My friend and I had an idea last October. It was a simple one, but we really liked it. We improved an existing trim carpentry product and made it our own.

Learning the ropes and lingo as we went, we were able to 3D print the product. After some improvements, we shopped it around to manufacturers. We ended up having the product made through a supplier via RFQ on Alibaba. We had a lot of other ideas and thought this could be the start of something fun. …

Over the last three years, I believe my family and I have hit what I will call “peak spending.” We bought a new car and finished our basement with cash. We had our first child. Most critically, we didn’t change our spending habits. Even though we had reasonable savings rates — when I compiled everything at the end of 2017 and 2018, our spending was astronomically high.

High spending led to a more in-depth and active analysis of our spending. As I detailed in my posts How We Are On Track To Save $5,000 On Food In 2019 and Three Effortless Tips for Saving Money and Shopping Smarter we focused on groceries and impulse purchases. …

If you’ve ever brainstormed ways to save money on your entertainment costs, there’s one tip you may not have considered; try your local library. Today’s modern library is so much more than just a collection of books that still employ the Dewey decimal system — it’s a hub of media resources and entertainment that you are already paying for through property taxes. It can be an essential resource for a family or anyone trying to be conscious of costs

But not everyone feels that way. As you may have seen, last July, Panos Mourdoukoutas, a Forbes contributor and Economics Professor at Long Island University in New York tweeted that “Amazon Should Replace Local Libraries to Save Taxpayers Money” and provided a link that made his case. …

I’m here to tell you why I’m a converted fan-boy.

We received a Sous Vide for our wedding. My initial reaction was a hard eye-roll. After all, the kitchen was now filled to the brim after receiving various other gifts, on top of what we had already combined. What could I even do with this thing I can’t even pronounce?

The truth is that I could do a lot with it. What turned me off to it was that it came with a high-class bougie-ness aura. As if it were meant only for expensive dishes for all my yuppy friends that I don’t have. …

A note about observing someone experience life’s simple pleasures for the first time

I am often asked if I like taking care of my son all week. It’s a rhetorical question — the answer is a resounding yes. Ultimately what the question eludes to is how I am handling the transition from a full-time a corporate career oriented person, to being a full-time Dad who aspires to write and run his own business.

I am handling it well. However, it can be difficult to explain to people that do not have children what it is like to experience life through your child as a parent. A casual conversation consists of the common questions: “does he say any words?” or “is he eating real food yet?” …

Recently I wrote about how I had implemented a budget and was on track to save $5,000 this year on groceries. We created a budget as part of a minor overhaul of our finances, but with the intention of saving money. After compiling our expenses at the end of the year in both 2017 and 2018, we decided it would be best to start tracking every week.

We are one week short of tracking for our first full quarter (12 of our 13 weeks). It is one of my favorite tasks of the week. I feel as though the 30 minutes spent doing our budget every week is my most valuable use of time. Every Saturday morning I sit down with my coffee and compile all of the ins and outs of the week and generate our totals in a custom-built, very simple spreadsheet. …

Origins

Introduced as part of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 the Roth 401k became effective in 2006. Regarded as a hybrid, it is an addition to an employer-sponsored 401k plan. It carries some features and benefits of the Roth IRA, but not all.

Unlike the 401k and Roth IRA, a Roth 401k does not exist by itself; it is only an option and is dependent on the existence of a 401k and an employer offering it. The ‘Roth’ in the title can be misleading at times. …

A quick internet search for blog posts about McDonald’s reveals plenty of haters. And why not. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for.

Haters hate on McDonald’s for a bunch of reasons, some reasons I found include:

• The customers are the worst
• It’s similar to things people give away for free
• It’s making people fat!
• Employees have bad days working there

Despite all that hate and debate, McDonald’s survives, grows, succeeds and is still an integral part of American consciousness.

Observations

“McDonald’s was there for me. When no one else was.” — James Franco

It’s important to note; not everyone has a bitter distaste for McDonald’s. James Franco famously praised it in a Washington Post Op-Ed. My personal experience is positive. My favorite part about McDonald’s? I always know what I am getting when I pay. …