Lots of recipes use lemons and what about fresh orange juice or a lime served with tacos? We need to get as much mileage out of everything we buy and one way to get the last drop from the citrus you buy is to use this simple trick. Roll the fruit under your palm on […] Continue Reading The post Money Saving Tip-Oranges and Lemons appeared first on My Worthy Penny.

You are poor. You know it. And if you’re reading this, you’re looking for a blueprint to get out. Let me save you the soft nonsense: Your failure is not a lack of budgeting tips or a misunderstanding of mutual funds. Your failure is systemic and mathematical, and until you embrace a Zero-Tolerance Mandate, you will remain trapped. You need to know two things: Your Baseline: How far behind you are compared to the average […]

Open YouTube, Substack, or X right now, and you will be inundated with emergency sirens disguised as career advice. “You only have two years to escape the underclass!” “The next five years will define the rest of your life!” “AI is coming for your job!” They put a timeline on your potential. To me, this is pure fear-mongering designed to spike engagement. Any well-read person knows a bit about history understands that humans are incredibly […]

In my last post, The Case for an All-Weather Approach, I wrote conceptually about what it means to build something sustainable, rather than something that only shines in ideal conditions. So what does that look like in practice? Today, I’m sharing how I’ve constructed and manage an All-Weather Plan that works for me.   Today, Dana shares the details on how she’s built (and manages) an All-Weather Plan for her investments.Share on X What An All-Weather […]

In this special birthday reflection episode, I’m slowing things down and turning inward.  I’m sharing where I am in this season of life, what feels solid, what feels unclear, and what I’m intentionally leaving open. Birthdays always make me pause. They give me space to reflect, to check in with myself, and to notice how much has changed internally and externally. In this episode, I’m asking myself honest questions and inviting you to sit with […]

Update: This post is a work in progress as every step takes quite some time. As of early February, I’ve submitted a Written Appeal given what ChatGPT has provided and will update this post with the results when they come in. In Maryland, your home is assessed every three years and your property taxes are based on that assessment. We last dealt with this in 2023 and the appeal was successful. I contested it based on Qualify Factor, which was a multiplier used on our base assessment. The state felt we were a 6, which meant you multiplied your base value by 1.37. We lowered it to a 5, which is a multiplier of 1.17. That resulted in big savings (20%!). This year, we can’t do that because we’re still at a Qualify Factor of 5. Three years ago, I spent a few hours learning how it all worked but this time, I wanted to see if ChatGPT could give me a hand. I know the process of an appeal but ChatGPT could give me insight into how it all really worked… and it delivered. And I filed an appeal in about ten minutes. First, I requested our Residential Worksheet and the Comparable Sales List used for my assessment from Maryland. Then, I fed the documents into ChatGPT and had it analyze my chances and tell me exactly what to do. Table of ContentsChatGPT Identified Appeal TargetsSubmitting a Written AppealAppeal Results [TBD] ChatGPT Identified Appeal Targets The Residential Worksheet gave ChatGPT enough information about our property to compare it with the sales list and see if there were areas we could contest. Here’s what it said about the comparable sales: Your Area Sales Listing (Neighborhood XXXXXXXX.XX) is gold Here’s what jumps out immediately from that sheet: A. Recent Sales Cluster Lower Than Your Assessment Many 2023–2025 arms-length sales in your exact neighborhood code show: Sale prices commonly between:$775k – $1.05M Several large-lot properties (5–10 acres) selling well below your assessed value Homes with: Similar vintage (1970s–1990s) Similar or larger living area Similar acreage Often equal or better quality ratings Yet SDAT places you at $1.3M. That gap is the core of your appeal. For context, we live in an area where large lot properties tend to be much older because they pre-date the massive amount of building that has happened the last twenty or thirty years. Most of the new single-family homes now are on half acre lots or, at most, three acre lots. We’re a house built in 1990 on 10 acres and it’s only so many acres because it’s uneven, woody, and (lucky for us) too expensive to subdivide and build. So if you know the area, this is all true and the valuable argument plausible. ChatGPT also identified likely errors: 3. Likely Assessment Errors / Pressure Points These are the arguments that typically land: 🔹 1. Overstated Market Adjustment Factors SDAT applied: County Multiplier: 1.60 Quality Factor: 1.17

Parenting can look great on paper and still feel heavier than it should. In this episode, I break down five common parenting mistakes that quietly weaken connection with your kids — even when you’re trying hard and care deeply. These aren’t obvious mistakes like yelling or punishments. They’re subtle patterns I see over and over that create pressure, over-functioning, and disconnection. I share what these mistakes look like in real life and what to do […]

If you’ve ever Googled “how to budget”, you’ll know there’s no shortage of money advice out there. Everyone has the system. The one that’ll magically fix your finances without you having to think too hard or change your behavior (spoiler: that one does not exist). Over the years, I’ve tried just about every popular budgeting … Read more