Hello Reader, Has summer started for you yet? Today marks the final day of public school for our kids and so it'll be chaos in our home until camps start next week. When I was younger adult, I thought you should have school in the summer. Between the summer slide and worrying about childcare, it made no sense. But as our kids are getting older, I prefer the summers off. It's good for kids to have fun. Education and academics are important but are they the most important? Eh... I'm not sure....

Hello Reader, What's the worst financial advice you've ever received? The worst financial advice I got was when a real estate agent tried to convince me to increase my house budget by 20% “just to see what I thought about those types of houses.” I thought I could afford a $275,000 house and he took me to houses that were listed at $300,000+ because “I needed to know what a little bit more could get me.” This was during the housing boom in the mid-2000s. He said that because I had a good job...

Hello Reader, Has summer unofficially started for you yet? If you have kids, especially in the southern half of the U.S., chances are you have. I'm both jealous of the early start to summer but also happy we don't start out schools in mid-August! Do you have any fun plans for the summer? (View this email as a webpage) 😢 Earning points & miles without a credit card Earning miles and points to get inexpensive travel is great but most of it relies on getting a welcome bonus from a credit card....