Looking Back: Books

As I mentioned last week, I have been struggling a little bit to concentrate on books lately. However, I am happy to report two things. First of all, per Engie's recommendation, I started reading A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking. I am about two thirds of the way through it and so far, it is just what I needed! It is light and fun and easy and there are gingerbread men who come to life. I will report back when I am done, but I think the reading funk has been banished! 

Secondly, just because I have not had a lot of luck in March does not mean that the last quarter was all bad. Here are several books that I read during the first quarter of this year that I did enjoy! 

The Secret Book of Flora Lee by Patti Callahan Henry: In 1939 Hazel and her younger sister Flora are sent out of London to the country to live to escape the bombs. One day, while playing near the river, Flora vanishes and Hazel blames herself for her sister's death. Years later, Hazel is working at a publisher when she reads a manuscript of a story that only her and her sister would know. This makes her believe that maybe her sister is still alive after all. I enjoyed the story itself and the author's writing style, and was even surprised from time to time as the story progressed. 

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell: Unassuming Josie bumps into famous podcaster Alix in the bathroom of a local restaurant at their separate birthday celebrations. After that Alix runs into Josie several more times and eventually even agrees to interview Josie for her podcast. Of course Josie ends up being different than expected, and there are many twists and turns along the way before we find out what is really going on. This is another typical Jewell novel, but I mean that in a good way. Some of hers have been a little less exciting than others, but this one did not disappoint. 

The Paris Daughter by Kristin Harmel: This is the story of two friends during WWII. When Elise becomes a target of the Nazis, she entrusts her daughter with her friend Juliette to care for until it is safe to send for her. When the war is finally over, she returns home to find Juliette's house reduced to rubble, Juliette nowhere to be found and no knowledge of what transpired during her daughter's final moments. She searches for years to find Juliette in order to get answers about her daughter so that she can have some closure in her life at last. 

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King: This is not your typical King horror novel; it is a thriller about murder and an ex-detective named Hodges who tries to solve the mystery of the killer and of course there are some twists and turns along the way. I was pleasantly surprised, as I was not sure what to expect after years of not reading a King novel (but I did read most or all of them back in the 90s!). 

Evil Eye by Etaf Rum: The tale of the expectations placed on Palestinian-American women, this is the story of Yara. She married the right guy, moved to the suburbs, had children and is doing everything right, as her culture expects. However, after her husband forbids her to go as a chaperone to a school trip, she begins to wonder if she really is happy, and if she is not, how she can be happier but not rock the boat with  her family. This seems impossible and is an interesting look into the struggles that some woman face even still.

The People We Keep by Allison Larkin: April leaves home early after a fight with her Dad and goes off to make her own way in the world. She moves from city to city trying to find her place in the world, and meets a lot of interesting people along the way. This is more of a character driven novel, which I am not always a big fan of, but I did find some of her trials and tribulations interesting and felt engaged with her throughout the story. 

Kill Show by Daniel Sweren-Becker: This one got accolades from many of you, and I jumped on the bandwagon a little late, but I am glad that I jumped, as it did not disappoint! It is a story of a girl who goes missing and her family's struggles to find her. To do this, they agree to make a reality show about her disappearance in real time. The best part was that it was done in an interview style format, which really kept me engaged the entire time. It has an essence of Gone Girl, in that it keeps you guessing and tickles you a bit at the end. 

What was your favorite book over the last three months? Have you read any of the above and/or did you enjoy them? What is your favorite genre? 

Looking Back: Purging Progress Report Q4

Well folks, the year has ended and it's once again time to be accountable for what my plans were at the beginning of the year. As you know, I try to purge a little each month every year so that I don't get a glut of things that I have to eventually go through all at once. My three areas I wanted to work on for the last three months of they year were reading nook, health and plants. 

Reading Nook: This is a room with several bookshelves and a nice chair to sit and read in, plus it has windows on two sides, so it has a lot of light. For this reason it is also my plant room. I wanted to read some books on my shelves and get rid of them, as well as get rid of the books I have kept with the intention of reading again but not reread. 

Reading Nook -- Before

Reading Nook -- After (don't mind the disassembled shelving)

I found I was keeping books just to have them, but decided that if I moved again, I do not want to move boxes and boxes of books just to display them. I have only bought a handful of books over the last 10 years and am really utilizing the library exclusively these days and I don't really reread very many books (with the exception of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, of course). I also do not really love holding up a heavy paper book as much any more! 

How am I doing? I am going to say that I kicked ass in this category. I basically got rid of all books except for a few travel or education books, and a few books from my childhood, and a half a dozen that I have not read yet but still may read. I literally went from three bookshelves to one, and plan to get rid of that one in the next month also. 

What is next? As stated, I will read the handful I have left, get rid of the last shelf and I will have a whole room to play with! Expected completion date: end of January. 

Health: I try to get all of my health related things done by November, but if I haven't, this is when I check in with myself and get them scheduled by the end of the year. This works schedule-wise, but it also important for insurance, which often pays a certain amount of dollars or for one preventative visit per calendar year. 

How am I doing? Check, check, check! I did save the best for last and had my mammogram literally the last week before Christmas, but otherwise I was pretty much good to go. Side note: I had a riveting conversation about the dangers of bicycling in San Francisco with the mammo tech while standing in the room half naked. Good times. 

What is next? I need a crown and was putting it off for two reasons. (1) I hate the dentist and I don't want to do it! (2) the insurance I had did not cover it at my dental office, so I switched from a PPO to an HMO and now that it is a new year with new coverage, I can schedule it. I also get dollars from my company towards my HSA if I do certain activities (sleep, water, wellness check etc.) so I will get that done ASAP because compounding rules! Expected completion date: end of February.

Plants: I love plants and I often make clippings and replant them and so I have a plethora of plants. I didn't really have a plan for these, but knew that I need to start doing something about them. 

Too many plants! And this is just a fraction of them. 

How am I doing? This year I gave away a few clippings to different people, but I still have too many.

What is next? Next up is to either sell some on FB marketplace or give them away for free. Expected completion date: end of January.

In addition to the above items, this year, I have also kept a bag in my closet for donation items and if I put on a shirt and it is too short, it goes right in the bag. I have taken at least one run to Salvation Army per month this year. I also keep a "to shred" bag, where I can easily throw paper items that need to be shredded and then I can take them to work and shred them little by little. I am also still working on selling some of the more valuable (or sought after) items online. 

One (of many) load(s) of donations!

I would say that all in all, I think my year of purging went well and hopefully that means that 2024 will be a breeze, as each year there should be less and less things to go through. I really do want to pare it down even more though, as it really is amazing how much stuff we accumulate over the years. My other goal is not try not to "stock up" on things, which is very hard for me, as I like to plan ahead, and to buy things when they are a good deal! There is always room to improve, I guess. 

Did you get all of your health check ups done by the end of the year? Do you keep/reread physical books? Did you have any purging goals for 2023 and if so, how did they go? 

Looking Back: Purging Progress Report Q3

And just like that, the third quarter of the year has come to a close! As you know, earlier this year I talked about doing some purging and it's already time for the accountability check in again! My three areas I wanted to work on for the months of July, August and September were bedroom/shoes, kitchen/dishes and living room/hall/spare room. 

Bedroom/Shoes: As you know from my story about my unsuccessful side hustle, I have tried to sell some of my more expensive shoes online and have had only okay luck. However, I sent a batch of them to ThredUp and had some success! For four pairs of shoes, I made $80.00! Yay. 

How am I doing? Since I am trying to sell some, many of them are still in my house, so there is a large pile of shoes that I will get rid of one way or the other. I am going to call this a win. I am not in any danger of going back through them and them making their way back into my closet, believe me. I am now down to a couple of pairs of running shoes, a couple of sandals, a couple of boots and a couple of fancy dress shoes. I will probably cull it even more, but you know how it is; when you find a nice pair of knee length black boots that fits you well, you sometimes just have to keep them! 

What is next? I am going to still try to sell some more online; if those don't sell by the end of the year, they will either go to ThredUp or to Salvation Army. My goal is to have them all out of my house by the end of this year. 

Kitchen/Dishes: Two things I had too many of...vessels to drink from and baking dishes! 

How am I doing? I went through my glasses, mugs and water bottles and pared it down to only about four of each. I think I was keeping some just in case I had a party or a bunch of people over or something, but if and when that does end up happening, people can drink wine from a coffee cup; I do not need to have a full set of 12 wine glasses just taking up space. The baking dishes were a similar story; will I ever need to make 48 muffins at once? Will that even fit in my oven at the same time? The answer to both of those questions is likely no, so I got rid of my old muffin tins and baking sheets, several casserole dishes and a few bread pans. I also culled my plates, bowls and serving dishes. How many things do we keep for "just in case" but we never use? For me, it was a lot. 

I feel like Old Mother Hubbard.

Don't worry; I have two more coffee cups but they are in use.

What is next? I would also like to simplify my cleaning products (these live under the kitchen sink). I bought a gallon of Simple Green when I first moved in almost 9 years ago and it is still probably half full. I bought bleach at Costco (sucker!!) and it is a three pack and I have a LOT of dish soap (and vinegar and hand soap and Windex and Bronners etc.) I would really like to pare these down to just a few items under the sink if possible. 

Living Room/Hall/Spare Room: I don't have a lot in the living room or hall, but my goal was to clear out any shelves or drawers in these rooms. For my spare room, that is where I keep my linens, so I wanted to also clear out that dresser. 

How am I doing? I feel pretty good about this. In the living room, I have a catch all by the door which his supposed to only be for my purse and whatever leaves each day with me, but it tends to gather items. I cleared this out, as well as my coffee table drawer and the shelves near my living room fireplace. In the hall, I went through the linen closet, which also houses extra cleaning supplies and toiletries, hair stuff, jewelry and travel items. I gave a bunch of the jewelry to my friend's daughter and it is so cute because she actually wears the earrings a lot! I took inventory of my cleaning products and toiletries (shampoo, lotion etc.) and my goal is to NOT buy any more until they are completely used up. For the spare room, I got rid of all but one extra set of sheets and blankets.

Don't judge - Bertha lives in my living room.

What is next? I am currently still in the middle of cleaning out the spare room closet, which is a jumble of my work clothes, bags, stuff to go to the thrift store/sell online/send to ThredUp/give away, old electronics (these will also go to the thrift store), did I say bags (so many bags! bags full of bags!), my vacuum, etc. As I mentioned above, I would like to have all of my thrift/sell items out of there by the end of the year, so this will be much improved by then! 

My last three months will be the reading nook, health check ups and plants...and then the year will be over (again)! I would say that three quarters of the way in, I am feeling very good about what I have done so far and after doing it this way for years, I also really think that a monthly purge is so much less daunting than a once a year one! 

Do you have a go-to all in one cleaning product? How often do you do a home purge? What kitchen item do you have multiples of but you rarely use more than one or two? 

Looking Back: Purging Progress Report Q2

And that is the second quarter of the year, over already! As you know, earlier this year I talked about doing some purging and since we are now another quarter into this year, it's time for another accountability check! My three areas I wanted to work on for the second three months of they year were pantry, garage/camping items and bedroom/clothing. 

Pantry: The goal here is to go through things, check expirations, eat things that are getting closer (or are over, I am not against that) and then reorganize everything and get a good handle on what I have left before starting to restock slightly. 

How am I doing? I am a woman on a mission. First I took stock of how many of each thing I had. Don't laugh at me, but I found a lot of good deals during the pandemic and when I found a deal, I bought a lot. Didn't everyone? No? Okay. At the beginning of January 2022, I somehow ended up with 14 cans of coconut milk, 12 cans of garbanzo beans and 10 cans of artichoke hearts among other things. I revisited this list in April of this year and although I had done a very good job of eating my way to a cleaner home (I only had 2, 5 and 0 left respectively), I am still working on it (I now have 1, 2 and 0!) 

What is next? I still have some weird items like tomato paste (I guess I don't make as much sauce as I used to), pureed pumpkin and canned sardines left which I will probably try to make into a meal (not together mind you!) while also focusing on using more of my dried items (quinoa, dried beans, rice, lentils etc.) and bakery items (pumpkin bread anyone?) before taking stock again and then maybe buying a few things to fill in the gaps. 

Garage/Camping: The idea here was to prep for summer by organizing all camping stuff, make sure it's all in top shape, update it, fix it, patch it, go through my food supply etc. 

How am I doing? Meh. I went through the food as part of the pantry clean out, and have all of the stuff organized by car camping vs backpacking items, but I still need to get down and dirty and throw some stuff away or give it away. However, I am ready for a summer of camping, even if I did not do a good job of purging. 

What is next? Get down and dirty and sell, give away or throw some stuff away. 

Bedroom/Clothing: The idea here was to once again go through drawers and closets and pare things down. Kae and Lisa will get a kick out of this line, which I wrote in January: But really, how many hoodies does one woman need? (the answer is...seven...or eight...or maybe nine? See what I mean!?) 

How am I doing? Great! I have desecrated my closet and it is about half as full as it was six months ago. I only own two pairs of jeans and two pairs of (non-running) shorts. However, I have a pile the size of the Empire State building of "stuff to sell" and another of "stuff to donate" so we are not quite there yet. HOWEVER! I did put some stuff on eBay and have had some luck, and I also have a drop dead date where if it is not sold by that date, it will go to either threadUP (nicer brands) or Salvation Army (everything else). So we are making progress! 

What is next? In about a month, the neighborhood is doing a donation pick up, and I already took a few boxes over to my neighbor for that. For the rest, I will continue to try to sell a few things and then in October (beginning of Q4) if they are still not sold I will send a bag to threadUP and take the rest to Salvation Army. You heard it here first. 

One thing I did not put on my list, but I would consider it "bedroom" for now, since my spare bedroom is also my office, is electronics. I have two old laptops, a printer and various old cell phones (along with the usual cords and other random electronic things) that I need to get rid of, so for Q3, I am also adding an e-waste drop off to my list. The place I found will try to refurbish the item and if they cannot, they will properly recycle it. Before I take things to them, I do need to clear out any files or personal information though so this is one of those two step processes that can take longer than expected sometimes! I am also planning a bulky pickup later this year, which will only be for trash, but is a good way to get rid of some of those odds and ends once they have been picked through. 

How are you doing on your goals so far this year? What is your strategy for getting rid of stuff? How many hoodies DOES one woman need? 

Looking Back: Purging Progress Report Q1

I am a big fan of accountability. People who say that they are going to do something and then don't do it really get my goat. This can be a meetup, a big project, or even something as simple as (and this is a real example) picking up pastries for a client meeting. In this case the person attending the meeting said he was going to bring the client pastries. I spoke to the client before the meeting and talked up these pastries and then the person going to the meeting did not take the time to stop and get them after saying that he was going to, so now I look like I am not accountable. 

Listen, I don't live under a rock; I realize that stuff happens and sometimes we get waylaid, we get stuck in traffic or our priorities change. I am a realist; I get this. However, being a realist, I also try not to overpromise and underdeliver. In fact, I will often say no if I am unsure if I will be able to commit, which may make me a glass half full person in the eyes of some, but I guess I would rather disappoint people in the front end than at the last minute.

All of that blather is a lead in to my main point which is that earlier this year I talked about doing some purging and since we are now one quarter into this year, I am going to be accountable by doing a quick progress check and update. My three areas I wanted to work on for the first three months of they year were paperwork and files, go bag and kitchen/fridge/freezer. 

Paperwork and Files: The goal here was to throw away and/or reorganize old hard copy files and to update and organize my yearly electronic spreadsheets (address list, money pie list, account list etc.) Note that this gets less hard copy and more electronic as each year goes by, but I do still have hard copies of some of my home, car and medical related paperwork as well as some tax and financial items. 

How am I doing? Good! I did all of this and even went through some of my memento boxes where I keep old holiday cards and stuff and threw a lot of those away. I had a good time reliving some memories and in some cases only shuffled things around and then ended up keeping them anyway, but I do think that each year when I go through this kind of stuff I pare it down more and more. I used to keep all thank you notes and I finally threw them away after reading them one last time and taking a quick photo of any that were really sweet. I am really trying to adhere more to the "touch once" principal where instead of moving an item somewhere just to move it somewhere else, cut out the middle man and just put it where it is going to be for good (which is often the trash can!)

I love this card! (I did throw it away though)

What is next? I still have a lot of memento boxes (these are my Achilles heel), some of which are in the garage, and I need to go through them and either put them in an album or throw them away. They are not doing me any good in a box and speaking of the touch once principal, it is probably time for the final touch for some of these items. Also an extension to this category is electronic files, which I need to tidy up. For some reason before I had the cloud for photos, I saved them in several places (!) and I need to cull the duplicates. Unfortunately they do not have the same file name and so it is not as simple as just sorting and culling. I also have an ongoing task of unsubscribing and culling emails, which is something I do a few times each month. 

Go Bag: The goal here is to make sure all of the items, documents and information in my go bag are current and updated.

How am I doing? Good! This go bag is twofold - one is emergency supplies like food, candles, flashlight, etc. and the other is important docs like my passport, birth certificate, deed to my house etc. I also keep a list of all of my accounts in this folder so that if I have to leave in a hurry I will have everything in one place (this also doubles as my death list, which I will talk about in a later post). Most of this stuff is also electronic, but I do like to keep a hard copy as a backup. I updated all of the food that was close to expiration and made sure all of my batteries were in good shape and updated my folder, so I am all good here. I also started up my generator and charged my Caterpillar supercharger thingy so that they are ready if I need them. I hope that I never need to use any of this stuff, but I think it is good to be prepared just in case. (P.S. I could write an entire post about the Cat charger - it is awesome.)

What is next? The generator and Cat charger need to be started and charged once per quarter, but the other stuff is pretty much good to go unless there are any major changes. 

Kitchen/Fridge/Freezer: This involves throwing away expired items, and eating things in the freezer rather than buying more. One of my traits (faults? habits?) is that I do like to have a few extra cans of olives (or beans or tomatoes or...) laying around just in case I feel using them (I am not a fan of going to the store after I have run out; I would rather go before I need the item) so I have amassed a pretty good backup of certain items. I also like to purchase things when they are on sale rather than when I need them when I would have to pay a premium, but it is a delicate balance between being a smart shopper and being a hoarder. I am working on being more of the former than the latter! 

No more room! (Also, clearly I need to use more butter)

How am I doing? Good! In the first three months of the year, I spent approximately $575 on groceries and used up a lot of cans of olives! I cleaned out the fridge and freezer and took stock of what I have so that I can better plan my meals and grocery shopping trips. I also finally used those frozen peaches from my tree and made peach cobbler and lots of baked peach oatmeal! However, I did do one Costco run for meat (which was about a third of my grocery spending for the quarter) and caved a couple of times and bought items like tortilla chips just because they were on sale.

What is next? I will continue to do light grocery shopping and will try to use up pantry and freezer items for the next three months. I still have a lot of beans. One of my tasks for this quarter is also to go through my camping food and gear and prepare for summer trips, so I will take stock of the food I have (in a box in the garage) for that too and can probably consolidate some things. 

What is your take on accountability? How much do you spend on groceries each month? How are you doing on your goals so far this year? 

Looking Back: Books

Well yes, hi. I do only write about books and nothing else these days. I have all of these grand plans to write about hiking trips and gear lists and life, but somehow this fell along the wayside a bit. It could partially be due to the fact that I have been experimenting with other forms of media a bit more, but I will talk more about that later. 

It could also be that I got a new job and have been a different kind of busy, but I will also talk about that at a different time; for now, lets talk books! 

In all of the books I read in the third quarter, here were my five favorites! 

Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris: You either love him or you hate him, and I love him. Which is funny because he is a bit snarky for my normal taste. But he picks up trash on the side of the road, and he sees funny in normal things. This is another book full of interesting stories about him and his family and it was a great one for a long hike, which is when I listened to it. I am actually going to see him in a few weeks and I am really looking forward to it. 

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus: This was such a fun story of a woman chemist in the 1960s who leaves her job and goes to work as a cooking show TV host. Of course she wants to teach people the science behind the recipes, but her male boss does not concur. It is a bit silly, but was a fun and quick and entertaining read. 

Hell or High Water: Surviving Tibet's Tsangpo River by Peter Heller: I really enjoyed Heller's book The River which was about a fictional rafting trip in Northern Canada gone awry, so I thought this would be more of the same. However it is actually a true story about an elite kayaking team's attempt to conquer a never-before-conquered section of the Tsangpo River in Tibet. They have many an challenge, including fights with porters, death defying rapids and impenetrable passes and it makes for an intriguing story. 

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach: A book about a teenage girl who loses her sister in a horrible car accident, and then struggles with the grief of it. To make things worse, the only person she feels a connection to is the sister's boyfriend who was driving the car when it crashed. It is a story of emotional struggle but still manages to not get too maudlin while still sparking interest. 

These Precious Days: Essays by Ann Patchett: I really love Patchett's writing style and especially her personal essays. She makes you feel like you are sitting right next to her in her living room listening to her stories. My favorite story was one during COVID where she befriends the assistant of Tom Hanks and invites her to stay at her house during the pandemic, striking up an interesting friendship. 

And that was five. 

What was your favorite read over the last few months? Do you prefer fiction or nonfiction? 

Looking Back: Books

Another day, another dollar; another quarter, another book list. Hopefully as you are reading this, you are about to go and sip a margarita, or lounge in the pool, or are getting ready for a summer trip. 

This quarter I read a lot more than last quarter, because I spent a lot of time listening to audiobooks. I listen to them while doing my grocery shopping, working in the yard, driving, hiking, working around the house and running. Of all of the books that I have read so far this year, approximately 80% of them have been audiobooks. I have also asked one of my good friend's daughters, who is 12, to recommend books to me. So far, she has recommended Ground Zero (I loved it; it is also by the author of The Refuge) and the Tales of Despereaux (very fun). If you have a 12 year old, they may like these books too!  

I do have a couple of book related goals this year and so far, I am not doing very well! I wanted to read and get rid of 12 books (one per month) from my bookshelf. I have been doing a lot of purging lately, but for some reason, those books seem like grey hairs; even though I am not buying more, they keep seemingly multiplying! I have read one book so far from my own shelf. I also wanted to read a book in Spanish. I did this in 2020 (Harry Potter y La Piedra Filosofal -- #1) and I really enjoyed it, and I learned some weird words like wand and owl to boot. In 2020 I set 10 minutes aside each day to do that and some days I couldn't put it down. I am about one chapter into my Spanish book so far for this year (Auggie y Yo). Total fail. 

I am going to keep this quarter's list to my top six books. 

Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe: this book details the rise of the Sackler family, who are the makers of oxycontin, and are one of the richest families in the world. It's a tale of big pharma and the opioid crisis and I couldn't put it down. 

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn: I haven't met a Kate Quinn book I haven't liked. This time she tells a story of WWII from a Russian woman's point of view. The main character is a librarian and a mother who ends up having to go out and fight and she becomes one of the most feared snipers of her time, with a nickname of Lady Death. I like how Quinn takes a true story and makes it into something entertaining and enlightening. 

Blindness by Jose Saramago: I wanted to not like this book but it brought up a lot of emotions and that is the sign of a good writer! I gave it 4.5 rounded up to 5 for the fact that it made me contemplate my existence over and over. It was disgusting, disturbing and scary. It paralleled some of the feelings I had during the pandemic lockdown. It made me feel hateful about humanity but also made me feel fond of people and grateful for human connection. It was a cross between The Lord of the Flies and the Walking Dead and the Great Influenza. Although it grossed me out, I couldn't stop reading. 

Think Again by Adam Grant: this book explores the idea of changing, or rethinking things that you have been doing one way for a long time. Of course, like many, I sometimes get set in my ways or struggle with change and he brings up a lot of good points regarding why a new point of view or way of going about something can be an asset rather than a burden. 

The Guncle by Stephen Rowley: this is a fun and light book about a heavy situation. When Patrick's sister dies, he takes the kids for the summer. He is a single man, not used to caring for young children, but he learns a lot about life and love over the course of a few months. 

State of Terror by Louise Penny and Hillary Clinton: who doesn't love a book about international terror and possible world domination? When a terror group threatens the world, the US secretary of state has to try to save the day. There are a lot of parallels with a certain administration and it brings some amusement to an otherwise serious situation. 

Some others I liked were: One, Two, Three (corruption, greed and love), Notes on an Execution (murder), This is How They Tell Me The World Ends (cybersecurity), Dopesick (opioid epidemic) & The Paris Apartment (murder). 

What are you reading right now? What has your favorite book been so far the year? 

Every Quarter Counts

Some people are not comfortable talking about money. I am actually a very private person and often don't like talking about anything about myself, money included. However, I am learning that this is not always beneficial in the long run. How do we figure out how to do things or what to do if we do not seek the information and advice from others? How do we avoid the mistakes that others have made if not to talk about them? I am not saying that I am going to put my taxes online for everyone to see them, but maybe if I did someone would give me some tips to do them better! Actually, if you can give me some tips to do them better (I do them myself; your first tip is probably to hire someone else!), please let me know! 

Due to worries about finances surrounding COVID and the economy in general lately, I think this is a good time to share tips about money, be it saving, spending or investing it. I was always taught to save it, but as I have gotten older, I have learned a little about spending what I have saved! But today I will not talk about the spending portion, only the saving portion. I have heard many mind boggling stats about Americans, such as that less than 30% have more than $1,000 in savings! 

Today I want to discuss three pieces of advice I have been given and the things I have learned over the years because of them. If you know something that I don't know, please let me know. 

Never throw away free money.  I had just landed my first college job and was filling out all of the HR paperwork, including 401k documents. I had no idea what half of the terms meant and I asked a friend of my parents to tell me what boxes he though I should check. He told me that it did not really matter what fund I put my money into; what mattered what that I should put at much as I could from each paycheck into the 401k and most importantly, should at least contribute the amount the company was willing to match, otherwise I would be "throwing away free money." For example, I believe my company at the time would match dollar for dollar up to 3%. He told me that I should try to put in 10%, but if I didn't feel that was possible, that I should at least put in 3%. I did what he said and by the time I left that company after eight years, I did not miss the amount I had been putting in each month, I was fully vested and I walked away with that extra money "in my pocket" (technically it is in my retirement account, but it's still mine). 

A side note or addition to the above is that if your company has a 401k, you should put money into it. Some companies have an automatic contribution (i.e. they will put 2% of your paycheck in unless you opt out) but many require you to sign up on your own. Currently in the U.S. you are allowed to put up to $20,500.00 per year into your 401k before taxes and your employer match does not count towards this number, so it could be even more than that once the match is added. I will talk more about this specific topic in a future post but the takeaway for this post is that you should contribute something. 

What does this mean? Even if your contribution is pennies or dollars, if the company is willing to match it, you should put as much as you can! It can also be beneficial to implement some sort of similar plan with your kids to teach them to save some of their hard earned money instead of spending frivolously. For example, you can suggest that they put half of their babysitting money in an account and you will match whatever they put in there dollar for dollar. 

Compound interest is your friend. This is not a new concept, but I think it is one that is not fully explained to people in the early days, when it is the most pertinent. Did you know that if you started putting $50.00 per month into a account yielding 2% when you were 18, and then stopped putting money in at age 40, by the time you were 67, you would have about $30,000.00. Your total investment would be about $14,000.00 in this case. 

If you only starting saving your $50.00 when you were 30 and you kept putting $50.00 per month in your account until you invested $14,000.00, or were 52, then let it sit until you were 67, you would end up with about $23,000.00, over 20% less. Think about that. I used $50.00 and a low rate of 2%, but imagine your interest rate was 5%. In this case, the gap gets even wider ($100,000.00 vs $54,000.00) and if you double your total investment to $28,000.00 and assume a 5% rate you would end up with $198,000.00 vs $109,000.00. 

I think many people feel that they only have a few dollars and it is not worth it, or that they don't have any extra cash, but even if you are only putting in $5.00 or $10.00 at the beginning, it will add up eventually and I do think every penny counts. I think in most cases, you won't miss it if it's taken out beforehand, and to go back to my point number one, if you are putting in $10.00 and your employer is matching $10.00, it will add up faster than you think. 

What does this mean? Start saving as early as you can! Even if your contribution is pennies or dollars, when put in an interest bearing account early, you can reap the benefits of getting interest on your interest. But wait, what if I am already 40? In this case, it still makes sense to put as much as you possibly can in as early as possible, as you will still be able to take advantage of compounding!

The Latte Factor. This is an old concept and one I have written about several times. Basically the gist of it is that if you skipped your daily latte purchase, you could save a lot of money. The end. But seriously, if you bought a coffee from Starbucks every weekday, that would be approximately $20.00 - $25.00 dollars per week you would save. Using the example above about compounding, instead of $50.00 per month, you could be putting away $150.00 per month just by making your own coffee. The item does not have to be coffee; it could be a salad or a sandwich or a fill-in-the-blank. The bottom line is that the little things add up and probably many of them are unnecessary or frivolous and the savings now will pay off in the long run. 

What does this mean? If you think that you don't have enough extra money to put in a savings, here is where you can reassess. I am not saying that you need to give up all things good in your life. Even if you skip one latte a week (or one McDonalds hamburger, or one Uber ride or....etc.) you will now have that $5.00 a week or $20.00 a month to put into your interest bearing savings account! As you can see, each little bit counts. 

So now we have talked about three ways to save money. Do you already use some of these methods? Do you have other tips or tricks that you use to save money? Are you a spender or a saver? 

Disclaimer: The information above is solely an opinion based my own personal experience. You do you. I am not a tax and/or financial advisor; nothing in this post should be taken as investment advice. I have no fiduciary responsibility to anyone reading this post. Please consult a financial advisor for investment advice.  For my other posts regarding money, go here. 

Looking Back: Books

After spending a lot of time reading in my backyard in 2020, the last year and change has felt like I have not really read very much. Of course, on a relative value scale that is not really fair; it's almost like comparing the price of the stock market now to March 23, 2020 and saying that the price has gone up a lot. I am still reading a lot just not as much as 2020! 

For the first quarter of 2022, I abandoned four books already (Cloud Cuckoo Land, Furiously Happy, The Man Who Ate Too Much and The House on Vesper Strands). All of them were audiobooks, so maybe it was a concentration or situation issue, but I gave all of them up before I even got half way. However, for every high there is a low etc. and there have been quite a few good ones as well! Here are some of my favorites from the last three months. 

Pony by R.J. Palacio: This is a YA novel by the author of Wonder. She creates characters that you can't help but love and sprinkles in a little adventure and some of the trials of growing up (in Wonder she tackles being disfigured and in Pony we meet the main character's invisible friend). I want to read more of her books! 

Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting by Lisa Genova: If you have not read any of her books, you need to do it now. Genova has a PhD in neurology and writes about neurological diseases. I really enjoyed her book Still Alice, which is about early onset Alzheimer's. Her subjects are heartbreaking but fascinating at the same time. In Remember, she talks about how the brain stores memories and she reassures us the when we forget where we put our keys it may not be a slide into old age; we likely are just not paying attention! I have not read a book of hers yet that I do not like. 

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner: This was a very touching book about a woman in her twenties who loses her mother to cancer. She speaks of her mother's strength and how seeing this wane affected her. Upon finding about her mother's diagnosis, she begins to get in touch with her heritage and figure out more about her own identity overall. 

The Man Who Died Twice (Thursday Murder Club, #2) by Richard Osman: The four octogenarians from the Thursday Murder Club are at it again, they are off to solve a murder while simultaneously being helpful and thwarting the authorities. You never know what they might do. However, in the end, they get the job done but not without a lot of adventures along the way. 

The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller: This book begins with a married woman with three kids cheating on her husband with a long time friend. The remainder of the book speaks to her struggle of what to do with her mixed feelings. It flashes back and forth and gives us some insight into her long time relationship with her friend, some of the trials they went through together and how this led to the subsequent relationship with her husband. 

Food: A Love Story by Jim Gaffigan: I listened to this as an audio book and I enjoyed hearing the jokes in the author's own voice. It was a good mix of him making fun of himself for loving food, and some interesting observations about food. For example, he questions why a shiny orange piece of plasticy food became "American cheese." This book made me laugh out loud while running, like when he talks about being so full he couldn't button his pants, so he decided to have some cheese as a snack and when he realized he didn't really like it, he decided to finish it. I have been there! 

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins: By the author of A Girl on The Train, this is yet another murder mystery by Hawkins. However, she does well developing her characters and this book was no exception. We meet the murdered man's strange ex-lover who has a criminal background, his uptight aunt with a bone to pick and the kooky boat neighbor, and we are kept guessing as to whether it was one of them who offed him or not. 

Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell: A young woman disappears in a small neighborhood and fingers start pointing at who done it. Was it the creepy 30 year old "kid" who lives with his aunt and visits strange internet forums? Was it the young woman's therapist, who is not quite as perfect as we once believed? You tell me! I mean, who doesn't love a thriller? 

The Last Widow (Will Trent, #9) by Karin Slaughter: Speaking of thrillers, here is another one! I have enjoyed the entertainment that this author has brought me over the years. The particular one is about a CDC employee who goes missing and a month later a bomb goes off near a hospital. Are the two things linked? And why? We will soon find out! This is a detective series where Will Trent and his partner Sara, a medical examiner, team up to save the day. Or will they? 

Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie Land: College plans go out the window fast when the author finds herself unexpectedly pregnant. She tries to make it work with the father but eventually moves out and attempts to make a life for herself and her young daughter by cleaning houses. She tells her story from the point of the maid, whom for some people is invisible, while others are friendly toward her and even go out of their way to be kind. 

The Bohemians by Jasmin Darznik: This book talks about the famous photographer Dorothea Lange and her move to the city of San Francisco back in the early 1900s. She starts off as a naïve girl and gets hardened through the people she meets, and the things she experiences, most notably the depression. 

Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams: The main character, Ruth, has not seen her twin sister in years, since her twin disappeared behind the iron curtain to Russia with her husband and children. Then out of the blue, she gets a postcard from her sister asking her to come and visit. She teams up with a counterintelligence agent and goes to Russia to get her sister out of trouble and finds adventures she never expected. 

The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard: When Eve was 12 her parents and sister were murdered. Now she is older and she decides to write a book about it. The killer reads the book and thinks maybe he should finish what he started. It's a little strange as it's a story in a story, but in the end I was very satisfied with the way it wrapped up. 

Out of the thirteen books above, four are non-fiction, and yes, I am counting the Gaffigan book! Eleven were audio books, as I am not feeling as motivated to read when I am home in the evenings as I have been in the past. 

What has been your favorite book so far this year?