FROM: STELLA

TO: LAURA

1. Yesterday was my little munchkin’s official due date! I am very excited for his arrival and trying not to go too crazy waiting.
2. I found this article about personal data tracking very interesting (and scary!). It’s so easy to forget how much companies know about you and what they have access to.
3. In California, one of the determining factors for the price of car insurance is the estimated distance you’ll be in the car each year. It’s super easy to call up your provider and adjust for a refund and/or new quote. I just adjusted mine now that I am on maternity leave and won’t be driving to work each day and got a nice little refund (~$90 on my 6 month policy) back from my insurance company.
4. I love when celebrities use their notoriety to spread the word about important causes. I especially appreciated this article spreading the word of financial literacy and stressing the importance of saving and investing.

FROM: LAURA

TO: STELLA

1. Carly the Prepster introduced me to the Bad on Paper podcast this week with her episode about the behind the scenes of blogging. I loved the conversation-style format and went back and listened to a few back episodes — my favorites were with Katharine McGee and Lisa Tadeo.
2. Sharing our Halloween costumes a week late… my husband, baby, dog and I were a bunch of bananas! Dog costume instructions came from here. Baby costume inspiration came from here. Mine is this sweatshirt, and Jacob’s is this one.
3. Amazon Fresh is now free with Prime! I feel like this will be very useful for the first few weeks of having a baby… hint, hint Stella!
4. I enjoyed this article from The Financial Diet about high earners living paycheck to paycheck and our fascination with reading about that type of struggle. I feel very lucky to have only feel like I truly lived paycheck to paycheck for a short period of time right after college, and find it fascinating what can arise with lifestyle inflation.
5. Stella’s husband, Sam, shared this article with us and I loved the underlying messages included. It’s simultaneously very exciting and quite jarring to think about raising kids and shaping them and their worldview!