THE RULES: All DMs sent to me are for publication on BuzzFeed only. I'm not able to respond to individual messages or provide any advice one-on-one. You must be 16 or older to submit a question. Also, please try to keep your DMs concise; the whole message must fit into a single screenshot or it will not be selected.
Why this is harmful: Painting your face to dress up like someone of a different ethnicity makes people of color targets for mockery and disrespect. Not to mention, blackface has an extremely deplorable history in the U.S. because of its use in minstrel shows, which dehumanized Black Americans.
"I'm a woman who studied mechanical engineering (graduated in 2015). I now work in commercial insurance, essentially safety and fire protection engineering. To be honest, I've never had problems or felt discriminated against by my peers. A few of the old guys in the industry are patronizing at first until they realize I know my stuff, and I've had a few derogatory comments about my age (I look young). For the most part, though, it's been nothing but an advantage to be a woman in a male-dominated field! I have an instant bond with the few other women who are out there, and I've been recommended for promotions and leadership roles because people are always looking for even representation in leadership. I make a lot more money than most of my male friends, and my company promotes a great work/life balance (plenty of time off and excellent maternity leave). Plus I get business trips to Hawaii, so I really can't complain!
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE, which routes the caller to their nearest sexual assault service provider. You can also search your local center here.
"I had no clue that I didn't have to take that money, and I was told that it was extra. It was about $4,000 every quarter. I had never had that much money at once, so I pretty much blew it on whatever I wanted. Once I graduated, I realized it was not extra, and I had to pay it back."
Note: Since I'm a (very) fair-skinned person, I can only speak to how these sunscreens might work for those with paler skin tones. I also have oily skin, so your own experience might vary if you have a darker skin tone and/or a drier complexion.
And for more stories about life and money, check out the rest of our personal finance posts.
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11. Picture this: A man proposes to his girlfriend. She says no, and they break up. Fast forward some years, and he has a new girlfriend he wants to propose to. Can he use the same ring?
Yes. Rings are expensive. No need for him to buy another one.
No. A ring that was bought for someone else should be off-limits.
For the most part, I ate a lot of the same things. For breakfast, my mainstay was oatmeal with a bit of fruit. Here's a breakdown of how much it cost:
Breakfast: Oatmeal
•Oatmeal (18 ounces): $2.69*
•Bananas (3–4; I used half per meal): 19 cents each; $.80
•Unsweetened almond milk (32 ounces): $1.99
Seven meals
2021 Total: $5.40
2008 Total: $4.90
The oatmeal was good for 18 servings, so a canister of the stuff got me through 2 weeks and then some.
Back in 2008, when I initially did this challenge, the oatmeal pretty much cost the same, and surprisingly, so did the bananas. The almond milk, however, was a smidge less expensive, at about $1.50.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
According to the American Cancer Society, Osteosarcoma is the most common type of bone cancer, and usually starts in areas of the body where the bone is growing quickly, such as near the ends of legs, arms, or around the knee. Though it can develop at any age, cases are most often found in children, teens, and young adults like Emily, and the cancer is apt to spread from its original location to other areas in the body, making both treatment and recovery difficult.
Currently, there is no known cause for Osteosarcoma.
I've also included the habits that I've seen the most financially-savvy people in my life live by.
In general, it's a good rule of thumb to focus on your three biggest expense buckets. For most people, that's food, transportation, and housing. (You'll notice that a good number of my own tips have to do with food!)
Can I dress like this every day?✨
"So long as it’s clean, safe, and consensual, I’m pretty sexually open. I don’t hide it, and I don’t tolerate attempts to shame me for having needs or taking control of meeting them. I hope that in some small way, I liberate others around me to shake off that shame and enjoy whatever a healthy sex life feels like to them." —Anonymous, England
Method #1
The standard way to go about the guilt-free budget is to decide how much you want to tuck away toward your savings and then use the rest toward your monthly spending. This only works if you have an idea of your take-home pay and your expenses.
Interestingly enough, if you set a reasonable savings goal, you might be surprised at how you manage to spend within your means. When I started using this budgeting method, I committed to saving $250 per paycheck, or roughly $500 a month.
The year was 2006, and I was bringing home about $1,900 a month. Saving 25% of my paycheck was a lot, especially when I was living on my own in Los Angeles and over a third of it was going toward my rent. Because I was set on stashing $500 a month, I looked for all the ways to cut back on my expenses and made it work.
Method #2
Subtract your outgoing (aka bills and debt) from your incoming (aka take-home pay). Whatever remains is what you have left to spend on whatever you please.
This is a slight deviation from the standard guilt-free budget. But I've found it might be more doable if you side hustle or freelance and your cash flow goes up and down.
After my bills are accounted for and I've set aside some money for self-employment taxes, I typically save a percentage of what's left over. And when I was feeling particularly ambitious, I would divvy up the rest of what remained — for instance, 25% toward retirement, 25% toward a new car fund, and 25% toward my emergency fund.
