Just For Fun

Just For Fun

Share this post

Just For Fun
Just For Fun
Choose Your Own Adventure

Choose Your Own Adventure

An ode to choices (plus my travel outfit diary, because we love clothes here!)

Emily Grady Dodge's avatar
Emily Grady Dodge
Feb 28, 2025
∙ Paid
71

Share this post

Just For Fun
Just For Fun
Choose Your Own Adventure
34
6
Share

My son turned six last weekend, and I had posted a few pictures of him opening presents on my private Instagram account. Later that day, we had friends over for a super low-key birthday party. Pizza, uber-eats cupcakes, tortilla chips in a bowl with store bought salsa and guac, punch balloons scattered about, and strict instructions for “no gifts.” I didn’t even make goody bags. I taped white paper to the wall and let kids go to town coloring. It was awesome. During the party, my friend commented that she saw the pics earlier that day and loved how I used Christmas wrapping paper for his gifts. I was cracking up because my personality is almost impossible to predict or make sense of. I am very type A.. until I’m not.

This conversation got me thinking about choices - specifically, how do we choose what to let go of versus what to pour our energy into? And in a world of presenting our best selves on social media, it’s important to sometimes talk about all the things we skip out on - you could and would kill yourself trying to do it all! I’ve also picked up on a “how is everyone affording this” undercurrent on Substack lately, and I feel very passionately that speaking honestly about how our financial pieces all fit together helps lessen this anxiety. In this newsletter, I speak about what I’m buying, but the unspoken part is what I’m NOT buying. For the past few weeks, my inner writer voice has been working out a way to write a post here about how the book “I Will Teach You to be Rich” changed my life, but I couldn’t quite figure it out. I have arrived at this…

A few years ago, I was afraid to spend money. I was saving everything, and felt intense guilt every time I bought something. I suspected I was saving “too much” and went in search of a guide to help reframe my approach to saving vs spending. I essentially needed someone to give me permission to spend sometimes. And thankfully I found that permission and reworked my budget around the following structure:

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Just For Fun to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Emily Grady Dodge
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share