Every Sunday, The Simple Dollar reviews a personal finance or other book of interest. Also available is a complete list of the hundreds of book reviews that have appeared on The Simple Dollar over the years. One of the best discussions I’ve ever had with a reader was with Emily. Emily worked in an office

About twelve years ago, I had a job as a computer lab monitor at the college I attended. The job was easy. All I had to do was go to that room during designated hours, sit at a particular desk, and answer user questions, along with a few other minor tasks such as reloading printer

A few days ago, I was standing by the bus stop waiting for my oldest child to arrive home from one of his first days in kindergarten. There were a few other parents of kindergarteners there and I struck up a conversation with one of them. We shared what we do for a living, what

Over the past three weeks, I’ve taken a long vacation. My family and I traveled to the Seattle area to see the sights, visit family, and take our children to Mount Rainier and the ocean. We attended my sister-in-law’s wedding and reception and a few other events surrounding it. After that, we hosted several family

In the near future, I have to give a pair of presentations on similar topics, mostly related to online writing, mostly focused on methods for earning money at it and building an audience. As with any presentation that I give, I want this to be an excellent presentation, and I’m willing to put in the

About three years ago, I essentially switched careers. When I look back on that decision now, what I see is that I loved my job, but I hated big aspects of my career, at least in the direction it was headed. I spent more time than I would like away from my family on trips

A few weeks ago, I put out a call on Twitter and on Facebook for detailed posts that people would like to see. I got enough great responses that I’m going to fill the entire month of July – one post per day – addressing these ideas. Jennifer on Twitter wondered about moving to find

A few weeks ago, I put out a call on Twitter and on Facebook for detailed posts that people would like to see. I got enough great responses that I’m going to fill the entire month of July – one post per day – addressing these ideas. Terrence on Facebook wants to know about “Meditation

A few weeks ago, I put out a call on Twitter and on Facebook for detailed posts that people would like to see. I got enough great responses that I’m going to fill the entire month of July – one post per day – addressing these ideas. On Facebook, Brittaney asked “what should every soon

What will I do with my life? How will I leave my mark on the world? These questions have been a constant part of my life since I was very young – and it’s still a guiding question in my life. Now that I’m a parent to three children and a mentor to other adults,

A few days ago, I had a chat with a friend of mine who is struggling mightily with his job right now. He took a high-paying job with a rather prestigious title at a well-known company. The biggest drawback of this job is that he carries around a company phone and receives calls on it

Amy writes in: I’ve been a paralegal with the same law firm for four years. I love the job and the work that I do. I feel like I’m genuinely helping people. In October, my boyfriend and I sat down and looked at our finances as you suggested. We came to the conclusion that we

In September 2004, I was about to leave my first post-college job. My boss at that time – who happens to be one of the people I respect the most in this world, even now after my radical career shift – observed that I had a pile of unused vacation time that was basically going

I’ve mentioned deliberate practice in the past, but after several experiences in recent days, I felt like it was a vital topic worth revisiting. What’s deliberate practice? I first learned about the topic from Stephen Dubner at the New York Times, who was writing about how Alex Rodriguez built his baseball skills. Dubner noted that

Every Sunday, The Simple Dollar reviews a personal finance or other book of interest. Also available is a complete list of the hundreds of book reviews that have appeared on The Simple Dollar over the years. I double-majored in life science and computer science. What on earth am I doing writing a blog about personal

One constant theme of The Simple Dollar is my encouragement of people to try to find ways to turn their passions and hobbies into a stream of income. This is a path I followed in my own life, as I turned my hobby of writing into a major revenue stream. While that may have been

A few days ago, Kenia left a very interesting comment on my earlier post What You Are – and What You’re Not: Great post, Trent. Very inspiring. I have to disagree slightly though… “There’s still nothing keeping you from having a life filled with doing the things you love. Focus instead on who you are,

I’m never going to play in the NBA. That’s an unrealistic goal for me, and I knew it to be an unrealistic goal when I was ten years old on the playground. I wasn’t fast enough and didn’t have the natural reflexes of the other ten year olds on the court. It was a painful

Every Sunday, The Simple Dollar reviews a personal finance or other book of interest. Also available is a complete list of the hundreds of book reviews that have appeared on The Simple Dollar over the years. Evil Plans, by Hugh “Gaping Void” MacLeod, focuses on the desire that everyone has to do something that they