Earn, Save, and Live Joyfully.
The other night I took my husband out to celebrate his thirty-eighth birthday. Over wings and beer we began discussing the current state of our bank accounts and the events that helped define our finances. Here are the details in no particular order: Our parents paid for our college education leaving us completely debt free after … Read more
It has been nearly three years since I left the work force. While I wake up every morning feeling happy about my place in this world my husband wakes up feeling miserable. Quite frankly he doesn’t like his job. He wakes up slowly and trudges off to work praising the weekends and telling me they never come … Read more
Last month, after much contemplation, I decided to remain in North Carolina rather than driving over two hundred and sixty miles back to Maryland for an unexpected medical test. I was all set to pay a higher price for that procedure and called in advance to receive a quote. Unfortunately, on the day of the … Read more
A few days ago I posted a reader’s question about unequal financial gifts for his children. I thought I’d follow up with my advice. Here is the email I sent in response: —- I have not experienced financially inequality from my own parents, but I have witnessed it many times via extended family members. Here … Read more
Over the years I’ve written a lot about unequal financial gifts for children. In response I’ve received many personal emails asking for advice. Up until this week all of those posts came from grown children in these situations, but a few days ago I received this comment from a concerned parent. I thought I would … Read more
I decided to spend the extra money to avoid the twelve hour round trip drive from our vacation spot to my doctor’s home office. I’m frugal enough in other aspects of my life to weather the $440 bill. Unfortunately, when I arrived at the hospital the clinical staff could not confirm the cost of my … Read more
As I was contemplating my decision to stay at the beach I couldn’t help but think of all the ways I’ve wasted money over the years. There was the time we remained on COBRA long after we should have switched over to my husband’s insurance plan. We paid well over $1500 a month and went to the … Read more
My doctor wants me to undergo a specific medical test. I am currently out of town and didn’t plan to return for at least three weeks. If I seek medical attention while I’m away all services will be priced out-of-network, which means I will pay full price. We are not even close to meeting our … Read more
When I was pregnant with my son I received a giant box in the mail filled with wrapped gifts. My husband’s aunt passed on the tradition of providing me with one gift for each prenatal appointment. I loved that I idea so much that I bought presents for my husband’s friend who was expecting their … Read more
My ninety-one year old grandmother recently told me she regrets never traveling to Paris. She mentioned the desire to take a trip there ten or fifteen years ago, but I didn’t realize how important it was to her. At the time I was so entrenched in my own day-to-day life that I failed to see … Read more