Credit Cards for Beginners: Building Credit Without Building Debt
The beginner card system: autopay full balance, the utilization game, a starter card ladder, and when to skip cards entirely. No debt attached.
Buy New, Buy Used, or Drive It Into the Ground: The Car Math
Total cost of ownership for new vs used cars with verified math. Depreciation curves, real break-evens, and when driving it into the ground wins.
Paying Off a Car Loan Early: The Math Nobody Runs
On a $30k loan at 7%, an extra $100/month saves about $1,000 in interest and 10 months. Verified amortization math, APR hurdle rates, and when NOT to prepay.
How We Attacked $62,000 of Debt: The System Behind the Story
The machinery behind our debt-free year: the one-page project sheet, intensity budget, roll-forward rule, and the four fail modes that kill payoff plans.
Debt Avalanche vs Snowball: The Math and the Psychology
Both payoff methods on the same debt stack, verified: the ordering gap is smaller than you think and the payment size is the real lever. Hybrid rules inside.
Credit Scores, Decoded: The Five Inputs and What Actually Moves Them
Payment history and utilization are ~65% of your score – utilization has no memory and moves in one cycle. The five inputs plus a 90-day improvement plan.
Self-Custody vs Exchange Custody: Where Crypto Actually Lives
Mt. Gox, Celsius, FTX: exchange balances are claims on a counterparty. Hot vs cold wallets, the practical middle ground, and the security layer people skip.
How Much Bitcoin Belongs in a Long-Term Portfolio?
Sizing bitcoin from 1% to 5% with real drawdown math: an 80% crash costs 2.4% of your portfolio at a 3% position. Rebalancing bands, custody basics, worksheet.
Market Crashes: What Actually Happens to Your Money (Year by Year)
2008 fell 57% and took ~4 years to recover; 2020 fell 34% in five weeks. A year-by-year walk through crashes, sequence risk, and why selling locks the loss in.
Dollar-Cost Averaging a Lump Sum: The Spreadsheet Answer
Lump sum beats 12-month DCA roughly two-thirds of the time historically. Verified worked example, the regret asymmetry, and the hybrid rule I actually use.
