Happy Thursday! How’s dry January for your money going? Happy to report the Esdale household is mostly on track, though this post resonates because after a long day, the last thing I want to do is cook. But our goal for this month (and next) is no eating out / ordering in, so I’ve been more intentional about making sure I have the ingredients I need for dinner each night, and even giving us a few choices in case we don’t want what’s “on the menu.” Are you doing dry January? What are your tricks for making sure you eat what’s in your fridge?

Happy Tuesday! Last week I reached a milestone 1,000 posts on Instagram. In fact, I’ve posted every single day since I started this account. I set this as a goal when I started Fintuition - I wanted a place where I could share knowledge and thoughts about money with folks I work with and anyone else who was interested. I never wanted to be an influencer or even have a lot of followers. Just followers who cared about my content and found it useful. I hope you get something out of my posts, even if it’s just admiring a cute dog when Ollie shows up. By the way, routine and consistency for the win. Every time.

Feeling the 2026 scaries? Is it taxes? Finances? Work? Running your business? If you need a partner, reach out.

Happy New Year! 🎊 2025 was a big year of reading for me - 153 books. I did a slow scroll through my Reading List app, you’ll see that it was entirely fiction this year. Mostly good, a few great, and only a few that I didn’t finish (they didn’t make the cut for the scroll or the count). I often get asked how I read so much. Y’all know I work a lot, and I have a pup who requires a lot of long walks. The secret? I don’t really watch TV at night. By the end of the day, I’m tired of screens and reading is my relaxation. I also take a book with me everywhere so I can catch a few chapters in the bus or the train. Not everyone is a reader and I totally get that. But if you want to read more in 2026, I have a few tips: 1. Read what you like, not what everyone tells you that you should read. 2. Don’t keep reading if you hate a book. I usually give it 50 pages. Life’s too short and there are too many books. Put it down and move on. 3. Put your phone away when you want to dive into a book. Silence it. Really let your brain sink in and enjoy. 4. I’m not an audiobook person, but if you are, yay! It’s like a podcast…but for reading. 5. To go to the next level, set a goal of exposing yourself to writers who write about countries, cultures, and lifestyles different from yours. It’s amazing what it does for your ability to be empathetic. 6. Support your local library. Reading is not a punishment, like many kids felt when they were first exposed to reading. It should be an escape, a journey, a peek into another world, a key to learning something new… Happy Reading in 2026! 📚 P.S. I would love to hear your recommendations, and I’ll have some nonfiction recommendations coming this year.