I think May has to be my favorite month of the year to live in the Pacific Northwest. Everything is green and blooming from previous rain showers, and the weather finally gets warm and dry enough to spend an entire day outside with the family.
Most of the year here is cold, cloudy and wet. We spend a lot of time indoors playing board games, reading books, watching movies, hanging out with friends, and trying to stay dry….
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Yep, I survived my week of solo-parenting! Nobody died, and very little blood was drawn. I’d call that a success! More importantly, I survived a week almost completely disconnected from the internet (other than checking the weather forecast at night)! No blogging, no email, no web browsing, and absolutely no social media…
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When it comes to cooking meals at home, absolutely no-one wants to cook a separate meal for the kids and a separate meal for adults. Yet adults often prefer bolder, spicier flavors with more exotic ingredients. Kids tend to enjoy simpler fare — carb heavy dishes with much milder flavors. At least my kids do — pizza, spaghetti, macaroni & cheese, sandwiches and so on.
It definitely puts smiles on their little faces, but I can only eat so much of it before I’m craving something more exciting…
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Wow, what a difference a month makes! This time last month, the Tako family was buried under a veritable mountain of snow. Now, one month later, spring has definitely sprung.
Temperatures are warmer, and there’s more natural light due to the annual daylight savings time shift. This has made a huge difference in how much daylight we have, and I find myself itching to get yard-work done and prep the bbq for grilling season…
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Unique thinking has always been something of a rarity among the human race. Humans are social creatures that like to fit in. We love to talk, tell stories, share ideas, and even copy some of the best ideas. We also tend to follow the people we believe to be authorities.
This behavioral tendency leads to fads and faddish behavior. Take for example Tulip-mania…
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To understand how our February went down, you first have to understand that we were “snowed-in” for a significant portion of the month. The local news called it “Snowmageddon”, but my kids called it “fun”…
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What a difference a month makes! After the precipitous drop of our net worth in December, I wasn’t expecting to breach the $3 million mark again for awhile… but January was an exceedingly kind month. Our net worth came back with a vengeance — In our taxable accounts alone we saw a $125k increase in January…
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If I ever write a book, I think I might title it, “The Nature Of Compounding”. Afterall, I spend more time writing and thinking about compounding more than I do almost any other topic on this blog.
Compounding itself is a fantastic thing — A magical mathematical force that allows for very small amounts of money to grow into a much larger nest egg. Interest built upon interest, where it grows in an exponential curve towards infinity…
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Another month is done, and it’s time for another monthly financial check-up! For most families, when the “Holiday Season” starts, expenses also begin their seasonal increase. Usually this happens due to an increase in partying, gift giving associated with the holidays, and the seasonal cooling of the weather…
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