Nathanael Yellis

Human upper class work has evolved, in the 21st century affluence of America, into something most closely resembling worldwide leisure. We talk, send messages, argue a bit, peer into screens, and read. Why do we get so frustrated? Why do we rarely relax after a long day, basking in the afterglow of hard work done well?

Over the summer of 2014, I started readying a new blog: Mr. Money Mustache. His style is pretty fun--way more readable than most frugality and personal finance blogs. His tips are actionable and he's entertaining.

Calculating basis for securities, for tax purposes, is difficult when you reinvest dividends. So it's a feature for brokerage statements to show the total number of shares owned and one's basis in those shares. They're doing the hard math for you.

Don't read a masterpiece like this when you're on vacation. Just don't do it. As you smell and taste summers and early autumns in the French Atlantic coast, you'll think that buying a summer cottage is a good idea. And why wouldn't it be, in August when you're in Maine for a long week?

Unlike many of the books in my 50 in 2014 project, this is a classic Yellis read: non-fiction with an attitude of zen.

Simplicity Parenting was worth reading. Instead of adding more layers of rules and guilt and responsibility, the authors give you things to forget about doing. In a culture that wonders if leaving your kids with a sitter when they are 15 months old will cause them as 55 year olds to be slightly sad, surely our parenting needs some editing, and this book is a good place to start.

This review has been in my queue for a while. It's seems more vitriolic than I remember feeling about this book. The Dirty Life was enjoyable to read. The author was good.