I still pay sixty bucks a year for some bizarre legacy version of Microsoft Office I can’t figure out how to cancel. Every time it renews, I get annoyed and then forget about it until the next year.

All this is clutter. And it does not spark joy.

✅ How to spot the hidden clutter draining your time and money
✅ Why visibility beats perfection when it comes to your finances
✅ The simple audit that creates instant clarity before 2026

If your money feels scattered, this one’s your clean slate.
moneychangeseverything.substack.com/p/declutter

Inspired by Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, this week’s essay kicks off a three-part series on The Financial Home Edit — a practical reset to help you see your money clearly before the year ends.

Here’s what you’ll find:

What we’ll cover:
✅ How to spot the hidden clutter draining your time and money
✅ Why visibility beats perfection when it comes to your finances
✅ The simple audit that gives you instant clarity before 2026

If your money feels scattered, this one’s your clean slate.

Tomorrow’s post kicks off a three-part year-end mini-series inspired by The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. It’s about decluttering your financial life so you can actually see what you have and stop wasting energy managing chaos.

Just do something. Most of the seeds you plant won’t sprout, but a few will. You really only need one to change everything.

Remember, one “yes” can pay for a decade of “no’s.”

And remember, if you do get laid off, you might lose access to all your contacts! So save those important email addresses somewhere while you can. (Well, maybe first read your company policy on that so you don’t get sued.)

A simple contact log would have made a huge difference—nothing fancy, just a spreadsheet to keep track of names, emails, conversations, and follow-ups. Relationships fade if you don’t tend to them, and neglected relationships are missed opportunities that often have financial consequences.

What we’ll cover:
✅ How to build momentum when you feel stuck
✅ When “say yes to everything” stops being strategic
✅ Why saving early buys you freedom later

If you’ve ever waited for someone else to green-light your next move, this one’s for you.

Tomorrow’s post closes out our Jobtober mini-series with a look back at the career lessons I learned the hard way in my 20s. It’s about momentum, the difference between staying busy and staying in motion, and the quiet cost of waiting to be chosen instead of moving first.

Still, at the time, an extra five thousand dollars a year would have covered most of my student loan payment each month. What I didn’t realize in that moment is how painful that lack of negotiation would be in the future.

Negotiation isn’t about greed. Instead, it’s about making sure your pay keeps pace with your contribution, and making sure the life you want isn’t slipping quietly out of reach while other more assertive colleagues suck up the department budget.

Here is the value I bring, here is what the market pays for it and here is the salary I’d like to discuss. Then stop talking. Silence works wonders.

moneychangeseverything.substack.com/p/negotiate-...