Systems
4 articles in this category
I Accidentally Taught My 6-Year-Old About Inflation (And Now She Won't Stop Auditing Me)
It started with a granola bar. My daughter asked why the Costco box now costs $12 when it 'used to cost $10.' I should have said 'prices go up sometimes' and moved on. Instead, I explained inflation. Now she audits my grocery bills and demands COLA adjustments to her allowance.
Dec 20, 2024
The 15-Minute Money System (Because You Don't Have Time for Anything Else)
I have 90 minutes of free time per day. Total. So when I read parenting advice that starts with 'sit down with your child for a weekly 30-minute money meeting,' I laugh until I cry. I don't have 30 minutes. I don't even have 15 minutes most days. But I still want my daughter to learn about money. Here's what actually works.
Dec 12, 2024
The Dad Tax Must Also Inflate: A Technical Implementation Guide
I inflation-adjusted my daughter's allowance. She understood purchasing power erosion. Then she asked the logical follow-up question: 'If my allowance goes up with inflation, shouldn't your Dad Tax go up too?' Reader, I had no counter-argument. So I built a floating tax rate tied to CPI. This is that story.
Nov 28, 2024
The $5 Rule: How I Taught My Daughter to Save Without Thinking About It
I don't have time for envelope systems or spreadsheets. I work two jobs and barely have time to breathe. But my 9-year-old has saved $847 in eight months using one stupidly simple rule: Every time she gets money, $5 goes to savings first. That's it. That's the whole system. Here's why it works.
Oct 28, 2024