I read many blog posts each day. They mostly on personal finance, but also on minimalism and travel . Here are some of my favorites that I read in December.
It’s the end of one year, and the start to another.
I found that many bloggers offer challenges or plans to make the next year better.
Joshua Becker at Becoming Minimalist offers 12 Financial Challenges You Could Try in 2024.
Blue Lobster at Millionaire on the Prairie has A Gift for [Us]–A Step-by-Step Plan for Your Money in 2024. She also reminds us that Automatic Savings Plans Perform Better Than Promises, which might be why so many of her steps have been automated.
I don’t know about you, but I find that winter, and the New Year, inspire me to declutter. Maybe it’s being stuck indoors, maybe it’s the mess from the holidays.
Karen Trefzger writes at No Sidebar about How to Keep Your Friends from Enjoying the Benefits of Minimalism.
Michele at Boomer Eco Crusader is planning to revisit decluttering her home, after “finishing” the job in 2021. (As we know, that job is never quite finished.) She invites us to join her in 2024.
Paying attention to the environment helps a lot with avoiding excess (and clutter), as this article from Outside (via Pocket) shows: Six Years Ago I Swore Off One Thing That Changed My Life. I love how one (good) thing leads to another.
Of course, one way to feel better at New Year’s is to consume less at the holidays. It’s a little late for 2023, but maybe you might want to bookmark this post for 2024: How to Have an Eco-Friendly Christmas, from Lisa’s Notebook.
I learned something new in these posts:
Jeffrey Actor at Humble Dollar introduced me to Lady Bird deeds in House Keeping.
Also at Humble Dollar, Howard Rohleder goes over the latest in mail theft and check washing in Forget the Check.
Lastly, a random assortment of posts that I can’t figure out any way to group except that I thought they were interesting:
- Lots of news stories pick on doctors as driving the cost of health care upwards. The White Coat Investor rebuts many arguments in Why US Physicians Get Paid More.
- Thank goodness we do get paid more, otherwise we couldn’t afford to buy secondhand ;-). It’s Not Your Imagination–Second-Hand Stuff IS More Expensive Than Ever, by Kitty at Bitches Get Riches.
- Ben White wrote two posts that caught my attention this month. The first: The Feigned Complexity of Simple Things (especially as pertains to Medicine). The second: Paying Attention to Attention (does time seem to be flying by? If that’s a problem for you, here is an answer).
- I enjoyed this post from a real-life retiree (David, posting at Can I Retire Yet?), in which he promotes The Benefits of Gamifying Retirement Spending.
- Turning down requests (whether for work or fun) is an important skill–without it, you will never be able to direct how you spend your time. This is a message I have heard many times, but haven’t quite mastered. The Woke Salaryman provides an illustrated primer in The Art of Saying No.
- Lastly, for the New Year, some thoughts about what’s really important from Morgan Housel at Collab Fund: Long-Term News.
Do you have any favorite posts for the month?
Thanks so much for sharing my post. I will take some time this week to look at the others. Have a wonderful week!
You have a great week too!