a blog about nothing
A Short Winter Trip That Felt Bigger Than It Was In the middle of a classic January snowstorm in Michigan, we made the short drive from Northeast Grand Rapids to downtown Rockford. It’s only about eight miles, but when the snow is coming down sideways, and the roads are half …
I have a habit of getting excited about an idea, diving in headfirst, and then quietly questioning my life choices a few weeks later if the results don’t show up fast enough. Sometimes I stick with things long enough for them to work. Sometimes I don’t. Most of the time, …
I came across a Newsmax article the other day with a headline that actually made me stop scrolling, which doesn’t happen often anymore. President Trump floating the idea of capping credit card interest rates at 10% for a year. Not 18 percent. Not 24 percent. Not the ridiculous 29.99 percent …
Every few years, someone drags an old idea out of the attic, dusts it off, slaps a fresh coat of paint on it, and pretends it’s brand new. Same engine. Same problems. New slogan. That’s basically collectivism in a nutshell. And if the word collectivism feels unfamiliar or academic, don’t …
I’ve been trying to make money on the internet for a long time. Long enough that I’ve seen just about every version of the dream come and go, sometimes multiple times. Blogs, ads, affiliate links, email lists, courses, communities, apps, and entire social media platforms that were once hot, then …
I sat down this morning fully intending to work on my online side hustles. Instead, I went down a completely different rabbit hole, one that started with curiosity and ended with a much clearer picture of my future. I opened up my retirement accounts. All of them. Edward Jones. Vanguard. …
I wanted to listen to the entire audiobook of The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. I really did. I downloaded it on my Audible app with good intentions. I hit play. I gave it an honest shot. And then… I didn’t finish it. Not because I think the topic is …
Most money fears come from two places… The first is logic. The second is… your dad telling you he lost twenty grand in a weekend back in 2008 and now you can’t even look at a 401K without feeling like someone’s about to pull a trapdoor under your feet. This …
Every year, fathers and sons across the Midwest pack up their pickup trucks and head north… a pilgrimage fueled by coffee, Mountain Dew, YouTube Music on the radio, and a few unnecessary stops along the way. This year, it was my son, Ethan, and I making the trip to northern …
There’s a strange moment that sneaks up on you somewhere in midlife. For me, it was around 47 or 48, when I started looking around and realizing half the people I knew had nicer stuff. Fancier cars, flashier vacations, kitchens that looked like they were designed for a cooking show. …