Some people naturally are biphasic in their sleep patterns. It’s not completely unnatural to wake up and be alert for a couple hours in the middle of the night. The problematic part is stressing about it. Not stressing about it is easier said than done, and I have no suggestions for that, other than an assurance that…

I second this. My family was always pretty damn comfortable as I was growing up- and I had a stay-at-home mom and a farmer dad (organic soybeans, ginseng, corn) with no higher than a high school diploma. Definitely not “white-collar” but certainly living up to middle-class standards in the owning a home, several…

That’s the goal! We’re working towards it slowly but surely. Credit Cards are a scam, really and truly.

That’s not a bad idea- a $500 balance on a card with a $1000 limit feels like a lot more money than a $500 balance on a card with a $5000 limit.

So, I don’t think that anyone sets out to rack up debt. I know I didn’t. I didn’t even go out and buy reckless, expensive stuff. It was the little things. And then once in awhile something big happened ($800 for a surprise car repair, laptop died, etc.) and I didn’t have any real savings. And then the minimum card…

Over the last four years, I have accumulated more credit than I have annual income. No joke. Getting credit is suuuuper easy, especially if you have a decent credit score (and all you REALLY need for that is a squeaky clean payment history). Getting credit is, of course, separate from accumulating debt, but when you…

I’ve had computer extended warranties pay for themselves multiple times over, especially on the accidental damage type stuff. While I’ll admit to being accident prone, I can’t believe I’m the only one to lose more than one laptop to a liquid spill in my lifetime. Both times the computer was less than 1 year old, and…

Salaried folks can quite easily get screwed over. I don’t remember the last time I only worked 40 hours but part of that is due to my own inability to get stuff done and I imagine that a lot of people playing the 50-60 hours a week game are suffering from the same disease. When there’s no set end time, work tends to…

When my partner and I spend any holiday with my family (where we are two lone unabashedly socialist wolves in a very very deep conservative ocean) sometimes the only thing that one can do is pour another glass of whatever cheap wine they’ve decided to serve and watch the show. It’s become some sort of a game to see…

I think the purpose is more to reveal how much eating out costs vs. making meals. That difference isn’t always obvious because honestly, grocery shopping can end up being pretty expensive and wasteful too. It’s especially bad when you’re only cooking for one or two people and you’d trying to be healthy by buying fresh…

No one is actually ever going to get a pet exclusively for the potential snoozeless alarm clock functionality. Relax.

I actually live in a very urban area- plenty of noise and lights. I’m also used to a shitty night’s sleep. I don’t know where I’m going with this. Probably don’t listen to me. Ha.

That is a fair assessment. It is also useless when you’re consistently waking up before the sun. I personally love the idea of the light alarm, but it’s not helpful to me because my partner consistently sleeps an hour or two longer than I do. While my alarm doesn’t wake him, the light definitely would.

1.) Ditch blackout curtains. Dark is not your friend.

I also think there are different kinds of “eating out” for lunch. If all you’re getting is a Jimmy John’s sandwich, you’re probably breaking even. Especially considering buying all the ingredients and making enough sandwiches to use them up before they go bad- I’ve thrown away enough lettuce in my lifetime to feed a…

I’m CONSTANTLY hiding little things I know I’ll need, a habit learned from a former lab member who mentored me well. I find it helps to write my name on things too, on fluorescent orange tape- because apparently some folks never get past kindergarten, and at least when your name is on it it’s easier to track down…

People “steal” from co-workers because from the guilty party’s perspective, nothing really belongs to anyone, everything belongs to the company/workplace/office. And really, it’s not stealing, it’s just borrowing without any real intention to put it back.

As someone who has (and still does, unfortunately) struggled with debt, both due to credit cards and my education, I do wish people were more open about it. I might be alone in this, but for me, being in debt carries with it a real sense of shame (if you were better at managing money, if you weren’t so impulsive, if…

The predictable budget thing is HUGE. We lived in a downtown Minneapolis apartment with a washer/dryer in unit. It was GREAT, until the day a sensor on the washer failed and we woke up to a flooded kitchen. On a Sunday morning. One phone call and 15 minutes later, maintenance was in our unit with wet vacs, mops and…

I didn’t get a gross eye infection, but I very nearly ended up with a corneal ulcer which could have very easily become an infection. Part of the reason you rub the lenses is to keep them clean enough to keep exchanging oxygen effectively. This is also why two week lenses are only meant to be worn for two weeks. If…