I played hooky and smelled some flowers

Apocalypse spending journals (vol. 1)

Hello to the 5,687 hotties who subscribe to this newsletter! Thank you for being here.

For those who are new here, I’m Leo, they/them or he/him. I’m the founder of this newsletter, and I’m also going to be co-teaching Budgeting for a World on Fire with Jordan in April.

A photo of Leo swimming joyfully in the pool. Taken on film.

Here’s a little reintroduction in three bullet points:

• I live in Los Angeles. I’ve been loving our 90-degree days, and I’m spending as much time as possible in my pool.

• My current hyperfixation is Baskin-Robbins’ Jamocha Almond Fudge ice cream, which I top with extra slivered almonds.

• Yes, I serve people as a financial coach. I’m very grateful I get to do what I do. But my first love is writing and storytelling…

…which brings us to this series.

I’ve been itching to write something messy, relatable, silly, and hopeful to balance out the serious and terrifying things going on in the world right now. I was inspired by some clients who wanted me to talk them down from apocalypse spending, spending a large amount of money out of fear that the world is going to end.

A lot of people think that apocalypse spending is all about stocking canned goods in a bunker. Some of that is true. But I’m seeing three different things:

1. People are going into debt to give mutual aid.

2. Our attention spans are completely cooked — which means we make more expensive mistakes. It could be as small as ordering food for pickup at the wrong location, or as big as getting in a fender bender because you were doomscrolling in traffic.

3. People are just saying “Fuck it,” and splurging because they don’t want to regret not doing something or not being able to buy something before things get worse

And you know what? I’m also people. I do all three of these things, just like you. So I decided, every now and then, I’m going to send out little newsletters chronicling my apocalypse spending.

First up:

I played hooky and smelled some flowers

We’ve been going through some lower revenue months here at QTW. The urge to devote every blank space on my calendar to generating more income is palpable.

So on March 9th, when I realized I had a bunch of blank space on my calendar, and nothing time-sensitive to do, I said: “Fuck it.” I left my office and spent a few hours at a botanical garden admiring flowers.

Friends, it was fucking delightful. On the 30-minute drive over, I was giddy. I could not stop smiling. I took my sweet time.

I walked through the Japanese gardens and sat on a bench in front of the cherry blossoms. I watched aunties and influencers pose in front of the pink trees while their husbands and boyfriends patiently snapped photos. I sat still enough to notice bees orbiting around each bunch of cherry blossoms on the tree. There was this sweet little buzzing sound that accompanied that delightful shade of pink.

I saw some dramatic purple wisterias and quirky little bonsais. The camellias were the star of the show — some were in full bloom, and others were curled up in tight little buds, petals eager to unfurl.

I caught the last shuttle from the far side of the gardens to the main entrance. An old woman asked the driver to stop at a particular bench because she had left her hat behind. It was a windy day, but somehow, the hat stayed on that bench. Her husband ran to fetch the hat, and on his jog back to the shuttle, we all clapped and cheered him on.

The whole excursion cost me about $60. In the grand scheme of things, that’s not even a lot of money. But as a business owner, time feels like the scarcest resource. If the world ends tomorrow, I’ll die happy knowing I spent the day frolicking in the gardens instead of performing business as usual.

What I spent:

• $29 for admission into the Huntington Gardens

• $7.64 for postcards at the gift shop

• $20 lunch at Urth Caffé nearby

• $0 The willingness to do nothing

Regret meter: 0/10

No regrets whatsoever.

In case you missed it:

Check out recent stories we’ve published:

• I’ll never take my cut and curl appointment out of my budget again by Jordan Taylor, our co-educator for Budgeting for a World on Fire

• How to start a susu fund — from someone who redistributed $90,000 to BIPOC through collective saving by Farron Harvey

• 2026 war tax resistance guide + the special guide for business owners

• How to start saving for retirement — a guide for small business owners and freelancers

How to support our work:

• Become a paid subscriber

• Join our 12-week group coaching program, Budgeting for a World on Fire

Media I’m consuming right now:

📖 Transchool vol. 1 and 2, published by the Feminist Center for Creative Work

🎭 Dragon Mama, currently playing at the Geffen Theater — Sara Porkalob, I’m obsessed with you, girl

🎥 Send Help — Rachel McAdams plays a woman who is constantly disrespected and passed up for promotions by an asshole boss. The company executives take a private plane for a corporate retreat, but the plane crashes, and Rachel McAdams’ character and her boss are stuck on a desert island, and it’s real-life Survivor. Such a cathartic watch.

📺 Shrinking on Apple TV — duh!

📺 Also, I’m on season 13 of Project Runway, a truly underrated time capsule

🗞️ News from Zeteo by Mehdi Hasan — I have always appreciated their coverage on Iran and Gaza.

🗞️ The newsletter WTF Just Happened Today? by Matt Kiser — Matt curates the news into one daily, understandable, pretty short email.