Happy Monday morning, my friends. It’s J.D. here with another week of intersting stories to share with you. Most of these will be about personal finance (or money, anyhow), but who knows what other cool stuff I’ll decide to share? Let’s get started.
Inside the delirious rise of ‘superfake’ handbags. [The New York Times Magazine gift article] — “As for how the superfakes are achieving their unprecedented verisimilitude, Lewin, who has observed their factories from the inside, says it’s simply a combination of skillful artisanship and high-quality raw materials. Some superfake manufacturers travel to Italy to source from the same leather markets that the brands do; others buy the real bags to examine every stitch.”
A megathread on home ownership and FIRE. [/r/financialindependence on Reddit] — “The goal of this thread is to consolidate many topics into a single thread. Specifically, I’m providing general starting points for conversation and thought with a FIRE mindset. I won’t cover every single topic or variation of a given topic. This is general.” This is an interesting (and useful) overview of home mortgages and their implications for personal finance (and early retirement specifically). Well worth bookmarking.
Inside the booming Taylor Swift economy. [Axios] — “The pop star’s concerts are fueling an entire Taylor Swift economy — as fans spend big on travel, lodging, food, fashion and makeup to attend the shows…Many fans are traveling to different states to catch shows because they grabbed whatever tickets they could get. And each stop on the tour is prepping for a mini boom when Swift rolls through.” [True story: I saw Swift in Vegas a few weeks ago, but have seriously considered buying tickets to see her again with my girlfriend. That would entail travel to another city, hotel rooms, restaurants, and more.]
To close things out today, I want to share some music I’ve been listening to on YouTube, of all places.
First — and most importantly — there’s lofi hip hop radio from the Lofi Girl channel. I &heart; this music. It’s so relaxing to work to. (And, I’d imagine, to study and/or relax to). If you only check out one of these recommendations, this is the one to look at.
On a related note, there’s a four-hour playlist of relaxing Studio Ghibli music.
Lastly, here’s a similar four-hour playlist of relaxing music from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
This stuff is great. One of the reasons I enjoy playing Breath of the Wild is that it often feels like I’m playing a game in a Ghibli world. So fun.
Okay, that’s it for today. More tomorrow, amigos!