Archive for December, 2008

Listed by most recent articles first.

• Budget Living and Beliefs
  “Am I selling out if I don’t buy the $14 deodorant?” This is a question I was asked last week by a good friend. The obvious answer to this question is “Who needs ...
• The Gift of Giving
  My daughter was shocked. “Mom,” she reported in one of those breathless cell phone calls she makes as she rushes across campus. “There’s a girl in my dorm whose family has a rule that gifts ...
• In Defense of Thank-You Notes
  “But Mom, nobody writes thank you notes anymore. But Mom, Gramma was here when I opened it and I said thank you then. But Mom, I can e-mail her. But Mom, it’s bor-ing! But Mom, ...
• Going Broke as Slowly as Possible
  There is no question, living within a tight budget is as much fun as a visit to the gynecologist. Possibly even less fun, because a visit to the gynecologist is one afternoon, whereas budget ...
• Happy at Last: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Finding Joy
  Too many pop psychology books today pretend that they have all of the answers, or try and wow you with their insights by tying together esoteric small studies done on college students and suggest such ...
• My First Trip to the Psychiatrist
  It seems that life is made up of a lot of different “firsts.” The first time you leave home, the first time you have sex, the first full-time job you accept, your first apartment, ...
• Ho-Ho-Ho-Holiday (Office) Parties: Bah Humbug?
  It’s one of those little secrets. A majority of people either hate office holiday parties or simply don’t care about them. Yet year after year, people dress up for an evening of socializing with people ...
• December Festivals: A Celebration of Diversity
  Companies spend millions of dollars on diversity training to help workers become more sensitive to each other's cultures, traditions, and practices. School boards now regularly struggle with the tension between wanting to celebrate the holiday ...
• 12 Tips to Keep Joy in the Holidays
  The Christmas season is upon us once again, and once again we find ourselves balancing between our work or studies, hanging out friends, scheduling time ...
• Social Networking Websites: What’s the Point?
  My local newspaper recently ran a story about how Facebook.com can ruin people's romantic relationships. The argument was that the site makes it too easy to get back in touch with former "significant ...
• Focus on Meaning, Not Money: Christmas on a Budget
  When my grandmother reminisced about childhood Christmases, we were given a glimpse of a much simpler time. Born in ...