The book was originally published as a series of stories in Russian newspapers following the death of Stalin and caused

From our privileged positions, many of us don’t think this way very often, if ever. We make money. We pay the rent. We pay for our transportation. We pay other bills. We go out and eat and drink with friends. We buy plants. We take lessons. In some cases, we throw money around. Whatever.,If you take home $4,000 a month and want to attain financial flexibility (or freedom) ASAP, it begins and ends with your expenses. I keep my expenses — fixed and discretionary — below $3,000 (generally around $2,500) most months. If I were earning $4,000 a month, this means I have between $1,000 and $1,500 left over each month. Remember those numbers.,If you took on the aforementioned rent and car payment mindset for your monthly investing habit, you’d be well on your way to $1 million in 20 years. If you operate from the position of financial strength illustrated here, there’s no reason why you should not have an extra $1,000 a month to invest each month. It’ll be tighter if you “only” make $50,000 a year. If you make more than that, there’s probably no excuse other than overspending for not having an extra grand at the end of the month.,The novella follows the titular character through a single day in a gulag in Siberia. What’s depicted is the bleakness of his existence, the futility of his work, and the struggle to survive in a harsh climate.,Thanks for reading! I have loads of food essays (delicious recipes too) and thoughtful and quirky simpler living essays waiting for you. (Well over 100 of them!) And this story caught the attention of NBC News in New York!,So when I say it’s easier than you think to amass $1 million in 20 years, I say it from a position of privilege to an audience largely comprised of people on the same perch. This isn’t to say hard work doesn’t get you anywhere. It does. But, speaking for myself, I’m aware I have a head start. And it has little to do with anything other than my place in life. Hard work didn’t get me here. Luck and where and when my parents decided to have sex mainly did.,Here’s how it can look on the ground. After establishing the cash flow part, it really is easy. So easy, in fact, it’s a wonder more of us don’t do exactly what I’m about to lay out.,The big disadvantage is the lack of official DRM support in the web browser. You can use third-party tools, but in the default configuration, you won’t be able to watch Netflix or Amazon Prime. As I understand, it’s a legal issue, not a technical one, and I hope the Raspberry Pi team can finally solve it.,Invest this money, methodically, in dividend-paying stocks that appreciate a modest 5% annually, that yield a somewhat modest 5% annually, and that grow their dividend by a modest 2.5% annually. Reinvest all dividend payments. For a primer on what all of this means, see here and here.,I’d never heard of this book or the author, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, before I bought, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. But after reading this short novella, I lamented the fact it had taken me this long to read his work.,It’s a long read, at over 600 pages, but if you’re a keen student of history and want to learn more about Roosevelt, the challenges he faced in the face of adversity and how he overcame them, it’s a must-read!,I’m under no illusion. I write these articles about personal finance from a privileged position. There’s a good chance you read them with privilege fully intact. If we spend our time thinking about building wealth rather than how to make ends meet, chances are we were born on third base. We didn’t hit a triple.,So, if you were living paycheck to paycheck, having to count every penny, you’d likely count each dollar until they added up to, first, your rent or mortgage and, second, your car payment. You’d worry about paying everything else last. You might tweak first and second, but I feel safe in thinking there might be general consensus here.,It sounds painfully impossible to “only” spend $3,000 versus $4,000 in monthly cash flow, or to “only” spend $4,000 versus $6,000 in monthly cash flow. It sounds tough to have a significant surplus left over at the end of the month. Except, it’s not. Not if you sacrifice a little and compromise a little more.,I think most people treat their housing payment as the one thing they’re gonna pay no matter what. If you miss a credit card payment (and I don’t advise it), you might face consequences, but they don’t seem quite as potentially dire as missing your rent or mortgage payment.