#id skip work but i get free food there and i dont have money for other food right now so its work and eat or stay home and not eat | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

the-writing-dump-bin · 5 years ago

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Hello, i just found your page and was up til 5am reading all your jjba nsfw and omggg i fell in love with characters i never thought twice about, your work is to WRITHE for! im not sure if you take prompt requests so im sorry if im over stepping, but id love some gentle, but firm Bruno nsfw where he slowly woos you and then spends a very "eventful" night with you 🖤

Sorry for the wait, I had a ton of distractions while trying to write. Hope this is okay for you!

NSFW 18+

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Going to small, lesser known cafes wasn't really Bruno Buccellati's style, being the leader of a gang and all, but he came here for you.

Three months ago, he was on a small stake-out mission and wound up at the cafe you worked at. He had gotten a table a few booths down from the person he was following; you were his waitress. "Evening, my name is Y/N, could I get you a drink to start?" Bruno didn't look at you right away, his eyes still on the man a few feet away, but when he realized you were standing and talking next to him, he looked up at you; completely taken by your looks. After idle chit chat, he almost forgot about the man he was following. He paid his tab and gave you a quick thank you and goodbye and left.

Since then, Bruno had been coming to you whenever he could; even if it was just for a cup of coffee, he couldn't sit unless he ordered something.

"Bruno!" You greeted when he came through the door; he sat at the counter. "I'm glad to see you're back. Can I get you the usual?"

"Of course." A couple weeks ago, Bruno had told you that he was going on a "little vacation" and wouldn't be around for a while. He kept his profession a secret from you, for now anyways. Someday he would tell you what he really did. He smiled his sweet little smile to you when you handed him his cup. "So, you're glad to see me?"

You couldn't help but smirk, guess you walked into that one. Bruno always flirted with you whenever he came in, giving you compliments with flirtatious tones, resting his chin on his palm as he looked at you with half-lidded eyes. Sometimes he ordered food just for it to sit there untouched while he talked to you. "How was your trip?"

"It was... Interesting." Was all he said, not wanting to elaborate about his previous mission. He took a sip of the coffee you made him, god you knew just how to make it for him. "Listen, Y/N, I was wondering if you would like to have dinner-

"Hey, waitress!" Shouted a man from a corner booth. He was a semi-regular at the cafe, but he was an incredibly rude man. "We're ready to order!"

Sighing, you excused yourself to tend to the loud man. Bruno turned to stare at his coffee cup.

"Forget it, Buccellati."

Bruno's head shot up and turned to the direction of the sound from where he heard his name. Just in the corner, was the cook, Geno, leaning against the wall next to the door to the kitchen. His eyes narrowed at him. "How do you-"

"Know your name? Ive got people on the inside too. You've been sniffing around here for months after Y/N and each time you've asked her out, she's always swerved you. Isn't it about time you gave up?"

Bruno stared back at the man. Yeah, he had asked you out a few times already, and each time you said you had something else planned. But that never stopped him. He was determined to get at least one date from you. He would have said something in retaliation, but you came back with the order you just took, handing it to the cook and looking very irritated.

"Geno, here is their order. They're the picky guys who come in every so often, can you just make sure they are satisfied with their food?"

"Of course." Geno gave one last look to Bruno before disappearing back into the kitchen.

"Sorry about that, Bruno." You sighed, topping off his coffee, "You were saying something earlier?"

"Um... Yeah, a little bit. I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner with me."

You smiled bashfully. This was the fourth time Bruno had asked you if you wanted to do something with him, and each time, you said you had other plans. But you didn't. It's not like you didn't like Bruno, because you did, its was that you were too shy to say 'yes'. He had been charming you ever since that night he first showed up. Those deep, blue eyes entrapped you every time they locked with yours, making your heart thump so hard that you thought it would leap straight out of your chest. "Oh, Bruno..."

Bruno bowed his head, knowing that familiar tone you used. "You have plans. Right." His eyes went soft, glosing over with tears he refused to let fall. Maybe Geno was right. Maybe he should give up. He brought up his head slowly and saw Geno staring at him from the little opening where he would pass the servers their orders to carry out. Shoving his hand in his pocket, he placed the money for his coffee on the counter and got up. "Thank you, Y/N. I'll see you around." He made his way out the door.

Each time you did this, you felt bad. Bruno was obviously into you and you were into him. So why couldn't you say 'yes'?

"Y/N," Geno hollered. "Your order is up."

You didn't move; eyes still fixed on the door where Bruno left.

"Y/N! Your order is up! They're going to get rowdy soon if you don't-"

You ran around the counter and out the door, trying to catch up with Bruno. "Bruno!" You huffed when you finally caught up to him.

"Y/N? Whats the matter?"

"Y-Yes."

"Huh?"

"Dinner... I go to dinner with you."

The grin couldn't be contained. He didn't want to ask if you were sure, afraid you would changed your mind after you said it. "Wonderful!" He pulled out a small piece of paper and wrote on it. When he handed it to you, he let his fingers linger on yours. "See you then."

---

Is this really the spot? You asked yourself. Sitting in your car, you looked at the piece of paper with the address Bruno had written down for you yesterday. You expected to meet him at a resturaunt, but here you are, parked in front of a house.

You had already been nervous about the date; almost deciding not to show up at all. But you steeled your nerves, dressing up in a cute skirt- not too short, but not too long either. Your shirt fit you just right. Your hair did up the way you wanted. You looked good. Standing at the door, you weren't sure if you should knock or ring the doorbell. Mentally slapping yourself, you rang the doorbell, sighing with relief when Bruno answered the door- you had the right place.

Bruno smiled widely when he saw you. "You made it. Come in." He moved out of the way so you could enter.

Shyly, you walked inside. His house was gorgeous and very well decorated. Your wandering eyes fell to the dining room table. It was set very romantically with a white table cloth, lit candles with wine and wine glasses in the middle. Bruno had went out of his way to set everything just perfect for you, you felt a little guilty for even thinking about skipping the date. "Bruno, this looks amazing."

Bruno was happy to hear that you liked it. "I thought it would be nice to have a quiet dinner together." He brushed your cheek with the back of his hand. "You look wonderful." You blushed hard. His touch was so gentle. He guided you to the table and sat you down in a chair. A moment later, he brought you back a plate full of the food he prepared. "Thank you, Bruno. It looks delicious."

The evening was very pleasant. The two of you had a lovely time catching up from the last two weeks while he was gone. The food was great, he really knew how to cook.

You were having a really good time, then you noticed that Bruno was sitting next to you a little bit closer than he was earlier. His hand rested atop of yours, rubbing the back of it with his thumb. You could tell what he was feeling; you knew he had a crush on you for awhile. And you had one on him too, but you were just too shy to be as bold as him. "Bruno..."

"I'm sorry, cara," He started to pull his hand back. "I'm being too forward."

At the last second, you grabbed his hand before it left yours, lacing your fingers with his. "No, I'm sorry. I know how strongly you feel about me, and I feel the same way, I just don't know how to-"

Very softly, Bruno cut you off with a tender kiss; his breath hitting your lips, sending shivers through your body. Once you processed what was happening, you quickly melted into the kiss, giving your own back. Bruno's free hand slid onto your thigh, rubbing the hem of your skirt between his fingers. That caused you to form a knot in your waist.

Your mind started to cloud. Was it the wine or Bruno's intoxicating kisses that was causing this feeling? Probably a mixture of both. His hand dared to slide up farther, brushing against your panties, making your breath hitch. Soon, he moved them to the side and shoved a single finger between your increasingly wet folds.

Bruno started with a slow rub over your clit, making you grab the seat of your chair, moaning at the pleasure you were being given. "O-Oh..." His hand pulled away, making you whimper with disappointment. "No, Bruno... Dont stop."

His kisses moved to your neck; his tongue running over your skin in small licks. "I don't plan on stopping, amore." He stood, pulling you up with him and cleared a part of the table, laying you on top of it. He leaned over you, running his hands up and down your sides as he kissed you deeply. Your hips arched into him, grinding against his thigh that he placed between your legs.

Unbuttoning his shirt, you discarded it but left the lace he wore underneath it-he was pretty hot in that thing. He removed your shirt as well, unhooking your bra and throwing it across the room. He took a moment to look at you before he latched onto a nipple, softly running his tongue around it.

Next was the pants. Your hands reached down, unzipping them and freeing his ridiculously hard cock. Bruno straighten up and pulled your hips closer to the edge of the table, pulling down your skirt and panties and wrapped your legs around his waist, lining up with your entrance. He scanned your face, looking for any indication to halt his actions, but found none.

Slowly, and gently, he slid inside; your walls adjusting to his member. You could feel the care he had for you with each inch you took; he didn't want to hurt you in anyway. Once all of him was in, he gave you a moment before starting a rhythm, pulling out slowly and then back inside. "Are you alright, my love?"

"Y-Yes..." You huffed, wanting more as the knot in your waist grew tighter. "B-Bruno... Faster..."

His hands gripped your bottom, lifting you up to penetrate you at a better angle. He started thrusting faster...faster...faster...

The table shook with your movements as he pounded into you harder. The plates and glasses eventually made their way off of the surface, smashing into the floor. Bruno didn't care, he could always get more. Right now, all he wanted was you.

Leaning back down over you, he breathed into your ear as he continued to fuck you. "I'm so close, tesoro."

"Me too. Ah... Ah...keep...go-ing...!"

You couldn't help but let out a pleasurable scream as your orgasm waved over you. Bruno pushed into your pussy and chased your orgasm with his, filling you right up with his seed.

Coming down from your highs, Bruno's face hovered over yours, pushing sweat soaked hair from your face with his hand. He didn't really have any words, but smiled when you smiled at him. Cute little kisses where shared as he pulled out of you, using a napkin to help clean you up.

Standing in the middle of his dining room, naked, he pulled you into him and embraced you. "I'm so happy when I'm around you, Y/N. And what we just did..." He was in heaven.

Playing with the lace sticking to his skin, you felt the same as him. "I-It doesn't have to end here, does it?"

Bruno looked down at you, eyes softly staring into yours. "If you don't want it to. We can keep going for as long as you wish."

Another shot of excitement ran through your veins. You were definitely interested in spending the night with Bruno. He took your hand and brought you to his room.

This was where the night would really take off...

#jojo no kimyou na bouken #jojo #jojos bizarre adventure #bruno bucciarati #bruno #request #anonymous #anon #my fic #my writing #n*sf*w #read more

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tfw-no-tennis · 6 years ago

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Greetings, comrade LJ! I am about to start college in a month and I was wondering if you could bless me with some wisdom on how to survive my first semester! (Feel free to publish this tbh some other youngins might need the help too)

oh my god i am SO sorry i just saw this, tungle literally never told me i recieved this what the hell!!! i will happily give you some wisdom even if youve already started college oh man im sorry. hopefully this still helps!!! for reference im a biology major so some of this might not apply well to other majors lol

ok my first wisdom is to never get books unless you have to. these days, professors know most students dont actually use books so they dont bother really using the books for the tests...the exception is for labs (science labs, at least) where you typically will need to buy the lab guide to do hw and stuff. generally if you think you might need a book, wait a bit before getting it - even if the professor says you ABSOLUTELY need it. sometimes they just have to say that but you wont really need it. if you can, rent, and rent used! books are generally a waste, the way they get your money nowadays is HW access codes. yes....paying to do HW. how great

ratemyprofessor is a fantastic resource, but do be wary of certain reviews - students can be salty about failing a class and give a bad review for a professor who doesnt deserve it. also, make sure you're looking at the correct class (upper left corner of the review) for the professor

if you can, make friends in a class and work together on stuff (hw, quizzes), and then you can share notes if one of you misses class and stuff

in terms of missing class, id say its up to your judgment if you skip or not - it honestly depends on the class. some classes i barely went to, some i never missed. freshman year i barely skipped class (probably a good idea as you get the feel of it) but once you go on, you'll be able to tell if you need to go to class (generally if the professor just teaches from ppts and doesn't require attendance, you might be able to miss. depends on how you learn tho!)

labs you generally cant miss (again, science labs) or youll like get set on fire or something. its bad. you can usually make it up with an excuse or if you know ahead of time, tho

be friends with your professors and TAs! go to office hours! especially if you're planning or grad/professional school and want rec letters. altho!! dont stress abt future plans too much. you really, really have time. theres no rush to go to school after undergrad at all so if you dont have your shit together. DONT WORRY

this has probably become irrelevant for you but id suggest leaving waaaay early for your first day of class so you can find your classroom ok and get a good seat

free stuff is lit. get free stuff whenever you can. if you find a pen somewhere? take it its yours now

if you do well in a class and enjoy it, id suggest trying to become a tutor for it. you probably make some money, its not usually too much work, and you enjoy it if thats the kind of thing you're into. its especially helpful if youre planning on going into something relating to that subject someday, so then you can keep up to date on it

getting involved is also a good idea!! theres so many clubs and stuff at universities, so theres usually something for everyone. it can be scary going alone, but youll usually end up meeting people there. theres typically not too much pressure to keep coming consistently, so if you need time off from a club you can take it easily.

libraries can be a great place to study dont knock em i sure did until like last year which was a mistake. imo focusing is easier in a library than in my room, that might just be me tho!!

cliques arent really a ‘thing,’ you might end up with a friend group or two but college is not nearly as cliquey as HS. i have a lot of friends now who i KNOW i wouldnt have even talked to in HS just based on the fact that we wouldve run in different social circles back then. dont limit yourself by thinking ‘oh, we’re too different’ or something, you’d be surprised how well you click with people you didnt think youd get along with!

cafeteria food,,...is usually bad. it tends to be a lot better when theres tours going on, so try to remember that lol

this is already so long im sorry lol, ill stop here but let me know if you (or anyone else reading this) have any questions or want any specific advice!! im a senior in college now so im basically an expert lol (though my knowledge is limited by certain things like being a STEM major, living on campus without a car, living away from home, etc) but i love talking about stuff like this!!!! i wish you the best of luck in college and again im really sorry i didnt see this until like 2 months after you sent it, i hope college is going well for you!!! and for everyone else who started recently!!! also ill tag you to make sure you see this, i cant remember if it alerts you lol @rated-r-for-grantaire

#ask #college #OH MAN THIS IS SO DANG LATE UGH #hopefully college has been going well!!!! im here with lots of advice if you need it!!!!#rated-r-for-grantaire

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cassoroll · 4 years ago

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Are you broke and need advice on how to cook and eat on the cheap? I use to be super broke and working 60 hours a week just like you guys. Now I'm only mostly broke and working 50 hours a week 10 years really makes a difference. These are some tips to help you get by when times are tough.

First tip is avoid meat, I'm not vegetarian and I've never been by choice but I was an economic vegetarian for about 6 months during one of my tight spells. Beans and eggs have a ton more bang for your buck when it comes to protein. When you do buy meat get chicken and turkey, when turkey goes on sale around holidays you can get a ton of meat for not much money. Cook it piece it out and freeze any leftovers you don't use within 3 days of cooking.

Tip 2 eat lots of rice. There is a reason that rice is one of the staples in diets across the world. Its cheap and filling, at this point I'm not going to steer you to any particular type brown had more fiber but if you only like white right now whats important is you eat it. Combine rice with beans and have an apple as a side.

Tip 3 you are going to be eating left overs a lot. If you are like me you would go to work at 7 am and get home at 6 pm or later starving and beat. Even if your days aren't that long and your tired thats all good too because this tip will help you too. Make a dish you can vary a little every day. I would do a huge pot of beans and rice on Sunday and then Monday through Friday I'd add a few different ingredients to keep it interesting. One day I'd add soy sauce and a fried egg and another id add some seasoned turkey i pulled from the freezer and chilli powder.

Tip 4 don't skip breakfast. I know its tempting to skip meals when you are broke because the less you eat the less you spend. This is bad for your body and will make you binge come dinner time. Small meals all day can help you stay in control and spend less money in the long run. Pancakes from scratch are cheap and so is plain oatmeal.

Tip 6 look at traditional ethnic foods. Whatever you are look up ethnic foods from your culture and if you dont know your family history your a part of my family now. if you want my pasta recipe that will feed a family of 4 for 4 days let me know and I'll give it to you.

Tip 7 look in into local food banks or gardeners clubs. Year around food banks will help you if your down on your luck and during the summer many many gardeners have more fruits and veggies then they know what to do with and will give you fresh organic fruits and veggies for free.

Tip 8 for Christmas and birthdays and friends and coworkers for pantry staples (tomato sauce, pasta, beans, rice) many times they will get you a comically large amount because they think the whole thing is a joke but the jokes on them because that 25 pound bag of jasmine rice from Costco will feed you for weeks

Tip 9 is dont buy fruits and veggies in bulk. Some fruits and veggies to avoid are lettuce, tomatoes and bananas they go bad quickly and its going to be hard to eat a large quantity before they expire. For leefy greens turnip greens and kale stay fresh for way longer and are packed with good stuff to power you so you can cry yourself to sleep because you gotta work again tomorrow. Like who the fuck decided that we gotta work so much to scrape by this is insane. Apples and oranges last a long time and I'm not talking cuties I'm talking about naval oranges.

Tip 10 is dont feel ashamed if you splurge. If you buy 3 avocados and some fancy ass bread to eat avocado toast thats awesome that you can do that for yourself. If you buy cake mix and frosting to make your friend a birthday cake I'm proud of you for being so considerate. And if you eat a half a pint of ice cream in a sitting thing of all that nutritious delicious cream you took in thats fuel for your system. I might update this if people actually want more tips because its hard to really dig into this on a quick text post. I have more recipes now than I did when I was struggling and I'm better at meal prepping. You don't need to figure it out alone because we've all been there.

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thanatos-nightshade · 5 years ago

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Long post skip

Hey so disclaimer this is just me shouting into the void so feel free to scroll past

I just graduated colllege with a bachelors degree in psychology and as much as i want to go to higher education i feel likeni wint be able to. I dont give a shit about loans and money at this point because there are other obstacles before that. I really only have one person who can give me a good letter of reccommendation. I havent asked my other teachers yet but im not sure what theyd be able to say about me. Ive been outnof school for almost a month now and it was great spending the holidays with friends and family and bae but now im sitting in a mess of a room which i can barely bring myself to clean only when im looking for something and just wanting to sleep. I want a job and need a job because i want to get a switch to get pokemon swsh and the expansion pack and i also want to do my art more but my mom wants me to get a job in the mental health profession NOW and its like im not liscensed nor certified for that. Theyd trust bachelor students with paperwork not peoples actual mental health unless it was supervised. I havent had any real field work or practice unless you count my research. I dont want to work in the food service industry again. Id love to go to graduate school but im iust feeling kind of hopeless. Im kind of debating taking a gap year but also i dont want to wait too long. I already have to wait long enough. My mom says to focus on other things besides my messy room but when my room is messy and i live in it and stay in it because if i go out of it i know shes going to ask me about schools and jobs and i dont want that then well i dont know. It weighs on me a lot like "wow you cant even clean your room" sort of. I know i should clean it but i cant. Its so hard. Ironically i should probably see a therapist just in case and i know theres nothing bad about mental health professionals seeing each other but im not even a professional. I dont feel 23 except when my shoulders and neck hurt from sleeping weirdly. I just feel stupid. I dont know what im doing.

#personal #t-n talks #i dont think ill delete this just because i know ill overcome this somehow and i want to be able to look back and remind myself i guess #but who knows #i just need to toss this bottle jnto the ocean

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themoneybuff-blog · 7 years ago

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The Five Enemies of Your Financial Success

The path to financial success is actually surprisingly simple. Spend less than you earn. Do something sensible with the difference. Thats it. If you do that each month, each year, each decade, youll have quite a lot of financial success. Debt will melt away. Retirement savings will go up, up, and away. If its that simple, then why doesnt everyone do it? If its that simple, then why are 78% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck? The reason is simple: Although the path is incredibly straightforward, there are many enemies along the way that will knock you off of that path. They pop up constantly, in different forms and in different numbers, and if youre not ready to handle them, you will fall right off the path to financial success. These enemies come in many, many different flavors, but they can mostly be boiled down to five groups, with different tactics for handling each one. Enemy #1: Bad Habits In other words, you have bad day-to-day routines in your life, ones that add up to a bunch of unnecessary expense. Those bad routines by themselves wont entirely disrupt your progress, but they will slow you down and they will make it easier for other enemies to knock you off the path. These bad habits and bad routines wear many faces. They take the form of your monthly bills some are overinflated (like your energy bill), while others are unnecessary (like your cable bill). They take the form of ordinary expenses that you incur multiple times a month without really thinking about it, like eating out for lunch or hitting the coffee shop or buying convenience foods at the grocery store or skipping over the store brands that youve never tried in order to use the more expensive name brands. People are creatures of habit. Once you firmly establish a routine, youll probably stick with it for a very long time, usually until something disrupts that habit. Disrupting a habit without some big life change (like moving) is hard. Here are a few tactics for defeating this enemy. Keep track of where every dollar goes. At the end of each month, sit down and go through your bank statements and credit card statements and identify what exactly each and every purchase was for. Was it a sensible purchase? Did it add real value to your life? Can you even remember what it was for? (Hint: If you cant remember, it was probably a bad purchase.) Look for patterns in what youre observing, especially in the less worthwhile expenses. Are the bad expenses popping up regularly in certain locations? On certain websites? Those are bad habits that you should be breaking. Reconsider every single regular expense; if it repeats, particularly once a month (like a monthly bill) or more, carefully re-evaluate it. If a specific expense is repeating in your life, like a monthly bill or a thrice-weekly stop at a coffee shop or a once-weekly stop at a hobby shop, ask yourself seriously whether that expense needs to continue and, if so, whether or not it can be cut in some fashion. Cut down most of those expenses to the bare minimum, then build them back up as needed. Once youve identified a bunch of regular expenses, its a good idea to trim them to the bare minimum and then, if you find that this isnt working for you, restore just the expenses youre missing. Try switching all of your regular purchases to store brands, for example, and then only switch back if the store brand doesnt work. Try making cold brew coffee at home in the fridge (its easy and cheap) and then switch back to the coffee shop if youve tried it a bunch of times and cant make good coffee (I really doubt this will happen). Enemy #2: Bad Advice (from Everywhere) When people think of advice, they tend to think of themselves asking for help or looking for help on something that troubles them in life and then finding someone they trust to give them an answer. Typically, thats good advice but thats not what were talking about here. Were talking about bad advice. Were talking about advice or suggestions that have no real consideration of your actual life, your actual wants and desires and goals. Were talking about suggestions shared in the media for products you need (but dont actually need). Were talking about lifestyle suggestions that have nothing to do with your actual wants or desires or life. Were talking about marketing ideas that are far more about selling a product than about improving your life. Bad advice is everywhere. Its on television. Its on the internet. Its on social media. It can come from the mouth of your best friend or from an overheard conversation on the street. How can you defeat the enemy of bad advice? Cut down on your media diet. Spend less time watching television. Spend less time online. Spend less time on social media. Replace that with actually doing things. Go on a hike. Make a great meal. Read a book. Learn a new skill. Have a party. Start a garden. Do something anything just cut down on your media intake. Find ways to spend time with friends that dont involve spending money. If youre going to do something social, make sure that its not something oriented toward spending money or talking about products or things you want. Avoid retail therapy. Do things at each others homes or at a free public location like a park. Look for multiple sources of advice, including experts, before you make a financial move. Whenever youre considering making a financial move or looking for strategies for improving your situation, look for a number of different sources before making a major move. Dont just trust the word of the salesperson or agent, and dont just trust the word of a single article in a major publication. Look around for several sources of advice and go with what they suggest as a whole. One single point of advice might be wrong; a bunch of different points of advice, mostly in alignment with each other, are much more likely to be right. Enemy #3: Temptation Were all tempted in our daily lives. Were tempted to be lazy. Were tempted by treats and perks and pleasures. Were tempted by the good thing we can have right now. The catch, of course, is that temptations are distracting. They grab our focus and pull us away from the big picture. They demand fulfillment right now without any real concern about what might come later. Spontaneity can sometimes be fun, sure, but when spontaneity drains away lots of resources and cuts off future plans, it becomes a problem. When giving into temptations means giving up on big plans and goals and dreams, its usually a bad choice, even if it seems really really desirable in the here and now. How can you tackle temptation? Practice the 10-second rule. The 10-second rule is a wonderful little trick you can practice any time youre about to make a purchase of any kind or about to put something in your shopping cart. All you have to do is pause for 10 seconds, and during those 10 seconds consider reasons why you shouldnt buy this item. Dont think about why you should buy it, but why you shouldnt. Do you really need it? Could you get it cheaper elsewhere? Is there a better option for your needs? Couldnt this wait until later? Most of the time, non-essential purchases will go right back on the shelf. Practice the 30-day rule, too. This is a nice supplement to the 10-second rule above, and it pertains very nicely to nonessential purchases of any significant magnitude (for me, the minimum level is the price of a book, about $10). If you have the desire to buy a nonessential item, simply give it 30 days to rest. In 30 days, consider the item again do you still want it? If so, then start bargain hunting for it, and you can do it patiently because youve already observed you dont need it right away. If not, then just forget about it. I find that about 90% of my wants just go away if I apply this 30-day rule to it. Delete your credit card number from online accounts, and dont keep your account login information saved. One very easy way to give into temptation before having a chance to think about it is to simply order things with just a click or two online without having to enter payment information. Theres nothing wrong with buying online, but when you can go from impulse to ordered item in just a few seconds, its really easy to just let temptation run the show. For example, I often run into this with Kindle books I know very well that I order more than I should, and this depletes my monthly hobby spending more quickly than Id like. The simple step of removing credit card and account information in as many places as I can keeps me from a lot of little impulsive purchases. Enemy #4: Bad Perspective Human beings have a few psychological quirks that served us very well in life up until roughly the industrial revolution, but dont serve us particularly well today. One of those quirks serves as a giant enemy on the road to financial success, and thats our natural tendency to focus strongly on the short-term perspective rather than the long-term perspective. We put far more weight on today and this week than we do on next year and the rest of our lives. Sure, were able to think about and consciously plan for our future, but its often very nebulous thinking and planning. Most of the time, we play it by ear, and even when we have the best of intentions, short-term objectives and desires will trump long-term objectives and desires unless were very diligent about focusing on the long-term perspective with our thinking. How is that bad? If we focus on the short term as a top priority rather than the long term, it becomes so much harder to save for future goals like retirement. The benefits of saving for retirement are incredibly obvious and important, but because its a long-term goal, the average person doesnt do it very well. A large portion of Americans have nothing saved for retirement, and among those who do, many just have a trivial amount thats often just what their employers automatically put aside for them. Were bad at long-term thinking in the moment. How can we change that? Consider your spending choices from a five-year perspective. If youre about to spend money, ask yourself whether, five years from now, you would consider that expenditure to be a worthwhile one. Will your future self think that this purchase was really worthwhile at all? If your future self would think of this purchase as not a very good use of money, then you should strongly consider leaning against it. What Ive found is that this line of thinking tends to push me toward minimal spending on myself, though it does encourage social spending and self-improvement spending. I often pair this thinking with time use, something which Ill get back to in a few paragraphs. Consider what a series of unfortunate events does to your life, and come up with a realistic plan for handling most of that impact. What exactly happens to you if you lose your job and your car breaks down on the same day? How do you handle that? What if youre suddenly diagnosed with a serious illness at the same time that your oldest child moves back in with you? How do you handle those kinds of extreme events? If you dont have an answer that will help you handle a large portion of the impact, then you need to be planning ahead for that impact. Start a big, healthy emergency fund, for starters, and start taking steps to strongly reinforce your career. You should automate those plans by, for example, setting up automatic transfers from your checking to your savings account (for an emergency fund) and scheduling and blocking off time for career improvement. Make it as easy as you possibly can to keep moving forward with those plans. Consider how you spend your time in a given week and ask yourself if theres not a more personally fulfilling and worthwhile way to spend that time. How much of your time is just wasted in a way that you cant even really identify? How much of it is wasted on things that provide no long-term value and little short-term value (like aimless social media or web surfing or watching unplanned television)? That time is just lost, with no purpose. Start finding ways to cut that lost time, and start using that time for things that will provide value to you now and over the long term of your life. Learn things. Exercise. Get in better shape. Take on tasks that will save you time later, like preparing meals in advance. Enemy #5: Lack of Knowledge One final obstacle that stands in the way of financial success is simple lack of knowledge. You might be able to identify that theres a financial problem in your life, but you really dont know how to fix it or how to ensure that it doesnt happen again. Usually, financial solutions are pretty simple, but if youve never been exposed to the solution to your problem, solving the problem can feel like a tremendous obstacle. This is the value of education it can take an unanswered question that seems incredibly difficult and complex and break it down into something simple that you can understand and handle and put into action. Heres how to do just that. Read personal finance books and independent personal finance sites. If youre struggling with personal finance as a whole or dont understand broad topics such as investing or debt repayment, the best approach is to grab a personal finance book from the library and dig in. If you thrive on seeing those solutions through the filter of a persons real life, then an independent personal finance blog (like this one) is a great additional tool. Both can teach you what you need to know the books provide the core knowledge and the blogs provide the examples and relatability. If you hear about a financial topic that you dont understand, take the time to understand it and integrate it into what you already know. So often, people will start learning about a personal finance topic, understand 75% of it, and then get lost on the other 25%. Rather than stopping right there and fixing that deficit, they nod and move on. Dont do that. Whenever you come across a point or a subtopic that you dont understand, stop and learn more about it. Dont come back to the bigger topic unless you understand the specific point thats being made. Why? Its often the case that later points build upon and rely upon earlier ones, so if you dont understand the earlier ones, you almost never understand the later ones. Plus, its much easier to stop and learn about a point when you first encounter it, because learning about that single point when you first find it is likely to be quite easy in comparison to trying to figure out where you went wrong later on. Dont inherently trust the words of an advisor; do the research and figure things out on your own. You should never, ever make major financial decisions based on the advice or ideas of a single person, whether its a book or a blog or a financial advisor. Dont take one persons word for it if its a major decision that will have big ramifications in your life. Before making a choice, consult other sources. Verify what a website is saying by looking at other websites and at books. Verify what an advisor is saying by looking at websites and books. Verify what youve learned from books with other sources of information. Dont just rely on one source (and, yes, that includes The Simple Dollar). Final Thoughts: Fighting the Battle The real challenge of personal finance success in the modern world isnt following the path to success, which is easy, but in fighting the many different enemies that block your path and force you off of it. It is those who overcome those enemies and keep on the path that find financial security and, eventually, financial independence. You wont be successful in every battle no one is. However, if you manage to turn a few losses into wins, youll find yourself moving faster and faster down the path, with more confidence and momentum than ever before, and that alone will go a long way toward bringing you the success you desire. This is your journey. There are many who stand in your way. Are you ready to take them on? Related Articles: https://www.thesimpledollar.com/the-five-enemies-of-your-financial-success/

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The Silicon Valley paradox: one in four people are at risk of hunger

Exclusive: study suggests that 26.8% of the population qualify as food insecure based on risk factors such as missing meals or relying on food banks

Karla Peralta is surrounded by food. As a line cook in Facebooks cafeteria, she spends her days preparing free meals for the tech firms staff. Shes worked in kitchens for most of her 30 years in the US, building a life in Silicon Valley as a single mother raising two daughters.

But at home, food is a different story. The regions soaring rents and high cost-of-living means that even with a full-time job, putting food on the table hasnt been simple. Over the years she has struggled to afford groceries at one point feeding her family of three with food stamps that amounted to $75 a week, about half what the government describes as a thrifty food budget. I was thinking, when am I going to get through this? she said.

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In a region famed for its foodie culture, where the well-heeled can dine on gold-flecked steaks, $500 tasting menus and $29 loaves of bread, hunger is alarmingly widespread, according to a new study shared exclusively with the Guardian.

One in four people in Silicon Valley are at risk of hunger, researchers at the Second Harvest food bank have found. Using hundreds of community interviews and data modeling, a new study suggests that 26.8% of the population almost 720,000 people qualify as food insecure based on risk factors such as missing meals, relying on food banks or food stamps, borrowing money for food, or neglecting bills and rent in order to buy groceries. Nearly a quarter are families with children.

We call it the Silicon Valley paradox, says Steve Brennan, the food banks marketing director. As the economy gets better we seem to be serving more people. Since the recession, Second Harvest has seen demand spike by 46%.

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The bank is at the center of the Silicon Valley boom both literally and figuratively. It sits just half a mile from Ciscos headquarters and counts Facebooks Sheryl Sandberg among its major donors. But the need it serves is exacerbated by this industrys wealth; as high-paying tech firms move in, the cost of living rises for everyone else.

Food insecurity often accompanies other poverty indicators, such as homelessness. San Jose, Silicon Valleys largest city, had a homeless population of more than 4,000 people during a recent count. They are hungry, too: research conducted by the Health Trust, a local not-for-profit, found food resources available to them are scattered and inadequate.

These days Peralta earns too much to qualify for food stamps, but not enough not to worry. She pays $2,000 a month or three-quarters of her paycheck to rent the small apartment she shares with her youngest daughter. Even just the two of us, its still a struggle. So once a month, she picks up supplies at the food bank to supplement what she buys at the store.

She isnt one to complain, but acknowledges the vast gulf between the needs of Facebook employees and contract workers such as herself. The first thing they do [for Facebook employees] is buy you an iPhone and an Apple computer, and all these other benefits, she laughs. Its like, wow.

The scale of the problem becomes apparent on a visit to Second Harvest, the only food bank serving Silicon Valley and one of the largest in the country. In any given month it provides meals for 257,000 people 66m pounds of food last year. Inside its cavernous, 75,000 sq ft main warehouse space, boxes of produce stretched to the ceiling. Strip lights illuminated crates of cucumbers and pallets of sweet potatoes with a chilly glow. Volunteers in PayPal T-shirts packed cabbages and apples that arrived in boxes as big as paddling pools, while in the walk-in freezer turkeys waited to defrost.

Inside a warehouse belonging to Second Harvest food bank in San Jose, California, where PayPal staff volunteered for the day. Photography: Talia Herman

Because poverty is often shrouded in shame, their clients situations can come as a surprise. Often we think of somebody visibly hungry, the traditional homeless person, Brennan said. But this study is putting light on the non-traditional homeless: people living in their car or a garage, working people who have to choose between rent and food, people without access to a kitchen.

He added, Youre not thinking when you pick up your shirts from dry cleaning, or getting your landscaping done, or going to a restaurant, or getting your child cared for, is that person hungry? Its very easy to assume they are fine.

Matt Sciamanna is the sort of person you would assume is fine. Hes young, clever, and a recent graduate from San Jose State University. Yet here on campus, he says, food insecurity is a daily problem. Students, and even part-time professors, have been known to sleep in their cars or couch surf to save money. Sciamanna, who works on the Student Hunger Committee, says a survey of more than 4,000 students found about half have skipped meals due to the cost.

His investment in the issue is informed by his own experience. With his parents unable to finance all his living costs, Sciamanna worked in a restaurant while studying full time. But at 20 he was hit with a life-changing diagnosis: multiple sclerosis, a disease that left his grandmother bedridden. Unable to keep up with the pressures of restaurant work, he took a job on campus that paid just $400 a month.

Matt Sciamanna studying. Photo: Jeromy Cesea

My weekly food budget, after other expenses, was $25-$30, he says. Trips to the grocery store became a game of numbers: a bag of apples and bananas cost less than $5 and would last a week. A bag of frozen vegetables, another $5. Sometimes I would see a ripe peach, and I would want it, but then Id think, damn, theyre $1.50 each. Its not like Im asking for a car. Im just talking about a peach. That feeling leaves a scar.

While Sciamanna says his food situation has improved, another fear looms: healthcare costs. His father, a garbage man in San Francisco, has already postponed retirement so that his son can stay on the familys insurance. Without it, Sciamanna says he could face out-of-pocket costs of thousands of dollars a month for his medication. In that scenario, obtaining food would become even more difficult. His parents live in Clear Lake, three hours outside San Francisco, meaning a six-hour daily commute for his father. You feel like youre this dead weight, youre trying to advance yourself but you dont have the money. Its a shitty feeling.

Hunger and the housing crisis go hand-in-hand. In Santa Clara County, the median price of a family home has reached a new high of $1.125m, while the supply of homes continues to shrink. A family of four earning less than $85,000 is now considered low income. These realities mean food insecurity cuts across lines of race, age and employment status.

On a cold, bright afternoon at an elementary school in Menlo Park, kids trickled out of their classrooms and onto the playground. A food distribution was being arranged in the school gymnasium, and adults lined up outside with strollers and shopping carts, waiting for the doors to open. Most were women, many of them mothers whose children attend the school. Once inside they moved slowly and quietly around tables filled with bags of fresh produce, milk and bread, canned goods and beans.

A food distribution taking place at an elementary school in Menlo Park. Bottom right, Vicky Avila-Medrano, a food connection specialist with Second Harvest. Photography: Talia Herman

The Latino community is passing through a hard time, says Vicky Avila-Medrano, a food connection specialist. She runs a program that sends current and former food bank users out into the community, which has been disproportionately affected by the cost-of-living crisis.

Here in Silicon Valley, we have a big problem. This is a beautiful place to live for people in the tech industry, but we are not working in that industry.

Even people who have full-time jobs can find themselves with no way to put food on the table. Outside the gym, Martina Rivera, a 52-year-old mental health nurse, explained that her troubles began when her entire building was evicted last year. (Mass evictions have swept the area as landlords seek higher-paying tenants). Issues in her personal life, which she preferred not to detail, left her separated from her two children and their father. She thought about moving in with family, but worried about the burden. My brother was recovering from a stroke, and my mother is old, she says. I couldnt put more struggle on them. So what I found was my car.

Martina Rivera, 52, originally from Peru, lived in her car for six months while working as a nurse.

She told herself it was only temporary. I work night shifts at a veterans hospital, so I would go to my moms house to shower, and wait until it was time to work. I waited and waited for the storm to pass. Eventually she found a room without a private bathroom or kitchen. She shopped for food at 99 cent stores, ate mainly canned food, and cooked in a microwave. It took a toll on her health, she says; she gained weight.

I was having panic attacks. My body was like the walking dead. But I thought, I need to keep strong. And I never quit my job.

Rivera says that for many working people, pride is a barrier to admitting need. People dont have money to buy food, but they are shy to ask. But there is no reason to feel ashamed.

The day before Thanksgiving, Karla Peralta invited me to her home. She loves to cook, and prides herself on pulling together a healthy meal even when resources are scarce. I have to cook with what I have. Even if I only have a piece of chicken, a little bit of this and that, I am a cook. I make it work.

Karla Peralta, who works in the cafeteria at Facebook, demonstrates in her kitchen how she cooks with ingredients she picks up from the food bank. Photography: Charlotte Simmonds

That evening she worked with ingredients from the food bank: potatoes and chicken, cans of beans, corn and tomatoes. Dignified and good humored, Peralta says her current job is one of the best shes ever had, even though she still needs help.

As we sat down at her kitchen table to share a meal, we talk about her plans for tomorrows holiday meal. Shell be making ham with pineapples, her daughters favorite. There will be turkey and mashed potatoes, and her niece is bringing bread. And we got some rice from the food bank, she said. Ill probably make that, too.

Do you have an experience of homelessness to share with the Guardian? Get in touch