Category Archives: Thoughts and Learnings

The Life of a Millennial: How the Economy, Politics, and Money Have Changed Me

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I’ve recently read some interesting articles about Millennials – it seems, while there are still the nasty articles that talk with certainty we will never amount to anything, more and more people are talking about the real issues we face and how it’s changing us. For me and many of my friends, we are becoming more alike to our grandparents than our own parents – despite still being extremely close with our parents.

Additionally, we are increasingly cynical about politics and economics – this NYT article points to a variety of issues and concerns that are leading many of us away from either political party. It was an article in Alternet, though, that inspired me to write a bit more about my generation and how we’re doing, because I didn’t think it went quite far enough. Continue reading →

10 Steps to Break Up with Your Big Bank

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I hear stories of more and more people wanting to take their money out of corrupt, greedy and law-breaking big banks, and invest their funds into their local communities. However, it still seems that many well-intentioned people are not taking action, and for a long time I was one of them! I recently wrote on my own personal decision to leave Bank of America and move my money to a credit union. Before I decided to do this, I had many doubts, usually focused around hassle of switching, convenience, and the time to research another option.

Having gone through the entire process, I thought it would be helpful to outline in detail how to go about moving your money BACK into your community. It’s not as hard as you think, but it does take some time and planning (just like most other things that are worth doing and worth having!). Continue reading →

Bye-Bye, Bank of America!

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I did it, I finally did it – I closed my account with Bank of America and opened with a local credit union. It feels so good to have my money in the local community, rather than with a a global bank with no interest in or concern for real people.

I also have an interesting story about what happened when I went into the BofA branch to close my accounts…

Continue reading →

Juice Fasting 101: What Is It?

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It’s been a month since my Arden’s Gardens 2-Day Juice Cleanse/Detox, but the wonderful effects have continued. I ate raw foods for breakfast and lunch during the week for two weeks, then planned a one-day juice fast to do every week. The one-day juice fast made feel so great that I extended it to two days – and I’m now on my third week in a row of this routine.

As I’ve shared my experiences into the brand-new world (to me) of green juices and smoothies, I’ve received plenty of feedback and questions from all of you. So I decided to create a mini-series of posts to talk more about it. This post focuses on defining what juicing is and what some of the main benefits are. The second post will cover all that you need to do to get started juicing. Continue reading →

Planned Obsolescence: What it is, Why You Should Care, and How to Avoid it

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This is a guest post by Jesse Andrews, a person I’ve known since elementary school and with whom I’ve gotten reacquainted over the last couple of years as we’ve shared thinking around politics, economics, military, modern lifestyles, global warming, etc. You can read more about his lifestyle projects/improvements and general observations on his website, The Ripening. He brings a positive perspective to all his thinking, and his research of and knowledge around planned obsolescence is a great addition to my recent posts on reducing, reusing and reorganizing.  Continue reading →

3 Easy Ways to Save Money This Year

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The Social Security tax credit of 2% has expired. If you’re like me, you feel it in each paycheck – especially since most Americans haven’t gotten a raise at all in the 2 years the tax credit was in effect. This means we are bringing home a significantly lower amount of money. In the interest of being positive in 2013 and trying to take action where I can, I decided to do things on my own to help ease the pain of this lower income. Here are three ways I saved some money on my monthly bills: Continue reading →

Making (Not Buying) Holiday Gifts for 2012

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Throughout the year, I’ve strived to buy less and make more (and learned a TON along the way). This started in the late spring with my first-ever herb and vegetable garden on my balcony, and has grown into a full-on love affair with cooking and baking for all occasions – using quality, local, and healthful ingredients wherever possible. So many people don’t cook or bake and the delight they have in getting something homemade makes me feel so wonderful.

 It’s no surprise then that I would decide to give baked goods as holiday gifts to all my friends this year. I found some yummy cookie recipes to try, and got little treat boxes and tins to package the finished products. The results were delicious, low-cost, homemade, and so much fun to make! Continue reading →