It's The Budgette's fifth anniversary
Five years ago I wrote ‘Welcome to The Budgette’ and outlined the why I started this newsletter.
Five years ago, I had time on my hands as did most of us. I was also tired of pitching solo finance stories to media outlets and them not landing. So I got annoyed, started writing about it in a newsletter and nearly 3,000 of you read and follow. Thank you.
Time has flown since then. I’ve gotten older, gotten annoyed at having to write things when I wasn’t in the mood and despaired over the numbers and paid subscriptions. You know, like a normal writerly person on the internet. But the upsides have clearly outweighed the downsides:
I started writing for The Walrus due to this newsletter waves at my editor.
I get asked to opine on things now. waves at other editor
I’ve moderated panels and given talks at colleges. Very cool.
Appeared on several podcasts including CBC’s The Cost of Living and Inappropriate Questions. Also appeared on The Social.
Other cool things are happening.
The Book. The Book is in title case for now because it still doesn’t seem real and after it’s available, it’ll be downgraded to sentence case. The Canadian and American pre-order links are live.
But enough about that for now, though I warn you The Book will be about 50 per cent of my personality for the next few months as pre-orders do help.
Anyway, in the last five years I’ve written a couple hundred posts on money, life, death and friendship. Many offered advice from experts, some were from my own lived experience and others were stories told to me by friends and acquaintances, explored here with their permission. Here are some of the most popular:
Tell your lizard-brain to shut up: Why we aren't investing
Anxiety about your investments? Leave them alone
Did Donald Trump not expect tariff retaliation?
The most commented:
How to channel your rage against pointless billionaires
Why I hate shame and blame about money
My favourites:
Who’s going to take care of your cat?
I’ve also seen a lot of changes on how the media covers single people and solo earners. Five years ago, it was difficult to find articles on solo earners and how they managed financially. Now, at least one to two articles are published a month. Major publications are looking for single people and solo earners to talk to. Videos across all platforms are talking about the cost of being single.
Brands are all over it. Cruise lines are offering solo-specific packages. Though airlines and travel companies are still charging the single supplement. We see you.
It’s been a wild five years. In that time, I’ve been asked and told to shut the newsletter down if I wanted to work at or continue to work at a couple of companies. I won’t name names as one had every right to ask that question. The other? Well, there was a clear difference of opinion. As you’re reading this, I didn’t shut it down. I did offer to demonetize The Budgette but that wasn’t good enough. I also got an offer to buy the newsletter. That clearly didn’t happen. I love this newsletter and love meeting and hearing from people who read, comment, ask questions and make suggestions.
In fact, one reader asked a question and after many months and asking many questions, it turned into this article, out today, So you’re leaving Canada to start a new life abroad. Here’s how that could affect your taxes and investments.
So what’s next? More of the same. The thing with talking about money and solo earners is there’s always something. Next up is the death list. Not deathnote, deathlist. Plus two more stories from guest writer Caitlin. Then we slide right into the holidays.
Once again, thank you for being here, reading, subscribing and commenting. The traditional gift for a fifth anniversary is wood. I painted a picture frame today. Close enough.