If you had to make a list of everything that’s in your wallet right now, do you think you could do it? My daughter, who is a college freshman in D.C., had her wallet stolen a few weeks ago. Luckily she doesn’t carry much, so she could remember what cards she lost and we were able to replace most of them fairly quickly. But I was a bit nervous having her walking around without her college ID, bank card, or credit card for a few days….
Read more →Remember back to last spring when you were preparing your taxes. Pretty annoying, right? Didn’t you hate digging through all your papers to find relevant information, some of which was already more than a year old? I bet you made a vow back then that you were going to be more proactive in the future. January is a great time to get things set up for a smooth tax process. As I described in Reducing the Pain of Tax Time, setting up some…
Read more →One of my daily pleasures is doing the crossword puzzle in the New York Times. In yesterday’s puzzle, the clue for 9-down was “Things meant to be used and then thrown away.” I knew the answer right away: ephemera. I use this word frequently with my clients because I want to help them decide which paper items they should save and which they should let go. Dictionary.com further defines ephemera as “items designed to be useful or important for only a short time, especially…
Read more →I just bought two of the cutest – and most useful – little items that would be great stocking stuffers for those of you who buy such things! The Pocket Monkey is a multi-tool that is small, light, and flat enough to fit into a wallet. It can be used as a bottle opener, flat screwdriver, Phillips screwdriver. micro screwdriver (for glasses and battery covers), phone kickstand, hex wrench in 6 sizes, orange peeler, door latch slip, earbuds cord wrap, letter opener, ruler,…
Read more →It’s Black Friday, and on this notorious day of over-shopping, I’m going to tell you a tale of de-acquisition. As you may recall, I’ve been on a kick to get rid of anything I’m no longer using. Back in June, I sold quite a bit on eBay (see Cash for My Trash), including my old digital camera. However, I held on to my most-recently purchased digital camera, which I got in 2012. I used to take a lot of pictures. I’m a…
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