Usually today is the day I post my accountability update for the month, but I felt like with three extra days to spend and some travel, it would be better to do it the first day of July. ALSO, I was thinking about the importance of frugal friends and today happens to be my most…
When you buy a home, it isn’t always with the intention to sell it. But, sometimes we want to move on to pastures new. And, if that is the case, you ideally want to make a profit. There are some things that you can do, that will give you a boost in your post-sale bank…
An issue that a lot of people have is that they’re afraid of taking sick days unless they’re physically incapable of hauling themselves out of bed. But this generally isn’t the smartest thing to do: you should remember that if you don’t feel great, and if you are able to take the day off, you…
Not that long ago, I interviewed with an opera company that sent me part of a score and asked me 8,000 (or what felt like 8,000) questions about it over the phone as part of my interview to prove I could read music. I stumbled through the entire interview. I did not get the job.…
Guys, it has been almost six years since I spent a month writing out my Budget 101 series. SIX YEARS. I think that’s pretty exciting but it also made me think it’s time to revisit the idea. I was recently at a symposium of stage managers, talking about personal finance, and a few of them questioned my…
Albert Einstein is often credited for this famous saying: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” Today I figured I’d spill the beans on a personal finance blogger fail of mine. I am super susceptible to Pinterest advertising. Like, it’s a problem. On the plus…
I just bit the bullet and renewed the hosting and domain for brokeGIRLrich for another three years. This is usually my biggest expense for this side hustle. However, I also got hacked last month, so that was also pretty exciting. I have a confession to make, I am really bad at installing updates. The back end…
I saw someone Tweet about bucket lists the other day and I haven’t stopped thinking about them since. (And now I can’t find the Tweet either to credit them, so that’s cool… if anyone knows who the PF blogger talking about bucket lists was, holler at me yo.) Bucket lists have been on my mind…
America is a nation of laws. Some are good, some are bad, some are ambiguous, and some are downright mind-boggling. Given that we have 50 states with hundreds of thousands of towns and cities within them, finding wacky laws is not at all difficult. The difficulty lies in coming up with a list of the…
Just because you have a car doesn’t mean it has to be an occasional drain on your wallet. From insurance and car maintenance to gas and tag renewals, owning a car can be a convenient inconvenience. That said, there are things you can do to bring in money with your car rather than have your…
Money is such a crazy, emotional topic. It’s still taboo to talk about it too much. We’re all just encouraged to quietly make showy displays of our wealth. And when we do finally start to talk about any little part of it, suddenly everyone’s got an opinion. But their opinion is about you and what you’re…
The idea of starting a business can be scary. We’ve all heard stories of those entrepreneurs who squandered all of their life savings on a business idea that didn’t pan out, leaving them destitute. Setting yourself up doesn’t have to be like that, however. It is entirely possible to start small and build up from…
If you’re an early career stage manager thinking of making the move to NYC, there are a few important financial decisions to make before taking the leap. Some questions to consider: Are your student loans paid off? What is your max rent budget? Have you budgeted for additional expenses? Do you have enough savings to…
When you start a new business, you’re an unknown entity, and yet you want clients to see you as a good investment. That isn’t going to happen if you look like you’ve been dragged through a hedge backward or hand over a residential address and phone number. Like a bad credit rating on a mortgage…
Profile I am thirty four years old and I’m still living the freelance/sabbatical life. My only monthly bill is my health insurance. I’m starting to consider my return to the rat race, but likely not until the end of summer. Though if anyone needs a darn good PSM starting mid/late August, give me a holler.…
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this much lately, but this weekend I’ll be speaking on a financial panel at the Broadway Stage Management Symposium and I’m pretty excited. While there are stage managers of all ages and from all walks of life there, a lot of attendees are also college students and recent grads.…
In November, I wrote a post about sabbaticals and I can report – the average Mel can afford to take a Sabbatical – as of right now. The return to the rat race is considerably more unclear than when I left the job in December. I also wound up with a tons and tons of…
Being broke is not what life is all about. But that’s the life that most of us are living. In fact, a hot topic amongst friendship groups, businesses, and the people you bump into in the street, is how much money is becoming an issue at the minute. But when you’ve only got one job…
One of the most draining aspects on your finances in modern life is high rent costs on private accommodation. If you find a large percentage of your wages are being spent on your housing costs then you are effectively living in poverty. Take California as an example, it’s reported that in some areas the average…
It can be done! I feel like I have two modes – DO ALL THE THINGS and DO NONE OF THE THINGS. My brother and I were just chatting about the fact that there are both times when we’re at home and work is slow that we just turn into total sloths. We lose the…
While the two might sound like one and the same, there are some rather significant differences between ecommerce and ebusiness. Still, it’s perfectly understandable how the two could be confused. One of them is inextricably linked to the other. Ecommerce could not exist without the support of ebusiness. So, with all of that said; what…
Burnout is a funny thing. I think it’s very cool we talk about it these days. I think it’s weirdly alarming how common it is. Like – my grandparents have been dead a while now, but I can’t imagine any of them having much to say about burnout. You just do what you have to…
Most everyone faces debt at some point in their lives. For most people, slowly paying off their debts is effective and they do not experience any true financial problems. Unfortunately, debt can sometimes unexpectedly get out of control. The loss of a job, a reduction in income, or a serious illness can all have a…
I love reading credit card reward stories. Saving hundreds of dollars traveling is super easy if you have good credit and you pay off your credit cards every month. If those things don’t apply to you, travel reward card hacking is not for you – though it could be someday. I’ve done a few trips…
Healing an injury can take a lot of time. Sometimes it just takes as long as it takes, and there’s nothing you can do to speed it up. If you try to rush it and go back to your day to day activities too quickly, you could end up causing more serious, permanent damage. That…