Well, hello, hello, podcast friends, and thanks for joining me. I'm Laura Adams,

your host and personal finance author, speaker, and consumer advocate who's been producing the

Money Girl Podcast since 2008. My personal mission and the purpose of this podcast

is to give you the knowledge, resources, and motivation to manage your money the best

way possible and create a richer life.

I hope you're doing okay despite so much turmoil going on this week as if the COVID crisis

and economic uncertainty weren't enough, the social unrest and all the protests going on in many cities have certainly added another layer of concern right now.

I want to encourage you to stay focused on your personal goals by using whatever tools you can and maybe for you it's exercise it

could be meditation breathing techniques journaling hobbies, or anything else that brings you stillness, joy, and keeps

you centered right now.

Years ago, I got really into baking sour dough bread and I decided to pick it up again and I've been having so much fun in the kitchen creating my yeast and starter from scratch and building some beautiful and yummy loaves. and

starter from scratch and building some beautiful and yummy loaves.

And I've made some other homemade foods for the first time,

things that I've always wanted to do,

like vegan ice cream and dumplings.

For me, that's been a really nice combination

of picking up a new hobby and also eating well.

So I encourage you to get excited

about something new or restarting something creative that you used to love,

such as woodworking, knitting, baking, cooking, whatever it might be for you. I think it will help right now.

And since the coronavirus quarantine began, many people have been forced to work from home,

obviously. If you didn't have a home office before the

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