“I don’t know what it’s like to be poor.”

Today is Tuesday, money nerds, and that means it’s time for more of the best money stories from around the web.

“I don’t know what it’s like to be poor.” [The Power of Thrift] — “An old friend called me up the other day and asked me to loan him some money. He was one of my favorite people once, but I haven’t spoken to him in years and I haven’t seen his face in more than a decade, so his request startled me…It felt like a test, but I’m not sure I passed.”

The real midlife crisis confronting many Americans. [The Conversation] — “The midlife crisis experienced by most people is subtler, more nuanced and rarely discussed among family and friends. It can be best described as the ‘big squeeze’ – a period during which middle-aged adults are increasingly confronted with the impossible choice of deciding how to split their time and money between themselves, their parents and their kids.”

Today’s last article is long but it’s interesting. It’s so good that I bought a copy of the magazine so I can read it again without a paywall.

The last frontier: Homesteaders on the margin of America. [Harper’s, so possible paywall] — “The amazing thing was that a person, even a person of very limited means, could actually buy a piece of these vast acres of land — some of it farmland with pumped irrigation but most of it just undisturbed, primeval — ­for not too much money. Not that this would be a smart investment in terms of return…”

Finally, here’s a 12-minute video I found via Four Pillar Freedom. It documents a day in the life of an average Japanese salaryman in Tokyo. If, like me, you are fascinated by the lives of others, then you’ll enjoy this piece.

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