Take a minute
Hello everyone,
Welcome to Not Pretty, Not Rich, a newsletter designed to help you level the playing field. If you were forwarded this email and would like to subscribe, you can do so here. You can also unsubscribe at any time. Past issues can be found here.
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This is the first issue for 2020, and I’m changing the format up a bit — if you have any feedback, please let me know. I’m hoping to make the newsletter more simple, streamlined, and useful. So, for now, it will contain a few sections: “Get Pretty,” “Get Rich,” and a wildcard section. The first two, of course, are a play off of the newsletter’s name and will contain a lesson, tip, tool, or trick to help with your finances or career. The other will be...well, whatever I think you should know for the given week.
Hopefully, you’ll discover or learn something new, and use it to your advantage. Here we go.
Get Pretty: Buy some new clothes
It sucks to admit, but appearances matter. There’s a lot of research into this: Your appearance can boost your earnings by as much as 20%, according to a 2016 study for instance, and “good-looking” workers can earn 5% more per hour another, similar study from the St. Louis Fed found as well. So, keep that in mind and invest in some clothes and find a good barber.
Dudes: If you need somewhere to start, I suggest the subreddit r/frugalmalefashion — I’ve purchased a lot of things at a significant discount from the sales listed on that site, and you probably can, too.
The takeaway: Your appearance matters. You may not be Fabio, but just investing in some nice clothes, standing up straight, and working out can probably make a big difference in how you’re treated at work.
Get Rich: Take a minute before you buy
I wrote about distracted spending last week, and it’s surprisingly common (and expensive). For that reason, I thought it was worth bringing up here. People spend money without thinking about it all the time, whether it’s ordering something online, making an impulse purchase at the grocery store, or continuing to pay for a subscription that they’ve forgotten about.
For context, these types of purchases cost the average person more than $5,000 per year.
The takeaway: It may sound stupid, but be more mindful when spending money. You may be hemorrhaging money because you’re swiping your card while staring at your phone.
One other thing: Bow Down
My friend and former boss Lindsay Goldwert has a new book coming out: “Bow Down: Lessons from Dominatrixes on How to Get Everything You Want.”
It’s sure to be funny and informative, and I suggest that you check it out.
What I’ve been writing about:
Check out this video I worked on with my colleague David Fang about how Domino’s became one of the best-performing stocks of the 2010s.
If you want to check those articles out and share them, I’d appreciate it.
That’s all for now. Keep fighting the good fight.
Sam
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