Work Lean

The Frugal Reader

Finding the best free books in any format, audio, digital, paper.

By Brad Beckstrom

I read a lot. Maybe not compared to some folks, but more than I ever thought I would. Not sure how I got hooked on it. It might’ve been in the early days of Borders Books or stumbling upon some great books on Amazon back in the late 90s when that’s all they sold.

I remember a quote from Kevin Kelly, the founding editor of
Wired Magazine:

Read one book a month and it will change your life.

He’s right.

It took me a little longer to figure out that libraries and independent bookstores were a better place find good books. Sadly independent bookstores, or even bookstores in general, are getting harder to find. I live just outside of Washington, DC and they’re even getting harder to find here. The closest bookstore to me when I ride my bike into Georgetown is owned by, wait for it….Amazon.

Luckily technology is making it easier to find a good book and the key to enjoying reading is finding good books. You’ll often go through a lot of duds or books that start out like gangbusters than just drag on.

So here, in no particular order, are my secrets to finding good books, often for free. If you’re not sure what you even want to read, see below for some tips on getting book ideas.

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Building a Financial Bridge Over Stormy Seas

07/19 by The Frug Leave a Comment

As I’m writing this the S&P 500 just passed the 3000 mark. It only took five years for the index to reach this new high from the 2000 point milestone in 2014. In contrast, the rise from 1000 to 2000 required more than 16 years.

I like to think of myself as an optimist. So, I’m always confident that the market will go up over time. I just get a bit concerned when I see politicians taking credit for market gains and large companies using federal tax giveaways to buy back shares, propping up share prices.

All this while the US deficit is moving up in hockey stick fashion. Trade wars also pushed market volatility to new highs in 2018. It’s always easy to find bad news from good sources if you’re looking for it.

The case for optimism

On the other hand, experts have been predicting the next market crash since about 2012. Currently, we are 10 years into a record long bull run in the US stock markets. The point here is that no one can predict the direction of the markets. As much as governments may try, they even have trouble disrupting forward progress. Time marches on, things do eventually get better over time. Stay optimistic. When the next bear market or correction comes along, hang on tight and tell yourself this too shall pass.

Expect the best, plan for the worst

Optimism definitely has its place. For those of us that retired early, are financially independent, nearing retirement, or just hanging out on a beach somewhere, now is the perfect time to be a bit of a pessimist. Over the past two years, as this bull current bull market has gotten a bit long in the tooth, I’ve found myself looking at how specific investments performed during the 2001 and 2008 bear markets and recessions.

If we were to have another major bear market, how would my portfolio perform and what should my asset allocation be before it comes? I look at this as sort of conducting your own financial stress test, similar to what the Fed asks banks to do.

If you’re retired or financially independent and source part of your income from dividends and capital gains, ask this question: What could you do now that would enable you to get through the next recession and bull market without having to sell dividend producing stocks or stock market index funds while prices are dropping?

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The Art of Living Dangerously. Using Risk as a Tool to Improve.

06/19 by The Frug Leave a Comment

By Brad Beckstrom

I hadn’t heard this quote in years, but when I heard it repeated in a recent interview, it stopped me in my tracks. I quickly scribbled down the first and the last part of the quote. A few weeks later, when I was looking back at my notes, I’d written. “Security is mostly a superstition. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.”

Over the years I’ve read hundreds of quotes about risk, but this one was epic. Just the first or last sentence could stand alone as memorable with anyone who takes risks. Not just the skydiving over volcanoes type of risk, but all kinds of risk. Risk to your reputation, risk to your retirement account, risk of rejection, major downsides, and business failures.

If you’re doing work with no downside, no risk, working just to reach an imaginary finish line that may be the most dangerous work of all. Whatever your vocation, whatever brings you fulfillment, it can be enhanced with risk. Risk requires that we act. When we take action on any endeavor, we learn more.

750 Words will get you writing.

04/19 by The Frug Leave a Comment

A daily mind clearing exercise that’s a productive alternative for those who struggle with meditation.

I just discovered a note I saved in Evernote in 2013. I was doing a quick search about writing habits and boom, three or four great articles I had previously saved showed up in my search. Including the site 750 words.

It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for but I decided to give the 750 Words tool a shot. This is really a tool for people who would like to improve their writing but don’t want to constantly try to publish things on social media or writing sites like Medium.com.

750 words will help you create a healthy writing habit by tracking your daily word count and writing habits. The cool thing is that it’s really a great way to simply clear your mind in the morning by writing any random stuff that’s in your head down on paper. I also think it’s a nice alternative to meditation especially for people that have lots of voices and ideas floating around their heads especially when they’re sitting still with their eyes closed. Here is my first example in the raw. Speech to text flow of consciousness grammatical errors included.

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There is Nothing Wrong With Your House.

03/19 by The Frug Leave a Comment

7 Ways to Save Money on Home Improvements and Free Up Your Time.

One of the hassles of owning a home, especially a home that’s more than 20 years old, is the steady flow of things to do. Not just general upkeep or lawn care, there are repairs to make, appliances to replace, projects to plan.

Should I do my own home improvements? Maybe ask my wife to help me? Or have a few friends over and trade beers for some labor?

There sure are a lot of YouTube videos out there showing you how easy it all is. More resources than ever before to help you get these jobs done easily.

As you get older, get married, maybe have kids, start a business, you really start to look at your time closely and wonder if you are spending it wisely. So, even though I’ve done some minor repairs and home improvements in the past, now I often look at them and find that my time is better spent elsewhere. Time with my family, time outdoors, or even an equal amount of time that I could spend doing work that I enjoy such as writing, photography or creating digital campaigns.

Another way to justify outsourcing home-improvements is to compare what you may earn spending that time creating. In my case, the time is better spent doing some work that could generate income long-term and comes easier to me than home improvements. In my case, I tend to be more handy with the laptop than with the hammer.

Outsourcing

So, for me, it’s decided. I’m outsourcing home improvements and repairs, even the simpler ones like painting and landscaping. For years, every frugal bone in my body told me this was not the best way to go about it. Then I decided to view this from a different angle.

There is nothing wrong with my house.

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Making Deposits In the Bank of Experience

02/19 by The Frug Leave a Comment

By Brad Beckstrom

For those times when you wonder what you’re getting out of practice and training:

“For 42 years, I’ve been making small, regular deposits in this bank of experience, education, and training. On January 15, the balance was sufficient so that I could make a very large withdrawal.”

– Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, pilot US Airways Flight 1549.

About the Bank

One of the first personal improvement books I read was The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People By Stephen Covey. The book had a big impact on how I worked. Covey spends time in the book diving into work and personal relationships. One of the concepts Covey espoused is the importance of making deposits in the emotional bank accounts of others. Basically, every time you build up trust or goodwill with another person, you’re making a deposit in their emotional bank account as well as yours.

Being a saver, the bank account analogy made a lot of sense to me. You build up deposits of trust and respect over time and occasionally you can make a withdrawal, possibly a favor or tapping into another’s expertise.

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