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Years ago, I asked my born-organized sister how she managed to keep her place looking so nice all the time. She gave me an odd look and replied, I put things away when Im done with them. Im reminded of this infuriating conversation whenever I read most introductory budgeting advice. Money experts will assure their audience that creating a successful budget is simple. Just track your income and spending and make sure the second number is lower than the first, they say, often with a tone that makes it sound like theyre worried about your ability to tie your own shoes. But most people need to know how to do these supposedly simple things. And just as my sister couldnt imagine why put things away was impossible-to-follow advice for me, financial experts dont necessarily recognize that the simple process of budgeting is not easy for everyone. If money management is not second nature to you, here are some tips to help you create and maintain a budget that fits your life. Treat budgeting like laundry About once a year or so, Ill find myself elbow deep in unfolded clothes, wondering aloud if Im nearly finished doing the laundry. After 30 plus years, I must be near the end of the laundry by now! Ill lament to my family. My frustration stems from the fact that washing the clothes is a never-ending task. I can never be done with the laundry. I can only choose from one of four options for dealing with the laundry cycle: do it myself, pay someone else to do it, wear dirty clothes, or go naked. Money management is also a never-ending task. In fact, budgeting often fails because the budgeter doesn’t get past the initial check-in with their money. We want budgeting to be a once-and-done kind of chore and forget that it needs to be done over and over again. If you havent embraced the ongoing nature of budgeting, you probably only budget sporadically. This might involve sitting down with your banking app to check on your spending and may even include a plan for how much you intend to spend in the future. And then the budget is often forgotten about until the next time you’re scrambling to pay your bills. The problem with treating budgeting like a singular event is that youre doing the financial equivalent of washing your skivvies only once a year. Youre going to run out of money/clean undies eventuallyand no one likes their options when that happens. Its far better to go into budgeting with the assumption that youll need to spend a little time on it weekly, just as its better to tackle the laundry regularly instead of only summiting Mount St. Washy when youve had to go commando several days in a row. How to do this Accepting that budgeting is a regular chore is almost half the battle, but that doesnt make it any easier to carve out time for a new weekly task. This is why newbie budgeters may want to literally pair laundry with money management. The time your unmentionables spend spinning in the washer and dryer is down time on laundry day, which could be an excellent time to work on managing your money. This will help you build the habit and connect the importance of budgeting with that of laundry. Avoid judging yourself Once you have embraced the repetitive nature of money management, the next major obstacle is self-judgment. There are a couple of forms this kind of judgment could take. Some budgeters beat themselves up for past financial choices theyre still paying for, concluding that they will never be good with money. Others compare their income or lifestyle to someone else who seems to be doing better. And many budgeters set themselves up to fail by deciding that their future selves are perfectly capable of quitting expensive habits cold turkey. Each of these kinds of self-judgments can derail a budget. When you judge yourself and your finances in any of these ways, youre measuring reality against what should be true. Unfortunately, reality wins every time, and shoulding on yourself just makes you feel bad. This is why budgeting needs to be done in a place free of judgment. Your money situation is neither good nor bad; neither moral nor immoral. It just is, and accepting that allows you to make the most beneficial decisions for your goals. How to do this Telling you not to judge yourself is a bit like my sisters advice to put my stuff awayvery easy to say and much harder to do. Thats why new budgeters should spend their first few budgeting sessions simply gathering information about their money. You dont need to make any decisions about any of the numbers you uncover. Think of yourself like an accounting version of Indiana Jones, excavating the historical record without judgment. This specifically means using your first few weeks of budgeting on uncovering the answers to the following questions: How much income can I expect each month? What are my monthly fixed expenses? These might include: Rent/Mortgage Utilities, including mobile phone and data/Wi-Fi access (if these fluctuate, calculate the monthly average over the last 12 months) Car payment Auto insurance Student loan payment Alimony or child support Day care expenses Monthly memberships (such as gym membership) What is the monthly average cost of my variable expenses? Use at least three months worth of numbers for the following expenses to calculate your average monthly cost: Groceries Medications Medical appointments Renters insurance/Homeowners insurance Car maintenance and repair Home maintenance and repair Credit card payments What is the monthly average cost of my discretionary expenses? These might include: Entertainment Dining out Personal care (haircuts, etc) Clothing Hobbies Gifts The numbers you calculate from this exercise are just information. Gathering this data without making judgments or decisions will allow you to get comfortable with the idea of removing your ego from the process of budgeting. Aim for small wins Back when I asked my sister about her organizational skills, I was thinking about the pile of papers on my kitchen table, the clothing chair in my bedroom, the dishes that had taken up permanent residence on my coffee table, and unfinished projects on multiple flat surfaces in my house. In othe words, I was thinking globally about my untidiness. Her advice assumed that I had a place to put everything away and that it was something I could do quickly. Neither of those things were true. It wasnt until I decided to make my bed every day that I started to move the disorganization needle. It did nothing for the piled papers, clothes, dishes, and unfinished projects elsewhere in the house, but having a neatly made bed was a small, easy thing I could do that helped make my space seem neater. Once that was a habit, it was easier to put things away in my bedroom. New budgeters should aim for similar small wins with money management, since it is much easier to build a habit from small routines than try to become a money maven overnight. How to do this There are a number of small financial wins that can help you build the budgeting habit. Some early skills to focus on might include: Paying all your bills on time Transferring a small amount to an emergency fund with every paycheck Paying more than the minimum amount on credit cards or other debt Taking lunch to work one day a week Picking one of these skills and repeating it until it has become a habit will help you create a foundation for your budgeting practice. Even though these are small actions, repetition and habit will allow them to improve your finances and give you successes to build on. The perfectly imperfect budget Just as my house will never look like something out of a magazine (or even like my sisters house), your budget will never have the picture-perfect symmetry described by money experts. But your budget doesnt need to be pretty or perfectit just needs to make your financial life easier to manage. To create your own successful budget, start by treating money management more like your laundry. Its something you have to do regularly or else it will back up on you. When you get started on a new budgeting habit, commit to simply gathering information without judgment. Youll make better decisions if you remove your judgmental reaction from the numbers you uncover. Finally, aim for small financial wins, rather than trying to completely remake your finances all at once. Letting go of the idea of perfection will help you learn to love your budget, warts and al
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A few years ago, I chronicled the journey I went on to manually merge two Apple ID accounts into one. I was attempting to rectify a problem that I and many other long-time Apple users had been stuck with: Our dataemails, contacts, movie and app purchases, photos, logins, and morewas spread across two different Apple accounts. This segregation made accessing this data on our various devices a chore. Imagine opening your closet to look for a specific shirt, only to realize its hanging instead in the closet at your old house across town. The process took me days. At the time, Apple provided no automated way for users to merge two Apple IDs. Yet, this week that finally changedwell, kinda. Apple has now developed an official way for users to automatically migrate some Apple account data from one account to another. Heres what you need to know about the new process. The two Apple ID problem If youve only ever had one Apple ID, the login you use for all your Apple servicesiCloud, App Store purchases, music streaming, Apple Pay, Apple Card, or anything else that falls under Apples ecosystemyoure probably a bit confused as to why someone would have this data spread across two different accounts. The explanation, in my case, goes back 20 or so years. Before iCloud was introduced, in 2011, Apple offered various other email accounts, including dotMac and MobileMe, the former of which had served as my Apple IDthe login associated with my iTunes music store account, where I bought songs and digital movies. But then, in 2011, like many others, I signed up for a new iCloud account, mainly so I could get a different email address (one I liked better). However, this now left me with two Apple IDs: one for my media purchases and the other for my email and other online Apple services. At first, this wasn’t a problem, but over time as Apples services offering grew both more robust and more integrated, having data segregated across two Apple IDs led to an increasingly poor user experience. For example, if you wanted to access your documents in iCloud on your Mac, you would need to sign into one Apple ID, but then if you wanted to access your movie purchases as well, youd need to sign into another. Soon, it wasn’t uncommon to forget which Apple ID held which data. To say that these challenges annoyed longtime Apple users like me is an understatement. The two Apple ID problem was a rare flaw in Apples tightly-knit it just works ecosystem. But now, it’s a flaw that Apple has finally taken a step to fix. How to migrate digital purchases from two Apple accounts into one This week, Apple surprised everyone by posting a support document revealing that it now provided a (pretty) straightforward way to merge two Apple accountsto a degree. (Note: As of iOS 18, Apple has renamed the Apple ID to Apple Account, but the terms remain relatively interchangeable.) However, Apples solution is not perfect. It only lets a user migrate their digital purchasesincluding apps, music, movies, TV shows, and booksfrom one Apple Account to another. You still cannot migrate other associated Apple Account data such as iCloud emails, contacts, passes, and Apple Pay cards using the tool. Yet, by allowing the migration of digital purchases, Apple has negated one of the biggest pain points of manually merging two Apple IDs into one. Previously there was no way to move digital purchases from one Apple ID to another. That meant if you wanted to ditch one Apple Account for good, you’d also need to ditch the software and media you purchased with that account. But no more. Apple’s new tool means you no longer have to accept this loss of your digital assets. Its method of migrating digital purchases from one Apple Account to another is also pretty easyonce you have the initial prep out of the way, such as making sure your software is up to date, you know your passwords for both accounts, and you have your payment details for both accounts. If you want to go through the merger process, you can find Apples full instructions and requirements here. Its also a good idea to read this additional support document that dives deeper into the migration process. Apples new account migration tool is promisingbut it needs to go further People with hundreds or thousands of dollars invested in movies, books, apps, and other digital content they purchased from Apple across two different Apple IDs are sure to love the companys new migration offering. No doubt about itits a great first step. However, it still doesnt address all the other problems that arise for those who are still stuck with two Apple IDs. Not only can you still not automatically merge iCloud data (your emails, documents, bookmarks, and more) between two different Apple Accounts, but you also still cannot automatically migrate other critical data, such as your Apple Pay cards, Wallet passes, Sign in with Apple logins, Hide My Email addresses, or passwords. Hopefully, Apple will address these limitations with a future update to its new tool. Until it does, those who want to merge every aspect of two Apple IDs into one are still on their own.
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Leading up to 2025, major companies like Amazon and JPMorgan did away with remote work altogether, requiring employees to return to the office five days a weeka departure from the more flexible policies that had been popularized after the pandemic. Even as they contend with a lack of workspace and complaints from workers, employers have pushed forward with the return to office. Many employees treated it as a suggestion, Chris Moran, an employment lawyer at Troutman Pepper Locke, says of early RTO policies. That was something I dont know that employers saw comingthat a significant percentage of employees felt so strongly that they preferred to work remotely and were willing to sort of ignore [mandates]. Some employers seemingly responded by upping the ante, making office attendance a factor in performance reviews or tying it to eligibility for promotions. Others have moved ahead with more stringent policies, eliminating their hybrid work policy altogether and forcing employees to return to the office five days a week. As Trumps administration imposes strict RTO mandates for the federal workforce, however, its possible the private sector will feel even more emboldened to embrace punitive measures to ensure employees comply with their in-office requirements. Now, with whats going on in the federal government, theres perhaps a little more cover for an employer to take the approach that they really mean it this time, Moran says. At the same time, however, enforcing RTO mandates can present a minefield for employersand not just when it comes to morale or worker discontent. The shift back into the office brings with it the risk of renewed employment litigation, or at least a return to the type of legal action that might have been more common prior to the pandemic. Workplace harassment During the pandemic, there were many reports that workplace harassment and other misconduct had not disappeared in the era of remote work but had simply migrated online. As virtual communication became the norm, this kind of inappropriate behavior cropped up not just in video interactions or phone calls, but also via Slack and across other digital platforms. Still, the number of harassment complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission did drop at the height of the pandemic, in both 2020 and 2021 (though those figures dont account for state-level complaints). As employees return to the office in full force, however, it could open the door for more incidents of traditional harassment and sex discrimination, according to Lisa Koblin, an employment lawyer at Saul Ewing. The more people are interacting togetherespecially if there is work-related travel or work-related functions that are offsite or involve alcoholthe more likely we are to see those claims pop up, she says. Employers should, of course, already have clear policies in place around workplace harassment and misconduct, especially given many of them have been back in the office in some capacity for years at this point. But Koblin says its important for companies to revise their policies and training sessions year after year, even if it might seem basic. Disability accommodations Since companies started calling employees back to the office, experts have noted that the RTO push could disproportionately hurt workers who benefited most from remote work, particularly those who are disabled or neurodiverse. While employers will likely continue to provide accommodations to workers with disabilities, the bar might be higher in workplaces that are requiring all employees to return to the office. In fact, disabled workers at Amazon have said their exemptions to work from home were denied, and according to a Bloomberg report, the company has implemented a more stringent process for approving disability accommodations. (In a statement to Bloomberg, Amazon said the changes were part of its “broader return-to-office philosophy.” A spokesperson for the company added, “When in-person accommodations are needed, well provide them, and in some cases, offer an exception to working from the office.) Vincent White, an employment lawyer who represents plaintiffs in discrimination and harassment cases, says his firm is currently working on about 50 different cases that are related to accommodations that have been dialed back amid the return to office. Moran believes its likely that private sector employers will continue to see a spike in disability discrimination claimssomething he observed when academic institutions started asking teachers to return to the classroom in the aftermath of the pandemic. There was a spike in the number of people who said, I have a disability, and a reasonable accommodation is working from home, and good luck proving that it’s not a reasonable accommodation because we just did it for two years, he says. I would expect that will happen again in other private settings, as well. Other employment discrimination But its not just disability-based employment claims that might be on the rise. What we’re hearing a lot of right now is: We want everybody back, Moran says. That has the ease of saying, well, unless you have a disability, we don’t have to deal with making exceptions, one way or the other. The reality, however, is that there are always exceptions to these policiesas was the case prior to the pandemic, when certain workers were allowed to work from home occasionally or even secured permanent remote arrangements. Even as companies lean into RTO, it is becoming clear that the strictest of policies can be sidestepped by top performers and star employees who have more leverage to negotiate. Depending on how companies enforce these mandates, granting exemptions to certain workers and not others could invite more legal claims from employees whose requests are denied, a group that could include caregivers who are seeking flexibility to manage elder care or young children. Koblin has said that in her experience, employers tend to allow these arrangements for certain types of workers. I find that most of the time when there is a shift to return to work but there’s exceptions for some remote work, it’s usuallytied to a disability-related accommodation, she says. Or there are certain cases where someone has moved across the country, and their position is so critical that they’re willing to make an exception for that person. Still, employers who base performance reviews or promotions on office attendance can run the risk of punishing disabled workers or others who have successfully secured exemptions. The implication of not carefully evaluating that type of policy would be that you could inadvertently discriminate against certain people who are not physically able to come to the office, or who need to stay home to take care of a sick family member, or something of that nature, Koblin says. Some employers seem to have opted for a blanket policy that leaves little room for flexibility or exemptionsperhaps in part to steer clear of the legal issues that might arise over inconsistent enforcement. But Koblin argues that its in many employers best interest to offer some flexibility. I think the key is clarity and consistency in terms of: What is your culture, and what are you really expecting from your employees? she says. Everybody has something going on, in some way, shape, or form, and people are going to talk and understand how their coworkers are being treated and what exceptions have been made for them. Generally, unless policies are being abused, I counsel clients to think about how they can strike that balance between appropriate flexibility while ensuring that work gets done.
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