The Overwhelming Hidden Cost of Keeping Up Appearances

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The Overwhelming Hidden Cost of Keeping Up Appearances

There is SO MUCH pressure. It's everywhere, tacked on to every obligation or expectation we feel compelled to meet. 

We feel the need to:

  • Have the right friends
  • Date the right people
  • Have the right look
  • Be or look the right age
  • Participate in the right activities
  • Shop in and eat at the right places
  • Say, think and know the right things
  • Attend the right school(s)
  • Get the right job 

…and the list goes on.

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Book Review: "Dear Debt" by Melanie Lockert

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Book Review: "Dear Debt" by Melanie Lockert

Want to know what Free to Pursue thinks about Melanie Lockert's book "Dear Debt"?

I gave the book a 4 out of 5 Rockstar rating.

The book’s format is straightforward, yet it includes some gems, some unique features you won’t necessarily find in other debt reduction books:

  1. A focus on the individual
  2. The hidden power of side hustles
  3. How reducing debt affects your outlook

Read my full review here.

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Debt and Drugs - 10 Things Big Banks and Big Pharma Have In Common

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Debt and Drugs - 10 Things Big Banks and Big Pharma Have In Common

The 2008-2009 crisis was shocking to many. Banks were vilified—though not punished—and we’re still recovering to this day. 

The U.S. market may be at an all-time high, but the financial system is still sick and it may possibly suffer another blow because nothing has changed and some aspects of it are getting worse. The U.S., banks that were “too big to fail” are getting bigger, the same powerful people are running the show behind the scenes, important consumer-protection legislation has been eliminated, consumer debt levels are still high, the government’s financial position would make it difficult to weather another financial crisis, and the “fiscal easing” policy may backfire due to the risk of inflation it poses.

If you think the above is frightening, there’s another industry that should worry us just as much, if not more. It’s as big, as bad and as dangerous as the banks, but it doesn’t get nearly enough attention. Big Pharma is also out to get us and it has more in common with Big Banks than we might think.

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The Darker Side of Keeping Up With The Joneses

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The Darker Side of Keeping Up With The Joneses

Financial bloggers often speak of the downsides associated with keeping up with "The Joneses"; the folks who seem to be living that elusive "good life".

The thoughts go a little something like this:

  • You spend more than you intend to because they make you want things you hadn't even considered important.
  • You're never happy because you keep thinking about what they have that you don't.
  • You feel the need to get bigger and better versions of the newer things you own as soon as you see they've upgraded their lifestyle. 
  • You feel that, if you're a good provider like they appear to be, you need to be giving your family everything others are providing (education, leisure, experiences, material goods).
  • You feel that if you go to a good school you have a chance at a better life like theirs.
  • You never save enough because no one has their bank balance printed on their forehead but folks will sure notice that you're driving a beater or that you're not wearing the big brands.

If only that were the extent of the consequences associated with aspirational spending.

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