The most valuable email you’ll read for yourself and your kids in a few MOMENTS per week.
We hit 3,000 subscribers on YouTube! Thanks to all of you for the support! Don’t forget to check out my latest YouTube Shorts and subscribe if you haven’t.
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MONEY TIP
To save money on groceries, while still getting high quality, find a food co-op near you. These are popping up all over the states. Here’s how they typically work: you show up to the location, pay a set price, and get a few boxes full of local, fresh produce. Sometimes there are other stands with local food if you want to buy more (like a farmer’s market), and they often have add-ons with things like homemade bread or jams.
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OPPORTUNITY
Hoodmaps is a crowdsourced map of information about cities. It can give you some local insight into which areas of a city you should focus on when visiting. It can be useful, and it’s often accurate, but it’s also just funny to look through.
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MINIMALISM TIP
If you don’t feel like you’ve made the progress you wanted to with minimalism, maybe you haven’t found your “why.” You may think the reason you’re doing it is to just get rid of junk or because you want a clean house, but there is a deeper why there. Is it that you want your kids to grow up in a clutter-free home that they feel cozy in? Or maybe you ultimately want the less stressful life of owning fewer things. What’s the biggest why for you? Find it and remember it when you’re decluttering and minimizing your home.
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ESSENTIAL READING
Mornings are my favorite. I’m a morning person for sure. But I didn’t used to be. I kind of forced it, and now I love it. One of the best books I read early on was The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. It’s literally a proven strategy to control your mornings. Once you control your morning, you control your day. I’ve been following the author for many years, even through his diagnosis of a very rare cancer when he was only 37. I suggest looking him up and seeing his resilience as he overcame cancer. It’s inspiring.
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NOTION
Last week we talked about credit. This week, the notion to discuss with your kids is kind of the opposite: emergency funds. If your child learns the importance of a fully-funded emergency fund, they won’t have to turn to credit cards (or you) when disaster strikes. How big should an emergency fund be? The general rule used to be 3-6 months, but after COVID hit, many people realized 3-6 months wasn’t enough. Now that we know crazy things like that can happen, I’d say aim for a year’s worth of living expenses.
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TRAVEL TIP
Before you leave home, figure out the most cost-effective transportation options if you’re not going to have a car. Some form of public transportation is going to be the cheapest, and easiest, in each country, but every country is different. Look it up ahead of time to see if it’s best to take the train, bus, metro, cabs, water taxis, Uber, or something else – for the location you’re going to. Sometimes, rental cars are your best bet. Most cities have family travel passes, and discounts for multi-day tickets. Look into whatever type of “city pass” each city offers. Check ahead online to see if it’s worth it. Some cities have great passes, while others are rip-offs.
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SCRIPTURE
“When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.”
Psalm 94:19
Closing Question
Are you taking steps today to reach your long-term goals? Or are you taking steps that take you farther away from long-term goals? Remember, even when a car is in neutral it still typically rolls in one direction or the other.
