The Frugal Siblings

One of my favorite blogs is called ESI Money . ESI’s (the author's pen name) main point is that there are really 3 main factors in getting wealthy; E arning, S aving, and I nvesting. As part of this he has a scale to judge how well a person is doing in each category. As a tip of the hat to ESI I figured I would examine each area of my finances and see how well I am doing. As with all things there are areas to improve as well. Earnings: Excellent I am very blessed in this area. I found something I really like to do. I have worked very hard at it and have learned a lot. Due to this I have become valuable to the company I work for and they compensate me for it. I am easily in the top 10% of all earners in the US in spite of my fairly young age. My income has risen very fast but I don’t see it going up a ton more. In addition my income is not very predictable. So far it has been fairly stable but the industry I work in is very much boom  or  bust. I don’t see any major ...

My husband works very hard. I had said this several times. He has a lot of pressure on him seeing that I don’t work, and we have been through a layoff. That is why I feel like it is my job to try and save where I can and be ready to work if I need to. I am nurse. It is very easy to find a job. Especially since I have critical care hospital and management experience. Being that I don't work now it is important that I maintain my license and certifications. This might cost money up front but in the end it is worth the safety blanket. I also keep an updated resume in case an opportunity were to fall into my lap. My daily duty is food. Three meals a day. Breakfast when the baby wakes up. Lunch for my husband to take to work because if he buys there is $12 out the door. Then dinner for everyone. This takes serious brain power and is never ending. Everyday they need to eat. They say food is one of the largest parts of a budget. So with smart grocery shopping and meal planning you can...

Sis and I are still working on this blog. We just had a life get in the way last week. We still strive for a weekly post but sometimes life just happens. Thanks for sticking with us. The number one financial fear I have is that I will lose my job. This does not need to be because I suck at my job or because I am dumb enough to tell someone important (customer or boss) what I really think. I could get “laid off” due to a business downturn, someone else in my company doing something wrong, or just plain politics. Life is simply not safe and that includes your job. Being an engineer I can't just leave an obvious problem alone. I happen to like to be able to shop at the grocery store and not worry about food prices or have to track the price of gas (I now drive an electric car but you get the point). The solution: diversify. Diversifying is the act of not putting all of your eggs in one basket. It is having a plan B, C, D, and E. When applied to the real risk of losing your job ...