Intentional Living

To “live intentionally” means to live according to your values and beliefs.  I believe when we commit to being more thoughtful in how we spend our time and our money we can overcome the overwhelm, reduce financial stress, and live a more purposeful life.

Intentional living allows us to take better care of our minds and our bodies, and in turn, better care of those around us.

Here you’ll find content to help you spend less time and money on the things that matter less so you can create margin in your life and your budget to spend more on the things that matter most.

Woman looking shocked reading her credit card statement

Squatters Moved Into Her Inherited Home and Refused to Leave, the Sale Fell Through, the Executor Went Silent for a Year, and Now She’s Watching a Property She Was Supposed to Inherit Slip Away While Nobody Involved Will Tell Her Anything

ByKristin Stones

Inheriting a house should be the beginning of a process, not a year of silence from an executor while squatters claim ownership and a sale falls apart. That’s the situation one woman is stuck in after being left a home that’s still moving through probate. The property had a buyer lined up and was headed…

Man sitting at his desk looking very stressed out

He Owes More on Repairs Than He’d Net From Selling, Has Wanted to Leave for Years, and Is Weighing Whether to Stay Through the Foreclosure Process and Save $20,000 (Until Someone Pointed Out the Bankruptcy Didn’t Protect Him From a Second Hit to His Credit)

ByKristin Stones

Deliberately staying in a home through the foreclosure process to accumulate savings isn’t a new idea, and people do it, but the gap between how it looks on paper and what it actually involves is wide enough that it’s worth understanding the full picture before treating it as a straightforward financial strategy. That’s the calculation…

Man laying his head down on his laptop keyboard

He Found a Condo Priced $50,000 Below Market With Rumors of an HOA Due Reduction Coming, Made an Offer the Seller Accepted Within Hours, and Then Read the Financial Documents and Discovered a $4 Million Reserve Shortfall Nobody Had Mentioned

ByKristin Stones

A condo priced $50,000 below comparable units with rumors of an HOA due reduction on the way sounds like the kind of opportunity that doesn’t come around often. It took about one afternoon with the financial documents to understand why nobody else had jumped on it. That’s the experience one buyer is walking away from…

Man holding a car key with a confused look on his face

He Spent Four Months Trying to Find Out Who Owned the Company Car Sitting in His Driveway After His Employer Went Bankrupt, Got Code Enforcement Notices for the Expired Registration, and Hasn’t Heard a Word Since

ByKristin Stones

Getting handed a company car in June and watching the company collapse in July is the kind of timing that turns a straightforward employment perk into a surprisingly complicated legal situation. That’s where one worker finds himself after his employer went bankrupt shortly after issuing him a vehicle. What remained of the company told him…

Man making a gesture with his hand and a weird face

He Lent His College Friend $800 to Cover Rent During a Crisis, and Three Months Later That Friend Is Posting Weekend Trips on Instagram, Dodging Texts, and Physically Walking Away From Him at Parties to Avoid Paying It Back

ByKristin Stones

That’s where one 22-year-old finds himself after lending his college friend Jake the money to cover rent when Jake lost his job. He had savings from a summer job, sent the money through Venmo without hesitation, and took Jake at his word when he promised to repay it within a month. Two months later Jake…

Man looking at his compute holding his hands to his face

He Took a 15% Ownership Stake Instead of a Raise Three Years Ago, Watched the Company Land Major Clients and Surge in Revenue This Year, and Just Got a $14,000 Tax Bill for Profits the Founder Is Keeping Inside the Business While He Receives Nothing

ByKristin Stones

That’s the situation a creative director finds himself in after accepting a 15 percent ownership stake in a boutique marketing agency as a substitute for a salary increase. The agency has grown significantly this year, landing two major enterprise clients and generating strong revenue through the spring. The founder’s response to that success has been…