The Frugal Siblings

    We are all defined by our past. For me my relationship with money is most deeply defined by the experiences I had and the lessons I learned growing up. My parents were divorced when I was only 5 or so. From that point on money was very tight. One rental home my mom lived in we called the spider infested pit. Another rental home was near the train tracks so every so often you could hear the train whistles rather loudly (cool during the day, not so cool at night). We never hurt for money to the extent that the lights would go out due to a missed bill or anything but we had many a christmas where my mom gave us fancy boxes of cereal (the one time of year we were not eating store brand) and cans of mandarin oranges. My mom then met my step-dad and together they moved up the socioeconomic ladder at a rather quick pace. Despite the quick improvements I can still recall the anxiety and stress of growing up just a bit better off than poor. On my father's side of things lif...

Where does one start when telling the story of their financial journey? You could say you should start where it all began,your childhood. I had several positive and negative examples in my life. I had a very hard working successful stepdad who build his own company and I had a father that never seemed able to keep up with all the bills. Two very different sides of the coin. But we don’t have to get into that today. At a young age it was clear to me that money can mean many things, power, love, nurturing and control. Let's fast forward to the current day where choices are made and actions are taken. Money brings security to my life. It lets me put a house over my family’s head. It lets me stay home with my son and be the mom I want to be. So this is my journey with money, the road to making it positive, and plausible.   I grew up in a nice town outside of Denver. I graduated high school then went on to a private college. There I met my husband my junior year. I graduated with ...

Its funny to me that my brother brought up the topic of mooching. Like he wrote, we grew up “mooching a meal” from our grandma all the time. But sometimes kids can be mean and siblings are siblings. My brother use to call me a mooch all the time. I mean I always took it as a bad thing, but that is where we need to truly define the word. We are not talking about the multiple times I mooched my brother’s halloween candy he hid under his bed, or when I would mooch the dimes from his piggy bank because I knew he would notice if I mooched the quarters. My brother defines mooching as “the art of using things for cheap or free”. Mooching is taking something that is already there and just being smart about it. Once again like my brother said, “it's not being cheap or cheating someone.” I would like to say I taught my brother the art of mooching, or at least helped define it a little. The first example is the weather! My family loves to go for walks. Growing up we would walk around a gol...

Mooching is the art of using things for cheap or free. It is very different from being cheap or cheating someone. When I was young my mom used to take us over to our grandmas and we would mooch a meal. This would entail us getting to see our grandma, helping her cook on occasion, and hearing the many great stories from my grandma’s youth. This experience cost little to nothing but is truly some of the best memories from my childhood. The first simple thing to Mooch is the weather. It might seem silly to mooch the wealth but you can have some truly great times free of charge. If it is Winter and you have snow consider going sledding, ice skating on a pond near you or simply take the time to make a snow angel. If it is spring take a chance and play in the mud, admire the miracle of life as plants begin to grow and bloom, or simply take a walk to get some fresh air. If it is summer time then head to the beach, pod or reservoir, go for a hike, or camp in your own backyard. Last if it ...

Financial Independence What a stiff term, it seems so cold and absolute to me. I don’t think I would have a clue where to start if I tried to define this topic 3 months ago. I was just the typical american consumer. One thing I have learned the past few months is that it does not have to be so cold. Financial independence is actually exciting and full of adventure. If you can take a step back and break things down a little, financial independence can actually become a part of your life. Here is my map to what financial independence looks like as my family and I start this journey together. Have a job that will pay all of the expenses This is very simple. You have to be able to pay for the various things in your life. If you can’t pay for it, well then you should not have it. You should start there and break down your budget. See exactly what comes in and what is going out.     2) Purchase a house Why pay for someone else's independence. Yes, vari...

Financial independence (F.I.) is not just a goal that is achieved or not achieved. Instead it is a broad spectrum of states ranging from having a job that pays the bills to having a steady stream of income from investments so strong you can follow you dreams. To kick off this blog I am going to explain what my different levels of F.I. are. The end goal is to be able to not have money run your life but instead to just have money be a tool. My Levels of FI 1. Having enough money to pay for expenses: This is the most basic level of F.I. It is achieved when your income (most likely from a job) is equal to or greater than your expenses. It is impossible to get anywhere in life if you are simply racking up debt. If you are living on debt then you are simply building a house of cards. One tiny gust of wind and it will all come crashing down. I have been lucky in my life and always had a good job. 2. Own a house: This level is on my list but might not be on everyone's list. ...

Bro here. Just wanted a place holder while I figure this whole internet thing out. We hope to get our first post out soon but in the mean time check out this sweet ASCII shrug.    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯