Welcome to Money As If, the personal finance newsletter equivalent of Snooki finding the beach.

Today's episodes:

— Jeanine

P.S. Liking Money As If? Share that referral link below for a chance to earn some swag!

I’ve been writing about personal finance long enough to recognize that pretty much every money rule in existence is up for re-evaluation these days.

What I didn’t fully realize until I took it upon myself to round up all said money rules was how impossible they were making personal finance in 2025. And that’s saying something because I write a newsletter that’s largely about how hard it is to personal finance in 2025.

And that time knife nearly broke me, you guys, because, when gathered on paper, it’s hard to ignore that today’s money rules are so full of implausibilities, obtuseness, and straight-up paradoxes. Honestly, I wondered for a moment — just a moment — why I even bother with a bank account.

See Exhibits A through C:

I mean … it’s enough to make you lose your mind.

Before someone asks ChatGPT to caution me against nihilism (again), let me just say: My point is that we should stop losing our minds. The big through line in Money As If — which is hopefully coming through in its issues — is that some of our personal finance problems aren’t actually personal.

They’re the product of larger systemic issues —widening income inequality, rampant inflation post-pandemic, and too-frequent recessions (hello, fellow millennials! Can you believe we’re doing this again?) — that make it harder and harder for any budget to line up.

That's depressing, for sure, but it's also freeing because it means we can let go of the idea that financial wellness is almost exclusively linked to financial deprivation and start cutting ourselves a little slack.

Effectively, feel free to try a little less because trying a little more most likely isn’t going to make you rich; it’s more likely to make you miserable.

I haven't wrestled with this worldview too much since adopting it, given that, well, it's my worldview, but I have wrestled with how it intersects with "money rules" because here's a paradox for you. While I think we give them way too much power, I also think … we need them.

Money, for better or worse, remains essential for living, so our financial health isn’t exactly something we can neglect or ignore.

So what should we do with a whole bunch of rules that, absent the absolute best of circumstances, we can’t collectively follow?

Where I've netted out: Treat each one as more of a loose framework. It's good to know what's recommended (emphasis on recommended, not mandatory). It's also good to know what's possible because they're not always the same thing. For instance:

My thinking is that by figuring out what's ideal and where the rules can (or do) bend, we can make more informed decisions (even if it's between bad and bad). We can also more readily forgive ourselves for financial faux pas—especially ones that were unavoidable through no fault of our own.

After all, the first rule of getting out of a toxic relationship is acknowledging that it is one and that we deserve something healthier.

Of course, feel free, if you like, to chuck that rule right out the window.

Have you all seen Costco’s monthly print catalog magazine? It really is a thing of beauty: 75 pages of recipes, long-form articles (June’s cover feature was on pet-related businesses), shopping tips, and, of course, the store’s latest deals and steals.

In a true stroke of genius, the magazine emphasizes your savings rather than a product’s cost. In fact, many featured items don’t include a price tag at all. Instead, they just advertise how much money you’re getting off. See, for instance, these 14 steaks from Rastelli’s.

Click on the QR code in the left-hand corner, and you'll be taken to the Costco website, where you can buy them immediately for $199.

Or check out this smart toilet, which costs $1,549.99 after the advertised $350 discount.

You get the monthly Costco Connection in the mail if you have the high-tier Executive membership, which costs $130 a year (double a standard membership) and includes other perks, like an annual 2% cash back rewards certificate. There’s also a digital version of the magazine that everyone can access and even receive email alerts for. And you can pick-up a free hard copy in-stores.

Apparently, Costco considers the magazine a profitable venture. Launched in 1997, it generates revenue via customer engagement, executive membership interest, and advertising sales.

Marketing jokes aside, and I mean this sincerely, kudos to the bulk retailer for saving the world, one $1.50 hot dog and journalism job at a time.

The price of a day (or night) in Long Branch, New Jersey, where the seaside condos are going for way more than $1 million.

🍭 $2.99

the retail price for a box of old-school candy cigarettes in stock at SugarPop Candy Bar; I remember when these things cost a quarter — and my dad remembers when they cost a nickel.

🏖 $6

the price of a daily beach pass on Monday through Friday; you’ll pay $9 on weekends and holidays; teens ages 14 to 17 pay $3 any day.

🍦$29.62

the price of one large waffle cone and one large waffle cone sundae with caramel and rainbow sprinkles from Coney Waffle Ice Cream and Sweet Shop, ice cream so good that I can’t stop thinking about it.

🍫 $49.90

the price of a bespoke box of chocolate from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, which included oversized salted caramels, English toffee, chocolate-covered graham crackers, peanut clusters, and birthday truffles.

🦀 $179.18

the price before tip for lunch at The Robinson Ale House, which included an appetizer, two entrees, and, TBH, quite a few drinks.

🏨 $566.24

what we would have paid to stay the (Tuesday) night at Waves Resort in a superior king room with a terrace; the luxury beachfront property charges upward of $945 on weekends.

A mix of this week’s big money headlines, plus some unconventional finance takes for your perusal.

And, finally, today, in things I would buy if I could, you know, just buy things …

Fendi’s Teddy Bear pouffe armchair, made from shearling, leather, and suede. Costs $12,600. So it’s expensive, anti-ovine, and kind of gauche but …

Also cute and fluffy!

Got questions, comments, receipts, tips, thirst traps, etc. you’d like to share? Send them to [email protected].

_{This article is for educational purposes only. We don’t recommend or advise individuals to buy, not buy, sell, or not sell particular investments or other assets, as everyone’s circumstances are different. Also, it’s your money and ultimately up to you to decide the best use for it.}