Vox Angelae

For years, I stayed away from investing in individual stocks. Sure, I could do index funds and bonds, no problem! The moment I had my first $5,500 saved up after graduate school, I opened a retirement account.Wham, bam, boom and suddenly, I was an investor with a diversified portfolio! YAY! *spirit hands waving* It was the smartest way I could invest money without a degree in finance and an encyclopedic knowledge of investing, or so I thought at the time. (Probably true, I was a bit of an idiot.) In 2007, Warren Buffett (who's basically the living Buddha of value investing, which is what most people think of when contemplating stocks) famously bet 1 MILLION BUCKS that an index fund would out perform a collection of hedge funds over the course of 10 years. Guess what? Despite a ton of people trying, Buffett won (surprise, surprise) and a charity named Girls, Inc. won, cause Good Guy Warren donated that million dollar prize to them. That was the philosophy I subscribed to for...

Oh dear god, that was difficult. I never want to do a shopping ban again. That was probably the one of the more stressful months of my life. I’m not talking, “Oh noes! I have to write a thesis” stressful; I’m talking “I know I’m not supposed to buy it, but now I want to buy it MORE because I CAN’T” psychology torture stressful. Here’s the thing. On a typical month, I don’t consider myself a big spender. I usually talk myself out of buying stuff. I don’t go looking for gadgets to buy and I don’t usually spend time on retail websites. Yes, I’ll go on Slickdeals a few times a week, but for the most part, looking at shopping sites isn’t on my deal To-Do list. All that changed while I was on the shopping ban. It was like some hidden streak of masochism rose from the depths of my soul to torment me. Suddenly, I’m looking at wool jackets and sample sales (Yes, I’m looking for one, but very casually. I wasn't  actively pursuing this.) I’m thinking about what I want in a perfe...

Here’s the thing; I used to be an absolute sucker for free stuff. It’s I hear the word “FREE” and my head immediate spins around fast enough to start a tornado. If hear about a free book, that’s like adding a hit of speed to my reflexes. I’m there so fast, it’s magic. So when there’s a free audible deal for Marie Kondo’s The Life Changing of Tidying Up, of course I got in on that. Come on, is that even a question? It was my first audiobook since I stopped listening to the Berenstain Bears cassette tapes my mom borrowed for me from the library, and the lady who read it had a particularly soothing, almost hypnotic voice, so it really made an impact on me. Loved it! I was all over the book; I recommended it to everyone around me, and bought the physical copy. Later on, I even read the manga version. (Don’t remind Desmond that I still have his copy!) So what is the KonMari method? The whole philosophy behind the KonMari method rests on two pillars. Only keep what “spark...

It’s official. I woke up this morning and tried to check the weather on my Google Home Mini only to be REJECTED!!!!!!! How's that for a pre-Valentine's Day break up? RIP Internet, you will be sorely missed.  That being said, I’ve got a plan waiting in the wings for just this moment!  My solution: Karma Go Rather than paying a cool $45 a month for internet I don’t fully utilize, I got a hotspot so that, when I do need Wifi, I can just pay for what I'll be using. After looking at a couple of options, I decided that Karma Go’s Drift Plan would be the best fit for me. Karma Go is a tiny hotspot device that fits in the palm of my hand and weighs next to nothing. While it normally cost $199, my boyfriend (Hi, Will!) conveniently had one that he wasn’t using and was willing to donate it to the cause. (Thank you!) (If anyone’s interested in getting Karma Go, just click on my share link:  Karma Go ! Thanks!)  The Plan:  While there are a ...

Hey everyone! So, if you’re reading this, you probably know me personally. (I have absolutely no illusions about the popularity of my blog.) Therefore, let it be known to everyone who visits my apartment that: I don’t have Wi-Fi anymore! Yep! You read that correctly. The last day I’ll have Wi-Fi available in my studio is February 13. Cue the shouts of horror. Everyone's reaction to the lack of WiFi Why did I do this? Why would I put myself through this? I’m just as much of YouTube addict as every other internet obsessed nerd my age. I do 95% of my shopping online, including a bit of grocery shopping. I’m on every social media platform you can shake a stick at. Even the UN, the UNITED NATIONS themselves, have declared internet access to be a human right!* So why would I willingly give up it up? Well, if you read my previous blog entry, I’m sure you can come with a logical reason. BECAUSE I’M CHEAPPPPPPPPPP You’d be only partially correct. While the economics of the...

So it a bit obvious that I am a rather sporadic blogger and haven't updated in the last decade or so. That being said, let's begin anew! Minimalism I've dabbled in minimalism for over a year at this point. At some point, I'll go much more in depth about my experience and how it began, but for the sake of this post and actually publishing something, I'll just give a quick overview. It all started when I listened to Marie Kondo's The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up  as an audiobook. I was so inspired that I decided to go through everything I owned and ended up donating 32 bags of clothing, books, craft materials and general paraphernalia to Goodwill. The change in my mental state was incredibly startling. The lack of clutter had such a calming effect on my mind that I began to crave it. At that point, I was still living in my parent's attic, and I would just sit in my cleared-out space and relax. I would sit and read, or go through a yoga routine, or s...