Health and Wellbeing
McKinley and Paget Candles: I think I first found their stall at Greenwich Market in London in 2018, and got myself a small candle. Their candles are all you want in a natural candle and smell great. I did not realise how much I got used to them (and love them) until I lit up some other commercial candles and my nose said, “This smells like plastic.” Unfortunately the internet still can’t transmit the sense of smell, but if you want to buy me someone else a candle as a present, you can’t go wrong with this.
Personal Finance
Everyone should have a personal financial system that fits you like gloves. I have been following Ramit Sethi since 2010, and his advice is solid. He is at the intersection of personal finance management and human behaviour, and taught me that a system (for behavourial change) matters more than any collection of tips and tricks. I would even say if I ever wanted to understand human behaviour in other parts of my life (e.g. how to keep going to the gym, or how to deal with some people elements in software engineering), his teachings have played a part.
Apart from that, I also believe managing personal finances should be fun and convenient (i.e. “there is no reason you don’t do it because it is just there!”), so here are two (iPhone) apps that I use / have used for my day-to-day finance management: Emma (UK) an Toshl (Europe). On top of that, Toshl has a Shitty Banks list to know how out-of-date or unco-operative your bank is.