Earn, Save, and Live Joyfully.
At only four months of age my little bruiser is already wearing 12-to-18 month clothing. We received a bunch of baby onesies and sleepers shortly after my son was born, but with his long torso and meaty thighs he has already outgrown all of them! I didn’t expect any gifts for our second born child … Read more
Once a week I intend to write a few words in either this blog or my children’s journals, but with the introduction of our second child I cannot seem to find the time to focus on either. My older son gave up napping a few weeks ago, so I have absolutely no quiet time between … Read more
My husband and I talk a lot about moving out of our current home. We had even gone so far as to pick the long distance moving company that we wanted to work with. We live in a beautiful house in a nice neighborhood, but the school system here is absolutely abysmal. As I see … Read more
My future sister-in-law asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. “Are you sure?” I asked, “I won’t be insulted if there is someone else you’d rather have standing beside you.” “No,” she said, “I’m certain.” After waiting over a year and a half to conceive I hadn’t told anyone in the family I … Read more
It started innocently enough. “Can I take a ten minute shower?” I asked my husband. “Sure,” he answered, “no problem.” When I walked upstairs the three month old was asleep in the cradle. A few minutes later I emerged from the shower and immediately heard the baby crying. This child rarely cries. For the first … Read more
A lot of personal finance bloggers openly write about money. They place their pretty little pictures in the sidebars and include their real names. I am not one of them. Despite maintaining this blog for nine years and openly writing about many personal aspects of my life I’ve never revealed my identity. A few very … Read more
Ten years ago this week I spotted a cute, little, yellow beach house and made an offer on it. My husband and I spent a day weighing the decision and ultimately decided it made a whole lot of sense to purchase a second property. If I could go back in time I would definitely buy … Read more
I consider myself a lucky person. I typically focus on the positive over the negative and I wonder how that impacts my overall experiences in life. Do good things happen because I push aside the negative in favor of happy thoughts? Here’s an example: It took my husband and I two and a half years … Read more
In just a few days my family will leave for our annual beach vacation. We take two major trips to the beach each year; one that marks the start of summer and one that marks the end of it. I’m in charge of figuring out everything we might need, packing it up and more often … Read more
My husband came home this week and told me his coworkers seemed stressed and annoyed with the expectations of Mother’s Day and the gifts they need to buy their wives. I’m not a fan of all the fluff and stuff associated with major holidays. A few years back a male coworker said “I don’t want … Read more