RESOURCES

These blogs, websites, articles, and books all changed my life for the better.

Personal Finance

The key to (almost) all happiness is financial well-being.  A big pile of money lets you quit a job you hate, cover emergencies, and sleep soundly at night.  You might even get to retire decades before other people do. Interested?

Advice on getting wealthy (and staying that way):

two_income_trap

  • Get Rich Slowly – Years of common-sense financial advice from every angle imaginable, including reader success stories. I’ve read GRS for 7+ years and credit my financial well-being to this site.
  • Mr. Money Mustache – Straightforward financial advice from a smart guy who rejected consumerism to live on his own terms.
  • The Two Income Trap – Best financial book I’ve ever read. Shows how families become over-leveraged and why spending both incomes is so destructive.
  • Super-Charge Your Income – Frugality only goes so far.  Get Rich Slowly’s massive guide to earning more never fails to inspire me.

Investing and banking: 

  • Vanguard – Don’t let your money fester in a checking account earning zero interest!  Two steps: 1) Open account. 2) Insert $1000 into the VFSAX fund. Boom – you’re an investor! Now your money’s working for you.
  • Capital One 360 – Formerly ING Direct.  No fees, no minimums, just a good place to stash your emergency fund.  0.75% interest isn’t great, but it’s better than the 0% you get leaving your money in checking.

Career

  • Ask a Manager – Alison’s advice has me negotiate better starting salaries and navigate office politics. If you work for anyone, you should read this blog.
  • Women Don’t Ask – An eye-opening book I read early in my career about the critical skill of negotiation. “A woman who routinely negotiates her salary increases will earn over one million dollars more by the time she retires than a woman who accepts what she’s offered every time without asking for more”

Home Improvement

  • Young House Love – Young 30s couple renovates their home(s) to spectacular results!  Plenty of step-by-step “this is exactly how you do this awesome thing” guides for the rest of us.
  • Un-f$%# Your Habitat – Daily/weekly challenges to whip your home into shape.  100% unadultered cleanspiration.

Writing & Art

Life

  • Ask Metafilter – Questions about, well, everything with well-thought out answers from a diverse community. Careful: Ask Metafilter can be addictive.
  • The ‘Busy’ Trap – This succinct NY Times opinion piece explores the over-scheduled hell a lot of people feel obligated to live in.