Earn, Save, and Live Joyfully.
My husband and I bought our first house at the age of twenty-two. When we signed the loan papers the closing agent looked me straight in the eye and said, “You are the youngest couple to ever sit across the table from me. You should be very proud of this accomplishment.” I remember feeling a … Read more
Springtime arrived two months ago and believe it or not summer is just around the corner. Did you take a stab at spring-cleaning this year? Did you root through your closets, sort through your drawers and clean out those lingering dust bunnies? When you think about spring cleaning you probably focus on mopping, sweeping and … Read more
“Stop talking to me about money,” my husband said. “I don’t care if that costs $45 or if you saved 30 bucks. Just spend the money on things that matter and don’t feel guilty about doing it.” But how could I stop? I’ve thought about money for as long as I could remember. “How could … Read more
Random thoughts on a snowy day: I have extremely mixed feelings about moving a few years from now. After a long fifteen years in our current house it finally feels like home to me. I don’t love the layout of our kitchen or the fact that the bedrooms can fit little more than a queen … Read more
$8510.00 I kid you not!?!?!
Each month my husband dutifully records each and every financial transaction in GnuCash. He reconciles the checkbook and then documents the credits and debits associated with our four credit cards. Every so often I run income and expense reports to provide a snapshot of where our money is going. I usually do this on a … Read more
Last week my husband and I were hit with two major expenses. First our car broke down on the side of the road. The next day our furnace crapped out on us. The mechanic said our 1999 Toyota was a lost cause, but I had hope that I wouldn’t need to shell out $6000 to … Read more
Last night my husband came home after visiting with a close family member. “Their house is better than ours,” he said quite matter-of-factly, “They’ve made it feel so much more like a home.” I was surprised by his comment and asked for clarification. “It smells good,” he said. “Their house is filled with candles and … Read more
I’ve been keeping a watchful eye on our credit card these last few months. We switched from Capital One to Chase not so long ago, but I feared I might have forgotten about a few recurring charges that show up at strange intervals on our statements. For some reason we never seem to receive emails … Read more
I haven’t written in over two weeks. Rather than sitting in the house typing onto my keyboard I spent time lounging by the swimming pool, playing with my son in the sand and generally enjoying all of the moments that make up the start of summer vacation. I considered typing up a bunch of posts … Read more