Hasta La Ideas

J.D. Roth, who writes the educational and extremely valuable personal finance blog GetRichSlowly.org, just published Your Money: The missing manual with O’Reilly books. The book is filled with charts, graphs, checklists, guides, and explanations that explore the basics and advanced methods of personal finance — all with Roth’s simple ease and charm.

The book begins with a quote from George Mallory that aptly reflects the focus of the text:

“We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be able to live. That is what life means and what life is for.”

Roth’s financial philosophy is based on the premise that you have to spend less than you earn. Regular readers of this website know that this is also a fundamental rule of being an Unclutterer. If you spend more than you earn, your thoughts will consistently be focused on anxieties (clutter) about money instead of on what matters to you most. Roth details how to get out of debt, spend less than you earn, and save money for the future (saving also means that you alleviate worries about your financial future).

One of the highlights for me is on page 95 of Your Money: The missing manual. Here, Roth presents a flowchart created by April Dykman that she “created to help her stay on track while shopping.” I think all Unclutterers should have this chart tattooed on their forearms (I jest. Please don’t get a tattoo of this.):

I’m also fond of the section titled “The Tyranny of Stuff,” which is perfectly suited for Unclutterers. In short, Roth’s premise in this section is if you “own less stuff” you will spend less on new acquisitions as well as maintaining the stuff you choose to own — less clutter, less storage space, less to clean, and less wasted money on unnecessary purchases.

In addition to the book, if you aren’t familiar with Roth’s blog GetRichSlowly.org, I also recommend you check it out. Money Magazine named it one of the top two financial advice sites on the internet. Roth knows very well how to get rid of cluttered finances. I give his new book two thumbs up.

To help kids understand the story of Passover—one of the more popular holidays for Jews and non-Jews alike because of its humanitarian message of social justice and peace—Francine Hermaline and her husband Adam Levite created “My Haggadah: Made it Myself.” The 48-page book speaks in a language that both children and adults can relate to about the meaning behind Passover and its inaugural feast, the Seder.

Haggadah, the special prayer book for Passover and usually a historic text, often seems like a tedious read to children. The Levites, who run motion picture and print design studio Associates in Science, were having trouble finding a book that matched both their aesthetic and spiritual sensibilities, so for the past seven years Francine has been making a Haggadah for her family and friends in Lower Manhattan. With the help of her kids and other kids from the community, it has slowly turned into a full book for kids aged four to 10. This year the family made the book available for free as a downloadable PDF file, or you can purchase a print version online.

Francine explained to CH, “The goal for ‘My Haggadah: Made it Myself’ is for the kids to put themselves in the story and wrestle with the topics with their parents. Every year I step it up a bit more, and this year I wanted to make it more widely available.” Through her blog kids can download new pages to create and post their work for others to see. Francine plans to create theme days such as “Plague Day” or “Question 5: What’s On Your Mind.” With traditions that have evolved over the course of numerous years, she has only yet to “scratch the surface” on a Haggadah that the whole family can enjoy together.

Dezeen have got together with J Mayer H Architects to offer our readers the chance to win one of five copies of Arium – Weather and Architecture, edited by Jurgen Mayer H and Neeraj Bhatia. (more…)

Providing a fresh take on Stephen King‘s classically twisted words and worlds, graphic designer Nick Tassone evokes the spirit of the disturbing films with a set of movie posters that perfectly illustrate each daunting plot.

Tassone cuts out the gore and reduces each image down to an essential stylized symbol, using a two-color palette of black paired with a pastel. For “Carrie,” an upended bucket hangs from a rope, while “Firestarter” and “Cat’s Eye” receive a literal treatment, showing a single large match and a wide cat’s eye. These condensed interpretations reinforce King’s ability to create intelligible stories, easily recognized even years after they were originally published.

Adding a layer of detail to play up a bygone tone, the vintage-inspired graphics include scratches and imperfections. The simplicity of Tassone’s design lends a familiar Hitchcockian dread and unease, making for an ultimately creepy yet visually-pleasing poster.

Pick up the Carrie poster and (soon) more for $30 from Tassone’s online shop.

We’ve teamed up with publishers Merrel to offer our readers the chance to win one of five copies of New Architecture in Japan by Yuki Sumner and Naomi Pollock with David Littlefield, featuring photography by Edmund Sumner. (more…)