Money date No. 16: Focusing on money so I don’t melt into a ball of worry over our crumbling society

Travel expenses, big career swings and more kid costs that make me angry

I have nothing new to say about our new-used president, but I can’t not acknowledge the shift we’ve all gone through this week. I’m coping by minimizing my news consumption and retreating into my niche, where I know how to help people. I’m thinking deeply about how my finances will be affected by the steps I’ll take to stay secure and healthy in the years to come. I’m keeping an eye on trans news to support young trans folks in my life. I’m staying calm.

I’m simultaneously energized by the conversations I continue to have with readers of this newsletter and with folks in the media, spurred by You Don’t Need a Budget, about changing our cultural relationship with money. It’s truly dystopian to pair this celebratory personal era with the bereft state of our society. I hope these conversations can offer a spot of light for folks — and a place to put your attention as you move it away from the unuseful circus of federal politics.

---

💡 Inspired by a Healthy Rich contributor, a money date is an exercise I crafted for You Don’t Need a Budget. Subscribers can follow along in a private space after the paywall, and I encourage you to steal my questions to guide your own reflections!

---

Buy You Don’t Need a Budget on Amazon or Bookshop.

What’s the most joyful thing you did with money this week?