Want money advice that you can actually understand? So much money advice ignores who we are, our background, our values, and our emotions. I’ll show you how to be in better control of your money every week, even if you’re just starting out.
🎯 Aiming for less in the new year
Howdy,
New Year energy is all a bit much for me. It feels like the whole of the internet is screaming about resolutions, goals and why making my bed every morning could make me a millionaire.
During this time of year, instead of setting goals, I think about behaviors that I want to either subtract or add into my life. And the only goal I set out to achieve is the vague aim of consistency.
Instead of shooting for more in 2024, I’m going to aim for less. The thing I’d like to subtract is feeling guilty for not being productive. I’m not sure if I’ll get there, but I know that the first step is to simply notice when it happens.
Being productive isn’t a bad thing. But I’ve attached my sense of security to it. And I often find myself worshiping at the altar of work in an attempt to quell my insecurity. The truth is, I think I simply need to give those feelings space to exist. And from there, I’ll see what blooms.
Do you have any attachments giving you a false sense of security? Is there anything you’ll be letting go of in 2024? Don’t be shy; hit reply.
Your friend,
1. 💸 I Survived Capitalism and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt with Madeline Pendleton (Weird Finance) In this compelling episode of Weird Finance, Madeline Pendleton (@madeline_pendleton), the dynamic owner of the vintage clothing company Tunnel Vision and TikTok's "Gen Z's Aunt Madeline," dives deep into the complexities of financial control, economic destiny, and the interplay between personal agency and systemic forces.
2. 🚖 Driver by day, TikTok star by night: The Vietnamese gig worker living a double life (Rest of the World)
3. 🤑 $5 Million is Nothing (A Wealth of Common Sense) “It’s not greed that drives the world, but envy.”
4. 🤓 A bookkeeping thing - The Key to Reaching Your Goals is to Stop Fixating on Them (Paco for Gusto)
5. 📉 The Racial Wealth Gap is Shrinking, But Problems Remain (Of Dollars and Data) While the gap is shrinking, the inflation-adjusted dollar differences are getting larger.
6. 💭 Has Gratuity Culture Reached a Tipping Point? (The New Yorker) Paying extra for service has inspired rebellions, swivelling iPads, and irritation from Trotsky. Post-pandemic, the practice has entered a new stage.
7. 💰 Respect Each Others' Delusions (Collab Fund) The majority of lottery tickets are purchased by the lowest-income Americans. Why? I have a theory: The lowest-income Americans overestimate their odds of winning because when you feel trapped in poverty-stricken stagnation you desperately need to believe that you can buy a ticket out of your situation in order to maintain a certain level of functioning optimism. That’s a stark example, but the same force influences the beliefs of everyone.
8. 👜 You don’t need everything you want (Vox) “The American economy remains one of abundance. Said abundance isn’t equally distributed, of course, and lots of people really are struggling. But as angry as consumers say they are about the economy, they’re not, on aggregate, changing their spending habits. For many people in the country, life is pretty good. And yet, they often don’t feel that way. No matter how much we’ve attained, we always want more.”
If you have a question you’d like me to answer on the Weird Finance podcast, you can leave me a voicemail at 1-833-ASK-PACO. You can also email me your question by replying to this email or emailing us at weirdfinancepod@gmail.com.
The Nerdletter by Paco de Leon
Want money advice that you can actually understand? So much money advice ignores who we are, our background, our values, and our emotions. I’ll show you how to be in better control of your money every week, even if you’re just starting out.
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