You know what is more valuable than $113B? That’s how much money 92-year-old Warren Buffett has, give or take a few billion.
Ask yourself: Do I want to trade places with Warren? If you are like most people, you wouldn’t, because time is more valuable than $$$.
My advice to you (and to me): Act like it.
If you find yourself staring at your phone for hours on end and can’t stop, try what some young people are doing – forcing themselves to disengage by transitioning to a dumb flip phone:
Or do what Pippa does – when she feels TikTok taking over her life, she’ll delete it from her phone for days or weeks at a time.
Is My Underwear Crustier Than Normal?
Earlier this month, I went to our church’s men’s retreat. It was a great weekend of learning and developing/deepening relationships. Naturally, frugality and good stewardship came up in casual conversation:
College-Age Friend: I’m trying to save money. What do you do for clothes?
Me: Thrift stores mostly.
Friend: Yeah me too. Except underwear. You don’t buy used underwear do you?
Me: [gulp]
In my defense, it’s not a habit. But when you see a nice pair of Under Armours, you have to carpe boxers.
Stuffing My Pants with Green
Not that I don’t have enough underwear already. I told you last time about the benefits of having a blog. One I forgot to mention: Cool cash boxers from a favorite relative.
I giggled when we opened the box at Christmas and found this package for me inside:
Related: 8 Rules for Successful Gift-Giving on a Budget
College Take-Home Assignment
We are recently back from Pippa’s graduation:
As per usual, I learned a few things.
First, encourage your kid to take the STEM route. We went to an awards ceremony, and whenever a student went to collect their prize, they announced their plans. My wife Nora is a HS school counselor, so she is unusually attuned to school/career choices and their financial consequences.
She and I whooped it up for all of the senior recipients, until she heard these words: “…and she will be pursuing a Masters of Social Work at New York University.” She stopped mid-clap and cast her eyes to the floor.
I asked her about it later. “All of those chemistry and physics and math students will have their tuition paid for, plus a stipend, all the way through a PhD if they want to, but that social work student will pay full freight.”
“Maybe she is independently wealthy?” I replied.
“Yeah, maybe. We need social workers, but our society and economy just don’t value them very much,” she concluded.
Do You Suffer from Detrimental Cheapness?
Second college lesson: Too much thriftiness can be as damaging as too little.
A month before graduation we got this text from Pips:
Granted, there are a lot of bogus awards out there – Who’s Who This and Who’s Who That. But someone of Pippa’s frugal constitution needs to be careful to not miss opportunities just due to penny pinching. To her credit, she was quick to make a U-Turn and sign up.
Make Room Reservations for 2027 Now
If you just made a out-of-town college deposit for your HS grad, now is the time to make a room reservation for graduation. Yes, he could drop out, or take a gap year, or be eaten by a snake, or…
A little over four years ago, Pippa and I stayed at Black Squirrel Inn while visiting College of Wooster.
A month later, she made her decision and we submitted a deposit. Soon after, we looked up her graduation date, and reserved a room at the Inn for the night before.
This past weekend, we stayed at the Black Squirrel again, as planned. It’s two blocks from campus, and we paid 2019 rates – $105.
The best part? A little welcome chalkboard in the foyer said “Congrats to Olivia & Pippa! Woo 2023”. Was that Pippa’s roommate Olivia whose family also had the forethought to plan way ahead? It was. What a pleasant surprise.
The Inn stay was a perfect bookend to a great four years for Pippa. On to the next adventure!
