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If we ever do make a money from this blogging, 50% of all profit will be donated to charity — either to GiveWell or charities chosen through readership polls. The other 50% will most likely somehow be spent on Fluffster.
Software for Organizing Finances
Personal Capital – Join for Free*
Personal Capital is the best tool we’ve seen for tracking asset allocation, including great visualizations. We log in every few months to do a portfolio checkup and boom – crystal clear understanding of our investments without having to log in to multiple sites or manually correct errors. They make money with their advisors, but we haven’t personally used that service.
Mint is really hands down the OG of budgeting, and for good reason. It has its own idiosyncrasies and requires a little bit of babysitting when categorizing charges, but it’s still the best for budgeting and tracking expenses. They make money on affiliate links to credit cards and the like.
Books
( Remember your local library exists 😉 )
Get Money* by Kristin Wong
A phenomenal introduction to personal finance topics. If you are looking for the perfect money book for a new grad or young adult in your life (or need a gentle introduction to personal finance yourself), this is it. Kristin is such a good writer, y’all. Her Life Hacker articles are a thing of beauty, eclipsed only by this brilliant tome.
Happy Money* by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton
Science & Money are two of my favorite topics. This book is a collection of simple lessons, backed up by tons of studies, on how to make better choices with money that increase happiness. Very easy and interesting read. In my mind, you could also extend this into how to lower expenses while maintaining or increases happiness…
Get Your Money Together: Your Purr-fect Finance Workbook by Lillian Karabaic
If Kristin Wong’s Get Money book got together with Pusheen, this workbook would be the lovechild. Absolutely adorable cat illustrations + really sound (and unintimidating) financial advice = YES.
A Random Walk Down Wallstreet* by Burton G. Malkiel
This is the classic book for index investors, explaining all the basics and history of the stock market.
How To Be Everything* by Emilie Wapnick
Literally the only book I’ve bought for years; it’s that good. I talk more about this in my full review, but there’s a huge overlap between crazy folks like us seeking early retirement and the Puttylike community Emilie has fostered. If you’re someone who’s interested in ALL THE THINGS and could never pick just one, Emilie has your back (and awesome worksheets).
Renaissance Soul* by
This book is great. You know how people go on and on about finding your passion? That one thing you were put on this earth to do? Fuck that. You can be a Ben Franklin instead of a Mozart. This book gives practical advice on how to structure your time and rotate through interests.
Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up* by Marie Kondo
Okay, this book is a little insane, but still very useful. While we have not fully completed tidying up (yet), we’ve already seen huge benefits in terms of saying no to spending on things that don’t matter.
Podcasts
Bad With Money with Gaby Dunn
This is easily my favorite podcast right now. Gaby has declared herself to be “bad with money,” and this podcast explores a variety of money-related topics, focused on helping her and others become slightly less bad with money. She often delves into larger issues of income inequality and the psychology of money.
Planet Money by NPR
Man, am I a nerd. Each Planet Money episode is just perfect. They take these random, complicated economic stories and explain them in twenty minutes flat, all while highlighting the real, human conflicts behind all the intimidating numbers.
Death, Sex & Money with Anna Sale
I mean, need I say more? This podcast more than lives up to the provocative title.
Tech
Link a Google Voice account to an OBI-200* for free home phone service.
Misc
TransferWise is simply the easiest and most frugal way to send money abroad. We have international family, and while we normally have a fairly high stamina for deal-hunting, the combination of fees plus conversion rates (both of which were almost always hidden to some extent) was just exhausting. TransferWise is transparent about fees, has a guaranteed low cost, and is super easy to navigate. If you or your family ever find yourself in a position where you are frequently between two countries, definitely give TransferWise a try.
I hate TurboTax. There, I’ve said it. Four years ago we were doing our taxes as normal, and due to literally $5 of dividend income, TurboTax demanded $80 because our taxes were so complicated. AFTER we entered in all our information. I’ve held a grudge ever since. TaxAct is cheaper and basically the same product. It’s not quite as good, to be completely honest, but for us it’s $50 cheaper for maybe 15-30 minutes more effort.
Girlfriend Collective ($10 off referral link)*
Super random, but I seriously love these leggings. I have tried probably close to a dozen different brands of leggings, and these are the only ones that haven’t disappointed me in one way or another. they’re fairly size-inclusive as well, coming in XXS-XXXL, which is so rare for decent (read: lasts more than a year) leggings. I got my first pair when they launched in 2018, and the only real sign of wear and tear is the interior label, which is nothing compared to the graveyard of leggings in my closet. PLUS, their clothes are ethically made and they have kickass sustainable practices.
Fetching Financial Freedom 