers). Generally speaking, Arizona is considered a ‘lower cost’ state, but the numerous issues we’ve run into during our move have actually made it very costly.”

“Our 90-day cruise experience.” [FI Heroes] — “We spent the last three months living on a cruise ship. That’s right, we finally made our Value Cruising dreams come true! We booked eight back-to-back cruise itineraries on one ship that started its journey in Florida and ended in London. Since leaving the U.S. back in April we have visited 43 different cities across 15 different countries.”

That last story amazes me. I wish it had more actual numbers. I want to know how much it costs to live on a cruise ship for three months! I’ve subscribed to FI Heroes now, though, so that I can catch follow-up articles as they appear. That was a fun read.

Okay, that’s all for this week. Jim will be back on Monday with more great stuff. See you then.

Good morning, you sexy money nerds. Welcome to another installment of Apex Money. Here are the articles I’ve rounded up for you today…

Daily happiness > future happiness. [Budgets Are Sexy] — “THIS is the stuff that makes living life so joyful… The big goals are important and you get a bigger boost for hitting them, but they’re sooooo far and few between and if you’re not paying attention enough you’ll speed through life and miss out on everything else. And believe me – you do not want to Rip Van Winkle it and wish you could go back in time!”

The neuroscience behind bad descisons. [Quanta Magazine] — “For many of us, the main concern over decision-making is practical — how can we make better decisions? Glimcher said that his research has helped him develop specific strategies. ‘Rather than pick what I hope is the best, instead I now always start by eliminating the worst element from a choice set,’ he said, reducing the number of options to something manageable, like three.” I love the idea of allowing yourself to pick the worst option of the three best choices.

Reciprocity: Getting what you give. [Farnam Street] — “Reciprocity teaches us why win-win relationships are the way to go, why waiters leave candies with the bill, why it’s a good idea to use the least force possible to secure an outcome, and why a lot of companies don’t permit their employees to accept gifts. This model demonstrates why we should view giving as being as valuable as having.”

Learning to choose quality over quantity. [One Frugal Girl] — “Striving for a quantity-based life can lead us to feel ungrateful. When we choose quantity over quality, we can’t stop counting. This quest for more can make our lives feel empty…Our consumer-driven culture motivates us to upgrade possessions and increase the number of things we own. But the quantity of our belongings doesn’t improve the quality of our lives. Instead, it impairs it.”

I’ll be back tomorrow to take you into the weekend. Join me, won’t you?

Today is Tuesday, and this is Apex Money. As always, Jim and I (and our friends at the Plutus Foundation) collect our favorite stories about personal finance (and more!) to share with you every weekday morning. Here’s what we have for you today.

Changed by the trip. [Humble Dollar] — “The longer we live, the more perspective we have — and the more foolish many of our earlier beliefs seem. We start our adult journey confident that we’ll make our mark on the world and that the financial rewards we collect will greatly enhance our life. By the time we reach retirement, things look quite different.” [Related: Getting old from Gotham Gal]

Scarcity is an ally of appreciation. [A Wealth of Common Sense] — “Scarcity can add meaning and clarity. When I was young I went out all the time. I drank too much. I never watched what I ate. And when you’re young you can get away with that. But too much of a good thing can dampen your enjoyment of it…Scarcity is an ally of appreciation.”

Lies our consumerist society tells (and why you should reject them). [No Sidebar] — “People go into huge amounts of debt, get stuck in careers they hate, and buy tons of stuff they don’t even have the time to enjoy. And it’s not even because they want to impress others. It’s because of the tiny voice in their head telling them that their worth is tied to what they own.”

“Buy now, pay later” sounds too good to be true because it is. [Vox] — “The thing about buy now, pay later is that the later part always comes. Sometimes, the pay ends up being more than you think you’re signing up for, and often for stuff you shouldn’t have bought in the first place.”

Those first two stories are especially interesting to me. You should check them out.

Hello, friends, and welcome to another week. Here in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, the late summer days have been beautiful lately. It doesn’t feel like autumn yet…but it feels close to autumn and it’s awesome.

Speaking of awesome, take a look at these articles I’ve gathered for you today.

The untold story of Napoleon Hill, the greatest self-help scammer of all time. [Gizmodo] — I’m going to lead off the wekk by linking to a story that Jim just featured to last Thursday. Why? Because if you haven’t read it yet, you should. It’s a l-o-n-g and interesting account of the life of Napoleon Hill, one of the folks who helped launch the modern self-help industry — and a scam artist to the core. People like Hill and the shit they sell have made it difficult for legit folks to actually provide helpful info to others…

How to choose your college degree. [Gian Segato] — “Until recently, college management and students’ career planning was my core professional focus: I had the privilege to notice first-hand how students approach decision-making, what works, what doesn’t, and how wrong sometimes it can get. I have a few ideas to share that might make the decision easier.” Sidenote: I love the design of this site. Love it.

The best career decision you can possibly make. [Ryan Holiday] — “BE YOU. Be the only one of you in the whole world. Be the red. That’s where the fun is (without having to fake it). That’s where the money is (you can name your price). That’s where the value is (you can’t be replaced).”

20 ways to simplify your life to create more ease and space. [Balance Through Simplicity] — “Simplifying your life is about focusing on what’s important to you. It’s about finding easier ways to do the things that you have to do and giving yourself more wriggle room for the things you want to do. Simplicity isn’t a magic wand for an easy life, but in my experience, it definitely makes things easier.”

Okay, that’s all I have for this Monday. I’ll be back tomorrow with more great stories about personal finance. See you then.

Howdy, neighbors, and welcome to this week’s final installment of Apex Money. Here’s what we have for you today…

How to support your loved ones financially without derailing your plan. [Gen Y Planning] — “You’ve probably heard that mixing family and money is like oil and water with different opinions, expectations, values, and communication exploding like fireworks on the 4th of July. It doesn’t have to be like that. Here’s the thing: Financially supporting your loved ones can be a beautiful and rewarding way to make the most of your resources…if you do it with purpose and intention.”

How to keep money from tearing your friendships apart. [Vox] — “Money discrepancies among friends can dredge up some uncomfortable emotions, including guilt and shame around suggesting lower-cost alternatives, or frustration if you feel like you’re constantly needing to make cheaper but less exciting plans. These emotions tend to arise when you aren’t transparent with your financial expectations.”

A meaningful life is impossible without suffering. [Big Think] — “One explanation for why people willfully incur pain is to enhance pleasure through contrast. Just as darkness is only possible because light exists, we experience pleasure against the backdrop of pain. In order to maximize the pleasure of an experience, you often need a big dose of its opposite. That’s one reason why a dip in the hot tub feels especially good after a frigid winter day, or why a beer tastes extra refreshing after eating a spicy dish.”

Lastly, here’s a fun little non-financial video I enjoyed last week. It’s a Serbian couple dancing the tango…to “Lose Yourself” by Eminem. It’s fun.

With that, we’ve reached the end of another week. I hope yours was a good one. And I hope that your weekend will be even better. Take care!

Good morning, money nerds.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the gap between how we perceives ourselves and how others perceive us.

A life-long friend “broke up” with me last week. He told me I’m dysfunctional and said he never wants to see me again. This came as a shock. For one, I had no inkling I’d done anything to offend him. For another, I’ve never had anyone tell me anything remotely close to this.

I value my friends and do my best to prioritize and support them. Yet, I obviously failed in this case. I cannot discount this fellow’s perception because that’s his lived experience of who I am. To me, I’m true and loyal friend. To him, I’m a selfish asshole.

Anyhow, that’s all a lead-in to today’s set of articles. Each is sort of related to my experience. It was a little eerie to find them all, actually, and to realize they applied to me…

You are always the Other Person. [Raptitude] — “Recognizing our status as a full-time Other Person could certainly help us be more humble and more aware of our effect on others, on the energy we bring into a room (or suck from it). We all know how deflating it is when an Other Person is being difficult, self-absorbed, overly negative, or uninterested. We also know how welcome it is when the person you’re dealing with is easygoing, interested, and pleasant. Simply by remembering that your role to everyone else is that of Mostly-Not-There Other Person (and that everyone else is also a Protagonist) it’s easy to be a better Other Person.”

Our stories are all we really know. [Seth’s Blog] — “When someone rejects you for a job, they’re not rejecting you. How could they be? They don’t know you. Instead, they’re rejecting their story of you, the best approximation they had combined with the complicated story they (all of us) tell ourselves about our needs, dreams and fears.” Short but sweet.

How to stay cool when you’re put on the spot. [Harvard Business Review] — “A strong or surprising statement from a client or colleague can trigger a rush of the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol as the brain’s amygdala activates a fight-or-flight response. I’ve seen people go red in the face, appear stunned, and look tearful. While it’s hard to stop this immediate, biological response, you can recognize it for what it is and take time to center yourself, rather than letting yourself become more emotional.”

Today’s video is related to personal finance for once. My pal Stevie B organizes the regional Camp FI events around the U.S. These are weekend retreats where like-minded folks can come together in a casual setting to talk about financial independence and early retirement. I’ve been to several, and they’ve all been great.

Anyhow, Steve asked me to help publicize the upcoming Camp FI: Texas. This year’s event will take the weekend of September 9th to 12 just north of Dallas in Denton, Texas. Apex Money readers who register for Camp FI: Texas by Monday, August 15th, will receive a $50 discount on adult tickets when they use the promo code Apex at checkout.

Here’s an eight-minute video highlight what Camp FI: Texas is all about.

It’s been two years now since I last visited a Camp FI. I can’t make it to any for the rest of 2022, but I fully intend to attend one (or more) in 2023. I miss them.

Okay, that’s it for today. I’ll be back tomorrow to take us into the weekend. Wheeeee!

Today is Tuesday, friends, and this is Apex Money. Today’s stories are all about paying attention. And I feel like I should preface the first piece by saying that while it’s about a Japanese word and how to use it, if you read the entire article you’ll see that it’s also about a philosophy of gratitude.

The meaning of “itadakimasu”. [Tofugu] — “The gratitude of itadakimasu reaches beyond the dinner table and into our everyday lives. Whatever you receive, be it a hat, a job, or a ride to the airport, receive it with appreciation. Because the heart of itadaku is a thankfulness for the things you’ve been given and a determination to make the most of what you have.”

The ancient technique that can improve your attention span. [Big Think] — “Attention is a scarce economic resource; you only have so much to give in your lifetime. When you focus on a person, tweet, daydream, or TV show, you are spending a moment of attention. You can never get it back, and you can’t provide it elsewhere. The same is true for any $10 bill that’s left your wallet. But like that ten-spot, attention is also a means of exchange. In exchange for yours, you may receive love, knowledge, entertainment, self-understanding, and much more.”

Give yourself the first hour. [Money and Meaning] — “Here’s my prescription to the attentional dis-ease we all suffer from in capitalism: Spend time outside the demands of everyone and everything else. Have one hour in the morning that is solely yours. Before you read the news, look at your phone, or read your email, just be no one/yourself. Before anyone else gets your attention, luxuriate in an hour of time before anyone else knows you exist. Delight in your own enoughness.”

Today’s video is a four-minute exploration of the perfect amount of clothes.

Warning: The host’s answer here is his answer for himself. (He says that, for him, the perfect amount of clothes is whatever will fit in one box.) It’s the larger discussion here that matters more than his specific answer. And, as with the three articles I shared before the video, the key point is that you find the perfect amount of clothes for you by — you guessed it — paying attention.

Okay, that’s it for Tuesday. Our friends from Plutus will be sharing links tomorrow. I’ll be back on Thursday to highlight more great stuff.

Happy Monday, my friends. Welcome to August, and welcome to another week of Apex Money. We’ve got some great stories for you this week.

To kick things off, here’s an interesting conversation from the /r/financialindependence forum on Reddit that touches on a topic that I think deserves more attention:

Financial independence and early retirement when coming from a collectivist culture. [/r/financialindependence] — “Often where people come from shapes their views on money. My family were immigrants to my country. From my reading and personal experiences, often in more collectivist culture, there is often a greater emphasis on sharing your wealth with family regardless of their contribution to the getting of that wealth. FIRE is a very individualistic pursuit, how do you navigate it?” This is actually one of the deep, ongoing philosophical discussions in the FIRE community: How do you balance what is, essentially, a selfish pursuit with a broader view of your community (and the world).

Buying into the market right before a bear. [The Simple Path to Wealth] — “What has happened these last six months is a perfectly normal part of the process. It has been mild as these things go, barely tipping into the -20% bear territory a couple of times. Much more gentle than the crash of 2008-9. It has happened before and it will happen again. And again. This is the nature of the beast.”

What causes a recession? [The Washington Post] — “A recession is caused when a chain of events, like a line of dominoes, picks up momentum and does not stop until the economy shrinks. Each event is connected to something that happened before and something that will happen in the future. If the price of a hamburger goes up, you might stop buying hamburgers. This would impact a restaurant, and that would impact a server. There are many interconnected chains like this throughout the economy.
The dominoes leading toward a new recession have started falling, but when will they stop?”

Our final piece for today is the traditional non-financial video. And this one is special. It’s a two-minute time-lapse of an acorn’s first six months of becoming an oak tree. I think it’s beautiful.

True story: I’ve been reading a great book called The Revolutionary Genius of Plants. It’s no secret that one of my personal interestes is animal intelligence. I believe that animals are far smarter (and leader deeper, richer emotional lives) than most people credit. Reading and learning about animal intelligence has naturally led me to the related field of plant intelligence, which is fascinating stuff. Plants don’t seem intelligent in a traditional, human sense, obviously, but that’s because they are completely different creatures. They’re like aliens from another world. Aliens that live and communicate in an entirely different way.

That’s it for Monday. I’ll see you tomorrow with more great stuff.

Welcome to another day of Apex Money! Today, I’ve got three stories for you about mastering a productive mindset.

How to tackle a mountain of tasks. [Zen Habits] — “You can’t tackle everything at once. You just have to get started. What I’ve learned is that once you get started, and start having fun with it, you’ll see some progress, and then there’s a snowball effect where you keep getting encouraged by your progress. So you just have to get the ball rolling.”

A simple, pragmatic guide to getting things done. [Erlend Hamberg] — “What GTD gives you—when understood and implemented properly—is a foolproof system for keeping track of what you need to do, should do, or should consider to do. When your system and your trust in your system is in place, your subconsciousness will stop keeping track of all the things you need to do and stop constantly reminding you. This reduces stress and frees up precious brain time to more productive thinking.”

In defense of mindfulness. [Slate] — “Even a very basic engagement with mindfulness can be good for your wellbeing. Researchers have found that a ‘microdose’ of practice (say, 10 minutes a day, or even five) can have beneficial effects, such as decreased stress and anxiety and increased happiness and connection. Other research has revealed that mindfulness correlates highly with the ability to savor the positive, feel gratitude, and experience satisfaction.”

Our final article today isn’t about fiscal fitness. It’s about physical fitness. And it’s a good one. From The New York Times (so, possible paywall), here’s a story that summarizes new research on longevity:

You won’t live longer by diet or exercise alone. [The New York Times] — “Most people know that working out and eating well are critical components of overall health. But a sweeping study published this week in the British Journal of Sports Medicine suggests that hitting the gym won’t counteract the consequences of consuming fat-laden foods, and mainlining kale can’t cancel out sedentary habits.”

One of my big pet peeves is folks who argue “diets don’t work”. Diets do work — but they have to be done right. And once you achieve the results you’re after, you can’t just let go. Lasting physical fitness is a result of ongoing choices.

Okay, that’s it for today. I’ll be back tomorrow for one final installment this week.

Today is Tuesday, friends, and this is Apex Money — your source for interesting stories about money (and more) from all corners of the web. Let’s see what we have for you today.

The reality of caring for aging parents. [The Retirement Manifesto] — “It’s a biological fact: each of us has two parents. If you’re married, you have four. As many in our generation are learning, the odds are pretty good that at least one of them will need some help in their later years. And yet, it’s a reality that most of us overlook…Many I’ve talked to have expressed how difficult it is. Until you go through it yourself, it’s impossible to grasp how consuming the process really is.”

Did you just lose all of your money in the stock market? [Bitches Get Riches] — “As long as you keep your money invested, it is not lost. It is only lost (or increased!) when you remove your money from the stock market. Sell your investments when their value is lower than when you purchased them and you will lose money in the stock market. Do nothing when the value is lower than when you bought them and… nothing happens. You’re pretty much fine.”

Harnessing the power of regret. [No Sidebar] — “A regret audit can help you work through past regrets and choose differently to minimize future regrets, but a regret-free life isn’t the goal. Rather than avoiding regret, we can recognize that regret makes us human and can instruct us on how to live a more intentional life aligned with our values.”

Even socialists misunderstand indexing. [The Big Picture] — “Of all the endless Wall Street things to be legitimately angry about – excess fees, leverage, conflicts of interest, risk-taking, bailouts (and everything else to dislike about finance) – this has to be the single worst hot take by any politician on either side of the aisle…It shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what’s been going on in the world of investments, and how the indexing revolution has altered the basic premise of who wins and loses on Wall Street.” Thank you. I’ve seen this bizarre take a lot lately and it bugs me.

Lastly, here’s a fun video in which a young girl named Emmy interviews comedian Ryan Stiles (from Whose Line Is It Anyway?) about his work. I love this for so many reasons.

That’s it, my friends! Tomorrow you’ll get a an installment from the folks at the Plutus Foundation, then I’ll be back on Thursday to share more great stuff. See you then.