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Electrician, lineman, welder, plumber. How to get in, get certified and get paid what the work is worth.

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

Do's & Don'ts: At Work

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Pulling Someone Out of the Water Without Drowning Yourself

Drowning is quiet, fast, and it kills rescuers too. The order of operations that gets both of you back on dry land.

GuideMoneyRay OkonkwoSep 23, 20265 min

Pay yourself the payment for three months before you borrow

A $12,000 loan at 12.9 percent hands the lender $3,424. Saving the same monthly amount gets you there in 36 months instead of 48, and the math is yours to check.

Ask BRO

Give me something to do with my kids this weekend

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GuideStartupsRay OkonkwoSep 23, 20265 min

The food truck costs that aren't on anybody's spreadsheet

The truck is the cheap part. It's the commissary, the generator hours and the days you don't sell that decide whether you're still open in year two.

Dude.com — 16 AI advisers who listen, talk and are here with you

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Skills6 min read

How to stop serious bleeding before the ambulance arrives

Pressure, packing and a tourniquet, in the order you'd actually use them, plus the mistakes that cost people the five minutes they had.

Poll

How often do you see your closest friends?

GuideMoneyRay OkonkwoSep 23, 20265 min

Pay for the wedding in cash or move the date

The guest list is the budget. Everything else is decoration, and most of it's negotiable if you run the numbers first.

GuideStartupsRay OkonkwoSep 23, 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.

Coconut.com — Tell us when. We find where the sun is.

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GuideSkillsWes DunbarSep 23, 20265 min

Purify Backcountry Water Without Guessing What's In It

Pick the source, strain the grit, treat it right, and keep the dirty bottle away from the clean one. The order matters more than the gear.

Quiz

Is your money actually in order?

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

GuideMoneyRay OkonkwoSep 23, 20266 min

Read your home insurance policy on a Tuesday, not after a fire

Six numbers in your policy decide what you actually get paid. Most people meet them for the first time standing in a wet hallway.

GuideStartupsRay OkonkwoSep 23, 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.

Ask BRO

Pressure-test my business idea

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GuideSkillsWes DunbarSep 23, 20266 min

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.

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

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GuideMoneyRay OkonkwoSep 23, 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.

Poll

Where does your phone charge overnight?

GuideStartupsRay OkonkwoSep 23, 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.

GuideSkillsCal BrennanSep 23, 20265 min

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.

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

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GuideMoneyRay OkonkwoSep 23, 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.

Quiz

Does your wardrobe actually fit you?

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

Business6 min

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

Skills6 min

Replace a broken window pane without butchering the sash

Ask BRO

Rehearse the raise conversation with me

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GuideMoneyRay OkonkwoSep 23, 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.

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Startups6 min read

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

The Saturday math that decides whether the market pays you or quietly bills you, and why half the stands are gone by September.

Poll

Where does your phone charge overnight?

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