Being Afriad Is Ok

I fucking hate this for you. I don't wish a Trump-style government on ANYONE. Shit is so bad here and it's only getting worse. Because yes, it CAN get worse than literal concentration camps and genocidal war.

We published How To Protect Yourself Against Project 2025 in December of 2024, before we knew exactly how bad it was going to get. And while these rightwing assholes did indeed exceed our expectations for evil, I think this is still a good place to start your preparations. It should also help you decide whether you are the kind of person who needs to leave for their own safety or stay and fight back. Here it is in video form:

On leaving home for the first time:

Leaving Home before 18: A Practical Guide for Cast-Offs, Runaways, and Everybody in Between 

Ask the Bitches: “I Just Turned 18 and My Parents Are Kicking Me Out. How Do I Brace Myself?” 

Ask the Bitches: I Want to Move Out, but I Can’t Afford It. How Bad Would It Be to Take out Student Loans to Cover It?

How To Start at Rock Bottom: Welfare Programs and the Social Safety Net 

Advice I Wish My Parents Gave Me When I Was 16 

Ask the Bitches: How Can I Make Myself Financially Secure Before Age 30? 

You Won’t Regret Your Frugal 20s 

Master the Logistics and Etiquette of Moving Out 

Season 2, Episode 5: “What Do I Need to Know about Moving into My First Apartment?” 

On basic finance:

How the Hell Does One Open a Bank Account? Asking for a Friend. 

How Do You Write and Cash Checks? Asking for a Friend. 

Budgets Don’t Work for Everyone—Try the Spending Tracker System Instead

You Must Be This Big to Be an Emergency Fund 

A Hand-Holding Guide to Getting Your First Credit Card 

How to File Your Taxes FOR FREE: Simple Instructions for the Stressed-Out Taxpayer

Dafuq Is Credit and How Do You Bend It to Your Will? 

How to Save for Retirement When You Make Less Than $30,000 a Year

Dafuq Is Interest and How Does It Work for the Forces of Darkness? 

What’s the Difference Between Savings and Checking Accounts, and How Should I Be Using Them?

Dafuq Is a Down Payment? And Why Do You Need One to Buy Stuff?

Dafuq Is Insurance and Why Do You Even Need It? 

Investing Deathmatch: Investing in the Stock Market vs. Just… Not 

Dafuq Is a Retirement Plan and Why Do You Need One?

Do NOT Make This Disastrous Beginner Mistake With Your Retirement Funds

On managing your household:

How the Hell Does One Laundry? Asking for a Friend. 

How the Hell Does One Wash Dishes? Asking for a Friend. 

Ask the Bitches: Why Are Painted Mason Jars the Internet’s Only Solution to My Tiny Apartment Woes? 

9 Essential Tools for Apartment-Dwellers (and 6 That Are Kinda Useless)

Ask the Bitches: How Can I Survive in an Apartment with No Heat? 

How to Save Money on Your Beloved Pets 

Bullshit Reasons Not to Buy a House: Refuted 

How To Maintain Your Car When You’re Barely Driving It

25 Tricks to Stay Cool WITHOUT Air Conditioning 

On feeding and caring for yourself:

You Should Learn To Cook. Here’s Why.

How to Shop for Groceries like a Boss 

If You Don’t Eat Leftovers I Don’t Even Want to Know You 

I Think I Need to Go the Emergency Room?

Ask the Bitches: Ugh, How Do I Build the Habit of Taking Meds?

On maintaining relationships:

Season 1, Episode 8: “My Mother Demands Information About My One-Night Stands.” 

Season 1, Episode 3: “My Parents Have Bad Credit. Should I Help by Co-signing Their Mortgage?” 

Ask the Bitches: How Do I Say “No” When a Loved One Asks for Money… Again? 

Ask the Bitches: My Dad Sucks with Money. How Do I Make Him Change? 

You Need to Talk to Your Parents About Their Retirement Plan

Season 2, Episode 1: “I’m Financially Stable, but My Friends Aren’t. The Guilt Is Crushing!”  

On starting your career:

22-Year-Olds Don’t Belong in Grad School 

High School Students Have No Way of Knowing What Career to Choose. Why Do We Make Them Do It Anyway? 

The Actually Helpful, Nuanced, Non-Bullshit Way to Choose a Future Career

Your College Major May Not Prepare You for Your Job—but It Can Prepare You for Life 

The Ugly Truth About Unpaid Internships 

BRAND NEW CONTENT!

Back in the Before Times, we published an article titled Ethical Consumption: How to Pollute the Planet and Exploit Labor Slightly Less. Since then, times have, uh… changed! Because tariffs!

And while much of our advice on ethical consumption still holds true, today I’m going to be revisiting that advice. My goal is to shine a light on how we should all approach shopping during The Stupidest Trade War while still maintaining our morals and savings rates.

We really know how to have fun here, don’t we?

Let’s kick things off with a question from a follower called Blossom:

Hi Auntie Bitches! I have a question regarding an impasse of ethics and finances, so of course I figured you’d be the experts! I live in the USA, and absolutely hate the direction things are headed in. I’m inspired by hearing that Canada and a ton of countries in Europe are boycotting absolutely everything American made. This is genius because the only way to hurt the greedy pricks at the top is to hurt their bottom lines. I really want to join in and buy as few goods that are made in the states as possible. However, I also live here and my household budget is already pretty tight. With this ridiculous trade war going on, imported goods will become even more costly. I’m stuck between a possibly unlivable budget if fully switching to goods that aren’t made here; or being a tad more financially sound but forced to feed the fascism machine by using American goods. Please, I’d love some advice on how to navigate this? – Blossom, alert citizen of Bitch Nation

Blossom is clearly paying attention. We couldn’t be more proud of them for considering activism in the face of personal hardship. We should all be more like Blossom.

But I think there’s a fundamental flaw in how they’re approaching the problem. Nevertheless, I think we can come to a solution that does the least amount of harm to Blossom’s bottom line… while still supporting the changes they want to see. Let’s unpack that!

Ask the Bitches: “How Do I Consume Ethically AND Frugally Under the Trump Tariffs?”

In honor of NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK we've got a new post!

Our libraries have been under attack for years now. Book bans and outright censorship are one thing, but extremists are also attempting to restrict library access for marginalized people; fire highly trained and educated librarians and replace them with untrained ideologues; privatize libraries to turn them into for-profit businesses; and close some libraries altogether, effectively killing community access to all the great services I talked about above.

And with the killdozer that is Project 2025 rampaging through our federal government, things are likely only going to get worse. We know from history that the people trying to ban books and censor diverse viewpoints are never the good guys. So I will just call these most recent attacks on our library system exactly what they are: an attack on our democracy itself.

Megan Phelps Roper, a former member of the Westboro Baptist Church, actually credits trips to her local library with getting her out of the viciously bigoted cult. The resources and librarians she encountered there helped release her from the hateful indoctrination she’d been fed since birth. And if that ain’t proof of concept, I don’t know what is!

The Library Is a Magical Place and You Should Fucking Go There

Spanish and Italian marbles welcome guests to the eighteenth-century palace of the Viscount of Miralcazar.