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Reading Recommendations: Investment Style

I think I have mentioned that while Princes was accepted into college as an engineering major, she changed her major to economics before she registered for classes. She took an economics class the last semester of her senior year and fell in love, specifically with the investing side of things. I was just baffled, am still baffled by it all.

So now we are two years in and she is going strong, showing no signs of changing her major or her mind to dive headfirst into all things money. She just finished her second college economics class with a 100! And investing is still really fascinating to her.

As I was mentioned all this to my bestie a few weeks ago over dinner, she immediately picked up her phone and texts her hubby. Evidently, they had recently been a discussion about what he wishes someone had told him when he first started investing and he had a list of books to share.

I got home and ordered her a set to be delivered to school and me a set. I want to be somewhat informed once she starts digging in. He gave me a list of three books, these are the ones we are starting with. (The 3rd was $42 each, so we are going to start with these two that were right around $10-15 each.)

Anyone else have a “must have” book for beginner investors?

Speaking of Princess

She and her roommate of last year are not big fans of their living arrangements this year. (They are living in a 5 bedroom, 5 bathroom apartment with strangers.) It’s off campus, student housing. So discussions are already being had about making another move next summer when their lease is up.

I am super proud of how she is handling her “adulting” but I think adding additional expenses might tip the scales and be too much. But I suppose this is one of those times when I can advise when she asks, but must ultimately respect her decision.

Just for fun…this is a text I received last week after she was down sick for a couple of days. I thought you all might get a giggle out of it like I did. We all have had those “bad roommate” experiences at one time or another. At least this has been the worst of it…at least, as far as I know.

Hope

Hope is a creative, solutions-focused business manager helping clients grow their business and work more efficiently by leveraging expertise in project management, digital marketing, & tech solutions. She’s recently become an empty nester as her 5 foster/adoptive kids have spread their wings. She lives with her 5 dogs in a small town in NE Georgia and prefers the mountains to the beaches any day. She struggles with the travel bug and is doing her best to help each of her kids as their finish schooling and become independent (but it’s hard!) She has run her own consulting company for almost twenty years! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the Spring of 2015 and feels like she has finally in a place to really focus on making wise financial decisions.

It’s sad when kindness is unexpected

by Hope

We had a fantastic time at the Georgia National Fair a couple of weeks ago. Was it economical? No, absolutely not, state fairs are expensive, there is just no way around it. Did we economize by bringing food and buying tickets in advance? Yes. Were the memories made priceless? Absolutely!

Family meal out

Everyone enjoyed the food we had in the room. And since everyone is gainfully employed, I did not pay for any “fair” fun other than buying the tickets. Therefore, I did keep my costs down significantly over years past. And everyone kind of did their own thing as far as schedule…some went early (History Buff, my fiance and I) and some went late. Some left early (History Buff) and some stayed to the end (my fiance and I loved the live music options and enjoyed longer fair days just hanging out.)

It was a great time! And everyone is game for going again next year. (Even the two kiddos that didn’t go with us are sorry they missed it.)

Time to say goodbye

On our final day, everyone was headed in their own direction…

History Buff actually left early as he wanted to hit up some of the historical museums around.
Gymnast and his friends were headed into Atlanta to go to the World of Coke.
Princess and her boyfriend had to head back to their respective colleges.
And my fiance and I were headed to the airport since he was returning to Philly.

We decided to go out to eat as a family as we checked out of the hotel and headed in different directions. And I was super excited about getting the face time with all the kids, but I was dreading the bill – frugal mama in full effect over here. (We all know that’s a change.)

It was a great meal. We discussed favorite fair experiences, what we would do different, and made plans to come again next year. My fiance (I’ve really got to come up with my BAD nickname for him) and I decided to add visiting every state fair to our bucket list once we begin traveling. (Traveling is a BIG part of our 5 year plan but after ALL debt payoff.)

An unexpected gift

Because these are my kids and their friends and this is our family tradition, I covered the costs of this trip. And I expect to cover those types of things. But at the end of the meal, I went to the restroom and when I came back to the table, my fiance handed me his credit card and said “for the meal.” I was shook. And he could tell by the look on my face that I was completely floored.

It’s not that he is not kind and generous and treats me amazing all the time. It’s that in over a decade of being a single mom, that has never happened. I pay for all my own birthday dinners, mother’s day meals, family meals, etc. It’s always me, just me. And without asking or discussing, he took it upon himself to pay for a family meal with kids and their friends. I chose good. And I almost cried at how overwhelmed I was by this simple gesture. It’s just been so long that I have had to do everything, be responsible for everything.

“Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change.”

Bob Kerrey American politician

One more note on this, when the bill came and she brought back the credit card receipt, he said “tip how you would.” He knows that I am a generous tipper. With a son and two siblings in the food service industry, tipping well is important to me. I fell in love with him all over again when he made that statement. He’s a keeper!

Hope