EoR No. 10: How are we doing birthdays in 2025?
Plus, a better measure for unemployment, decommodified housing and a student loan update
Top of mind
Please stay skeptical. Liberal-baiting misinformation has made it to Substack Notes, and I lose my mind a little every time I see 100,000 restacks on an uncited post about something that sounds delightful (usually Elon Musk eating some kind of crow) but is also so easily debunkable.
Even if you’re not on social media, this stuff makes its way into conversations via friends who are. Make a mental note during your chat, and give it a quick Google before you pass it along the grapevine. It’s a vital habit to build, and if you can start with the obviously-too-good-to-be-true stuff, you can strengthen that muscle to question the more subtle and insidious misinformation that impacts things like, well, elections.
News and upcoming events
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🥑 ICYMI at Healthy Rich this week
🔗 Things to catch
Does a low unemployment rate really matter if nearly one-quarter of Americans are earning poverty wages or less?
I talked with Anne and Melody for the Culture Study Podcast about the enduring myths of budget culture (plus Melody’s riveting Dave Ramsey experiences!).
Since, like, a third of you also subscribe to Culture Study, you might have already learned about Jonathan Tarleton’s book Homes for Living this week, but it’s absolutely worth a second mention. Tarleton’s essay on setting policies that make housing for living in and not for wealth building is a good primer. As his Culture Study Q&A.
As I desperately attempt to keep up with the student loan repayment saga playing out in our federal government, another update for borrowers on income-driven repayment.
A very cool Q&A by writer Nicole Dieker Finley with me and Jen Smith and Jill Sirianni about the differences and similarities of money management between You Don’t Need a Budget and their book, Buy What You Love without Going Broke.
One more of me talking: I joined financial planner Meghan Dwyer on Money Isn’t Scary to budget culture, the three dimensions of financial wellness and how to look past social media posts about consumption and use money the way you want to.
💬 Let’s discuss
What’s your favorite birthday memory or tradition?
How do you celebrate birthdays in your family? Are you big gifters, experience-seekers or just-another-day types? I’m terrible at celebrating myself, but I hate to let my birthday pass without note, so I’m looking for inspiration! Take this question wherever you want to go — do birthdays bring up money feelings for you? Are you doing them differently this year in light of economic blackouts, underconsumption, simplicity, etc.? How are we doing birthdays in 2025??
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For the last years, I have simply invited some friends over and asked them to offer me something to eat on the evening. This feels like a total win as I get a great time with lovely people with minimum preparation before and minimal clutter from the gifts, as everything is consumable (there is generally too much, so not everything is consumed in one day, but this is also a win, because I get some lunches for the next week already prepared!).
I love celebrating birthdays. I've spent the past few years creating a birthday tradition for myself of inviting friends to a public beach at Lake Tahoe and doing a potluck style beach picnic. I usually bring sandwiches and a cake or cupcakes, everyone else provides side salads, fruit, chips, etc. We eat, watch the sunset, swim if it's warm enough, and then head home when it starts to get dark.