Self-Employed Couples

Running a business together and staying married: roles, money, decisions and leaving work at the door.

The BRO Code. What to do, what not to do, and a few laughs on the way.

Do's & Don'ts: Husbands Do's & Don'ts: Wives Do's & Don'ts: Business Owners

Sew on a button and mend a seam so they stay fixed

Eighteen inches of thread, a needle and a toothpick. Ten minutes of work that outlasts whatever the factory did the first time.

GuideMoneyRay Okonkwo23 Sept 20265 min

What actually moves your credit score and what doesn't

Two things do most of the work, a dozen things do almost nothing, and one common piece of advice costs people money every month.

Ask BRO

Plan a cook for eight people

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GuideStartupsRay Okonkwo23 Sept 20265 min

The family cleaning business runs on roles, not goodwill

Cleaning is one of the few businesses a family can start this month for under a thousand dollars. It's also one of the easiest to quit by March.

CancerDefying.com — The research, protocols and reading in one place

PartnerCancerDefying.com

Skills5 min read

Choking rescue for an adult, a child and a baby

The hands go in three different places depending on who's choking, and the one that works on a grown man will hurt an infant.

Poll

Where does your phone charge overnight?

GuideMoneyRay Okonkwo23 Sept 20265 min

The second income is smaller than the paycheck says

Before one parent comes home, do the subtraction that tells you what that job is actually adding to your family.

GuideStartupsRay Okonkwo23 Sept 20265 min

Buy the tool before you hire the person

A second set of hands costs a lot more than the paycheck. Run the payback math on the machine first, and be honest about what it can't do.

GermProof.com — An invisible germ barrier on your skin for hours

PartnerGermProof.com

GuideSkillsWes Dunbar23 Sept 20266 min

Replace a broken window pane without butchering the sash

The glass is the easy part. Skip one step and your fresh putty cracks out by next winter.

Quiz

Does your wardrobe actually fit you?

Five questions, honestly answered, and a plan for the next fortnight.

GuideMoneyRay Okonkwo23 Sept 20266 min

The phone call that empties a family's savings

It starts polite, it starts urgent, and it ends with somebody at a Walgreens buying $500 gift cards. The defense takes four minutes.

GuideStartupsRay Okonkwo23 Sept 20265 min

A five-page website is all a local business needs

Your site has one job: make the phone ring. Most of what agencies sell you actively gets in the way of that.

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Build me a 30-day training plan around two sessions a week

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GuideSkillsWes Dunbar23 Sept 20266 min

Hang a ceiling fan that doesn't wobble, hum or fall

The whole job hangs on a part you can't see from the floor, and most failed fan installs fail right there.

Shirts.com — Design it with AI. Wear it this week.

PartnerShirts.com

GuideMoneyRay Okonkwo23 Sept 20266 min

The side income tax bill nobody sets money aside for

You cleared $11,000 detailing cars on Saturdays. Roughly a third of it was never yours. Do the arithmetic now, not in April.

Poll

What was your first ever job?

GuideBusinessRay Okonkwo23 Sept 20266 min

What to check in the books before you buy somebody's business

The seller's P&L is a sales document. The bank statements are the truth. Start there and work outward.

GuideSkillsWes Dunbar23 Sept 20266 min

How to get a fire going when every stick is soaked

Wet wood isn't wet all the way through. Here's the order of operations that turns a soggy woodpile into a fire that stays lit.

PartnerCancerDefying.com

GuideMoneyRay Okonkwo23 Sept 20266 min

Retirement accounts and the one question that sorts them

401(k), IRA, Roth, HSA, SEP. Strip the alphabet soup and it comes down to who taxes the money and when.

Quiz

Is your money actually in order?

Six questions. No email required, no sales pitch at the end.

Startups6 min

Your Farmers Market Stand Isn't a Hobby, It's a Business

Skills6 min

Finding north with a stick, a watch and the Big Dipper

Ask BRO

Rewrite my CV so it actually gets read

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GuideMoneyRay Okonkwo23 Sept 20265 min

The rent versus buy math nobody runs before they sign

A $350,000 house, an $1,850 rent, and five years of arithmetic that doesn't flatter either side.

PartnerCancerDefying.com

Business6 min read

Negotiating with suppliers when you're the small account

You don't have volume leverage. You have four other kinds, and most small operators never use any of them.

Poll

When did you last ask for a raise?

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