Pursuing True North

Pursuing true North Hey friend, This week I watched three different clients open a dentist bill, then an orthodontist bill, in the same seven days. Two called me sounding like they'd just taken incoming fire. One texted me a single word: "why." Here's the truth nobody puts on a motivational poster: teeth are not optional, and neither is paying for them. Cavities don't check your calendar. Wisdom teeth don't wait for a raise. And if you've got kids, orthodontists have apparently decided a...

Pursuing true North Hey friend, We've got about two weeks left before school starts back up, and I can already feel the calendar filling in around the edges. Sports sign-ups. Practice schedules. The group text that starts with "so who's doing carpool this year." Everybody talks about the school supply budget. New backpacks, new shoes, the fifty-seven glue sticks the list swears you need. But nobody talks about the two budgets that actually wreck families every fall. Budget one: your actual...

Pursuing true North Friends, I still remember what it felt like before I understood our finances. Everything felt like it was hanging on by a thread. I needed every paycheck to hit on time. I needed certain checks to clear on certain days, or the whole week would come undone. If you have ever done math in your head at the grocery store, praying the card would go through, you know exactly the feeling I am talking about. The money fights were intense back then too. Not the cute kind of...

Pursuing true North Friend, we need to talk about the lies. Not the big, dramatic ones. The quiet ones. The ones you whisper to yourself so smoothly you don't even notice they're lies anymore. I've told all three of these. So no judgment here - just a fellow recovering liar handing you a flashlight. Lie #1: "I'll save at the end of the month." Oh, sweet summer. There is no money at the end of the month. The end of the month is where money goes to disappear - eaten alive by Target runs, "treat...

Pursuing true North Hey friend, We all know the golden rule of personal finance: spend less than you make. That's the unemotional, math-y part. No feelings, just facts. But here's the thing. When you've got debt working against your net worth, or a savings goal you really want to hit, sometimes the fastest path forward isn't just cutting back. Sometimes you need to bring in a little more cash on the side. Not forever. Just for a season. A focused, intentional sprint to get you to the goal. So...