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This is why we can’t have nice things.

Greetings, y’all! Are you ready for another week of great money stories?

Today, let’s lead with our video…because our video is damn good. From the Veritasium channel on YouTube, here’s a look at why we can’t have nice things.

This 17-minute video isn’t what it first appears. It starts as a look at the history of light bulbs, but soon turns to the curse of planned obsolescence (and, by extension, the growing “right to repair” movement).

Interesting stuff. It takes a lot to get me to watch a 17-minute video, but I watched this one!

Now, on to our stories for today…

After being poor, your financial anxiety remains. [We Want Guac] — “It’s hard to think about how much this still affects me years later. Logically, I’m very obviously ahead of the financial curve. But logic alone doesn’t conquer the deeply ingrained money psyche I’ve developed throughout my first two decades of life. Even today I still struggle with just buying things I want for myself. I’ve repressed the desire for things for so long and so thoroughly that now it’s a struggle to even identify the things I want.”

New Money [Essaying on Substack] — “Imagine my shock to learn, as I did recently, that I had too much money to fold neatly into a purse. Not enough to keep from being called a thief in a store, but officially too much to keep track of at any given time. Even more utterly terrifying for me is that everyone knows about my money.” [See also: The logic of stupid poor people.]

The financial order of operations. [Bitches Get Riches] — “Money decisions are always intimidating. Every financial decision you make compounds over time! That can be good, like when investments grow. But it’s also terrible, because financial mistakes can haunt you for years after you’ve made them…Today I’m going to take you through my financial order of operations. It’s a basic blueprint of ten steps most people could follow to transform their finances for the better.”

Okay, that’s it for today. I’ll be back tomorrow with more great stuff. See you then!