Open Source Blogging

Over the last few weeks, I have been reflecting on how many members of my rather close extended family are either near high school graduation or are in college right now. They have so many great opportunities ahead of them in the next few years - and so many chances to botch things, too. Stephen, Brittany, Robert - these are some of the stupid things I did in college that I wound up regretting financially for … Continue Reading

A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with an old friend of mine that I respect quite a lot. He’s one of those people that seems to know how to do everything - he can fix computers (and write code), handle almost any home repair, play the guitar, beat almost everyone I know at chess, discuss literature extensively, and so on.

We were simply talking to each other about our reflections on the past year - both personal milestones and otherwise. I reflected on the true birth of my writing career and the growth of my children (especially … Continue Reading

“Babauta has become a powerhouse of online productivity for good reason: his mantra works.” - Timothy Ferriss, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, The 4-Hour Workweek

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

Just in time for the New Year: I’m thrilled, overjoyed to announce that my new book is now available in bookstores and fine online book retailers near you: The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential … in Business and in Life!

You can order The Power of Less today:

Amazon.com… Continue Reading

Yesterday Mike Arrington took us off the rails and into the idiot land.

Listen, I’m as egotistical as the rest of them. I can say “follow me” along with the best of them. According to Loic Le Meur and Mike Arrington, founder of TechCrunch, I have more authority than either of them because I have more followers on Twitter. Their words, not mine.

That idea is patently idiotic. We have been derailed from the promised land of smarter conversations on Twitter and have moved into the idiot land if that’s the way we think.

Even worse, my post yesterday about this got … Continue Reading

Over the next few days, we’re going to take a look at five common New Year’s resolutions that people often adopt for their finances, evaluate some of the traps that people fall into with regards to that resolution, and come up with some real actions that can turn a challenging New Year’s resolution into a success.

“I resolve to spend less money in 2009.” The money diet, in other words. Many, many people make a resolution similar to this for the coming year - and they usually see … Continue Reading

“So if we love someone, we should train in being able to listen. By listening with calm and understanding, we can ease the suffering of another person.” - Thich Nhat Hanh

It’s Christmastime and it’s the season of giving … what are you giving your loved ones this year?

The holidays often mean giving a lot of gifts, sometimes expensive, but often we lose sight of what’s most important.

What gifts do your loved ones really want, whether they’re your children, your significant other, your parents, your friends, or other family members? Is it an expensive electronic item, or some other material or … Continue Reading

I’m an avid reader of fiction and just love a novel that transports me, that is so gripping that I can’t put it down. But I also enjoy a good non-fiction book, from self-help stuff to philosophy to biographies to just about anything that makes me think.

After the warm reception of my post on novels (50 Amazing and Essential Novels to Enrich Your Library), a number of people asked for a list of non-fiction as well. Well, here it is!

I was hesitant to do this as there are so many classic non-fiction texts, from the Greeks to philosophers through … Continue Reading

Every other week, The Simple Dollar reviews a personal productivity, personal development, or entrepreneurship book.

A few months ago, I was very pleasantly surprised by Mark Forster’s personal productivity book, Do It Tomorrow. Most of the time, when I open up a personal productivity or time management book, I can pretty much predict what the book will say - make lists, prioritize tasks, delegate, and so on. Forster surprised me by tossing most of these sacred cows out the door - and he made a lot of … Continue Reading

Matt sends me this heartbreaking email (I trimmed it down to the important pieces):

Like you, I’ve always dreamed of being a writer. I also majored in a completely different discipline in order to earn a strong income. Well, after several years of working, scrimping, and saving, I decided to quit that job and spend a year getting my dreams of writing off the ground. I had the money in the bank to do this and realized that if I didn’t give it a shot, I’d regret it.

Well, that year passed, and I was unable to publish a … Continue Reading

Jessica wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free.

Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to help me to help others, there are easy and free things you can do, click here to learn how you can help.

“Dear Steve,

I am 25 years old, pretty deep in debt, and engaged to be married. My fiancee, who I’ve been … Continue Reading