I need to share a brutal truth with you. Sometimes, I get tired of writing about money. Like, really tired of it. Spend less than you earn, save for retirement, blah blah blah. It gets old. I’ve even vowed to stop writing about it altogether.

Yet I keep coming back. Money itself isn’t very exciting, but I’m absolutely intrigued by the possibilities it offers. And that’s probably why I always come back to thinking about it, reading about it, and writing about it.

2015 was an exciting year. I was fortunate to work on some fun, thought-provoking projects (more on those at the end of the post), but I was also immensely inspired by some of my favorite money writers. These are a few of the quotes that inspired me most, not just as a personal finance writer, but as a person.

[Tweet “”I could’ve been born as a turtle, but instead I got a neocortex.” -Paula Pant”]

This quote might not make much sense out of context, but it made me laugh out loud. It also made me grateful for my neocortex, because in this post, Paula Pant breaks down just how easy it is to harness gratitude. And gratitude is powerful.

Gratitude played a huge role in my transition from feeling completely overwhelmed by my finances to feeling totally in control of them. When all else failed, reminding myself to be grateful for what I had, corny as it may be, helped me stay strong and not feel helpless and at the mercy of my crappy financial situation. Paula’s post was a good reminder of the epic power of gratitude. She also points out that there’s a natural link between gratitude and giving, which brings me to my next favorite quote of the year.

Side note: some of her readers are raising money to rebuild a school that was destroyed in the Nepal earthquake back in April. You can support their efforts here.

Original post at Afford Anything

[Tweet “”Ironically, the more generous I started to become, the more successful I became.” -Ramit Sethi”]

The more I write and learn about money, the more I realize Ramit Sethi is right about everything. One of his most recent posts on generosity, however, hits the nail on the head especially hard.

A while back, my friend Dara and I were talking about money. She mentioned that, even in tough financial times, she’s always tried to give back in some way, even if it’s a mere five bucks to her favorite charity. “Making the conscious decision to give helped me feel like I was in control,” she said. “Even when my finances are strained, I’m making that choice.” Similarly, Ramit writes about how generosity is part of living the rich life. Rather than focusing on what you don’t have, generosity comes from a place of abundance. It makes the world a little better, and as a bonus, it’s also empowering.

Original post at I Will Teach You To Be Rich

[Tweet ““You don’t get what you deserve. You get what you negotiate.””]

This is a quote from Chester Karrass, as mentioned in a post from Farnoosh Torabi about the best money advice she’s come across.

In the past few years, I’ve been trying to work on being a better negotiator. For me, that just means mustering up the courage to negotiate in the first place. Farnoosh’s advice over at Business Insider is brutally honest. No matter how skilled you are, you’re never going to live up to your earning potential if you don’t negotiate. My first job out of college, I never had to negotiate. I felt so happy about that, because I hated asking for more money, so I was glad my employer was paying me what I thought I deserved. Turns out, they were actually paying me half of what they could, and I only learned that after getting an awesome job offer somewhere else. I came to a harsh realization: if you’re not negotiating, you’re probably underpaid.

Original post at Business Insider

[Tweet ““Passion isn’t something you have, it’s something you develop.” -Stefanie O’Connell”]

Okay, so it’s not a money quote exactly, but Stefanie’s advice touches on something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately: deciding what you want to do with your life. I feel fortunate that I’ve pretty much always known I want to be a writer. But a lot of people are criticized for not absolutely knowing what they want to do with their lives. I don’t think it’s helpful to keep telling them to simply follow their passion. If you don’t know what that is, that makes life (and self-discovery) really, really frustrating.

Instead, Stefanie suggests that finding your passion is, quite literally, a search. That means leaving the house and participating in all that life has to offer: volunteering, moving to a new state, traveling. I can’t say it any better than her quote, and she has a lot more insight on the matter, so you’ll definitely want to read her full post.

Original post at StefanieOConnell.com

[Tweet “”I’m gonna do me and you can suck it.” -J.Money”]

This quote has J.Money written all over it, and this post is spot on. People love to judge your financial habits. They’ll shame you for spending. They’ll shame you for being frugal. Ultimately, all you can do is learn the basics of money management, soak in all the advice and opinions, then make the financial decisions that work best for you. Personal finance is not about following some cookie cutter plan. It’s about taking the wheel with your finances, and learning to steer them in the direction that you want.

Or as J.Money puts it: just do you.

Original post at Budgets Are Sexy.

Since it’s the end of the year, I also wanted to share a few things I was proud to work on in 2015.

New Year’s Re(solutions)

Fidelity sent me and my cameraman (who is also my fiancé) to New York City to ask random people about their New Year’s resolutions.  I wanted to take a different approach this year, so I aimed to make the video sort of a troubleshooting guide for actually sticking to your goals. Most resolutions fail, so I discuss how we can improve them and set ourselves up for success. You can check out the video here.

My First FinCon

I attended FinCon for the first time this year, and I definitely felt the support and happy vibes. It’s an exciting, inspiring event, and I loved meeting some of my favorite personal finance writers in real life, talking to strangers about money, and learning about all of the cool projects people are working on. I wrote about some of them here. I also drank a lot of beer, ate too much, and danced my face off, but from what I’ve been told, that’s to be expected.

The Ultimate Guide to Remarkable Content

I was stoked when I Will Teach You to Be Rich asked me to contribute tips to their giant guide on how to write remarkable blog posts. They produce some of the most powerful, practical content, so it was quite an honor to be a part of that.

You can sign up for the guide here, and if you’re a writer, blogger, or content creator, I highly recommend it.

Limiting Beliefs About Money

I was also stoked when finance writer Hahna Kane asked to interview me for her blog post. I was even happier when she asked me a really thought-provoking question: What was one major limiting belief that hindered your success with saving money and how did you overcome it?

One belief that held me back for years was the idea that money is the goal. It’s not. It’s merely a tool you use, and as simple as that sounds, it’s extremely powerful because it puts you in control. You can read the rest of my thoughts on this topic here 🙂

There are also a few posts I wrote this year that took a lot of time, energy, and heart, so I wanted to share those with you, too.

• Over at Lifehacker, I wrote about the stock market and what to do when it plummets.
• I also wrote about something I think is important: The Sketchy World of For-Profit Colleges.
• I started writing for NBCNews.com this year, and I wrote about the Fed rate hike and how it affects consumers.
• Finally, here at Brokepedia, I wrote about a topic I’m passionate about: What People Get Wrong About Poverty.

I hope these quotes excite you as much as they excited me, and if you’re not easily excitable, I hope they at least sparked some thought. Have a great New Year, and here’s to a bright, prosperous 2016!

Illustration by Draden Ferguson–my awesome brother 🙂