A blog about college, investing, cooking, psychology, saving money and general life concepts.
There comes a moment in life when things click into place. For me, it wasn’t a sudden epiphany; it was a slow dawning, a series of small wake-up calls that finally added up. I’ve been in school since April 2024, putting every ounce of energy into my classes, trying to prove something to myself, maybe... Continue Reading →
(A Reflection on Financial Readiness, Boundaries, and Emotional Bandwidth) Realizing You Can’t Help Everyone Financially I used to think that if you cared enough, you could help anyone. I don’t believe that anymore. Recently, a friend of mine was thinking about adopting a dog as a Christmas present for her son, a $300 expense, while... Continue Reading →
When you’ve spent your whole life just trying to survive, the first time you can breathe feels like wealth. You’ve paid down a few bills, maybe built a small cushion. For once, you’re not checking your bank app every morning to make sure you didn’t overdraft. That small moment of peace is exactly when the... Continue Reading →
If you’ve ever spoken with a friend who talks about their “investments” as if they were possessions, trophies to be shown rather than living assets to be tended, you’re not alone. You can probably hear it in their tone: “I’ll be comfortable once I have some investments.” That sentence sounds harmless, even responsible. But underneath... Continue Reading →
On Saturday, the phone rang, waking me out of my sleep. It was the 24/7 fraud prevention team at my credit union. Someone had run a $65 charge through a company called City Sightseeing in Washington, D.C. That would’ve been a neat trick, since I live in Washington State and haven’t been on a bus... Continue Reading →
What People See vs. What Built It From the outside, people sometimes assume I have it all together. They see my straight A’s as a student. They see my global blog that reaches readers in dozens of countries. They hear that I have an investment fund. And the conclusion they jump to is: That I'm... Continue Reading →
Success Isn’t Baked, It Emerges Joshua Kennon, a finance writer and investor, once wrote something that changed how I look at life: “You cannot bake a pie. A pie is a byproduct.” https://youtu.be/BNZrMuxjLOA?si=puHlW6TpEhmc7-Rf I found this yesterday and wanted to add it here. Give it a listen while reading. At first, it sounds confusing. Of... Continue Reading →
Most people only ever see the leaves. They see the green, full tree in front of them, an investor with a portfolio, a student at a respected university, someone who lost weight, or a person running their own fund or blog. What they rarely see are the roots, the years of deposits, decisions, and compounding... Continue Reading →
There’s a concept from Charlie Munger that most people skip over. It’s called contrast misreaction tendency, or what we’d call contrast bias in psychology. It sounds abstract, like something you’d only use in a courtroom cross-examination or an economic thesis. But the truth is, you’re probably living it. If you’ve ever: Stayed in a bad... Continue Reading →
Most people think wealth is a matter of luck, a high salary, or being born into the right family. And sure, circumstances matter. They always have. Some people start three steps behind because of poverty, illness, layoffs, or a thousand things outside their control. But here’s the truth few want to admit: once money actually... Continue Reading →
The Broke College Student 