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.

Young woman giving a weird stare

She Found a Wallet With Cash, Cards, and an ID in a Grocery Store Parking Lot, Told Herself Someone Else Would Have Kept It Anyway, Spent the Money, and Threw the Wallet Away Because Seeing the Owner’s Face Made Her Feel Guilty

ByKristin Stones

A few years ago she found a wallet in a grocery store parking lot. It had cash, several cards, and the owner’s ID inside. She stood there for a moment knowing exactly what the right thing to do was, and then she put the wallet in her bag and walked to her car. She wasn’t…

Woman looking at a paper with a look of shock on her face

Someone Accessed Her Roth IRA, Added Two Strangers as Contingent Beneficiaries Splitting the Account 50-50, and She Only Found Out When She Read a Routine Five-Year Review Letter

ByKristin Stones

She opened a Roth IRA decades ago, hasn’t contributed in years, and listed her husband as the primary beneficiary. Recently she received the standard five-year account review letter and noticed something she hadn’t put there. Two contingent beneficiaries had been added to the account, a man identified by initials and a woman identified by initials,…

Secretary with a messy desk yelling on the phone

She Expected a $4,000 Tax Refund, Her Preparer Offered to Handle the Fee From the Deposit, and When the Money Arrived the Preparer Had Already Taken $3,500 in Processing Fees Without Ever Telling Her the Amount

ByKristin Stones

She expected a $4,000 tax refund. When the check arrived it was $500. Her tax preparer had deposited the full refund into her own account and kept $3,500 as processing fees, an amount she never disclosed before filing the return. The preparer had framed the arrangement as a convenience, taking her fee directly from the…

Mother and older daughter having a difficult conversation

Her Mom Makes Less Than $40,000 a Year, Expects Her 21-Year-Old Daughter to Cover Most of the Rent on a Three-Bedroom Townhouse After Graduation, and Told Her Yesterday That Her Bank Account Is the Family Emergency Fund and She Should Stop Being Stingy

ByKristin Stones

She’s 21, still in college, has no savings, no car, no license, and student loan debt, and her mother told her yesterday that her bank account is essentially the family emergency fund and that she shouldn’t be stingy with her money because of everything her mother sacrificed raising her. She is working this summer specifically…

Man looking stressed about money with cash in the background

His Bumper Tapped a Tesla in a Parking Lot, the Other Driver Refused to Show Insurance and Drove Off With Expired Registration, Her License Got Suspended for Being Uninsured, and She Has Been Demanding He Correct His DMV Report and Threatening to Prosecute Him Ever Since

ByKristin Stones

He was in a minor backing accident in a California parking lot on May 13 when his driver-side rear bumper made contact with the middle of a Tesla Model 3’s rear bumper. At the scene, the other driver refused to provide her insurance information, claiming she needed to download it, and became uncooperative. He left,…

Couple arguing with mother-in-law

They Have Paid $495 a Month for Five Years on a $130,000 Debt That Legally Belongs Entirely to His Mother-in-Law, and She Just Called to Say His Wife Should Take Over the Full $990 Payment Because Her Other Daughter’s Loans Are Now Due

ByKristin Stones

He and his wife are in their late twenties and have been paying $495 a month for the past five years toward Parent PLUS loans his mother-in-law took out to cover his wife’s private college education. The original agreement was that his wife would be responsible for half the cost of her education, but she…