I read many blog posts each day. They mostly focus on personal finance, but also on minimalism and travel . Here are some of my favorite posts I read in December.
Going old-school, I enjoyed these new posts that are great for those earlier in the personal finance journey. Or for those who just want a refresher.
At Business is The Best Medicine, Heather Zamarron has some words of financial wisdom for about-to-graduate physician assistants. They, and anyone else about to receive a big bump in salary, should definitely read How to Spend Your First $100K as a PA.
Tawcan reviews a number of ways to save money. You may not want (or be able) to do all of them, but these are tried and true ways to help your money go further: How to save money–8 frugal habits to practice.
The Tale of the Long-Lived Tennies is a lovely piece: an ode to Femme Frugality‘s hardy tennis shoes and a reminder that sometimes you catch a lucky break.
The Prudent Plastic Surgeon writes about frugality and spending more in a slightly different way from usual, and I really like it. In Scarcity vs. Abundance, he points out what–in retrospect–is obvious, but isn’t talked about much online: the fact that each is an appropriate response to different parts of the career lifecycle. These approaches are powerful when they match your financial situation, but they can be devastatingly dangerous when they don’t.
Retirement remains at the top of my mind these days.
From Mark Crothers at Humble Dollar, some musing on finding meaning in retirement: Ripples Through Time.
Of course, with a title like The Later You Retire, The Earlier You Die?! I was going to check this post out. The post isn’t really about retirement, but more about reading critically, and offering a few tools to help people do so. From Jesse Cramer at The Best Interest.
If we get to live a little longer in retirement, we want to be happy. From Fritz Gilbert of The Retirement Manifesto, a great post (not a listicle!) of 9 Proven Ways To Boost Your Happiness in Retirement. I need to bookmark this for periodic review.
It sounds like Dennis Friedman, writing at Humble Dollar, has found his way to happiness in retirement. He made some sacrifices investments when younger that are paying off now, as he describes in Someday is Here.
Lastly, a few posts that are a little off the beaten track for me.
From The Investor at Monevator: Surviving system meltdowns and cyber attacks. I thought I was clever by keeping some money in more than one financial system, but maybe that’s not the case.
From Jordan Grumet at his substack: How I Finally Stopped Caring About Spending. Maybe it’s not really about the numbers, but about not stressing?
From The Prudent Plastic Surgeon again, a post that seems super appropriate for the turn of the year, as we make review the past year and make plans for the new one: How You Do Anything Is How You Do Everything.
Lastly, from The Woke Salaryman, a look at career choices from both sides: Did I choose the wrong path in life?
Do you have any favorite posts from December?
I always enjoy reading the retirement articles you suggest. I especially liked the one from Humble Dollar. It’s a shame that our society equates worth with paid employment when there are so many ways to make a contribution to the world.
As for the piece on the “study” about retiring later and dying earlier, I saw that chart on a Facebook forum where I lurk (but rarely comment). I immediately knew from my experience that it was bull, but reading the discussion was entertaining to say the least.
Thanks for sharing these!
I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed some of the posts I linked to, Michelle.