The Frugal Siblings

Ok- give me a second of your reading time. Hang in there and hear me out. This is going to be a pending post. My husband and I are going to try out a new twist on gift giving. For Christmas this year we are going to give each other stock. My husband does not want to get into individual stocks. It's a risky play that takes a lot of work to win. But I think it’s exciting. I love looking at the daily ups and downs. When you're not risking your retirement, you can almost make it a game. I am not a patient person. If i want something, I buy it. Same thing with my husband. So gift giving has always been hard for us.  Most likely if I want something bad or long enough, well I already have it. Also we both have very generous parents so by the time they give us gifts, we have everything we wanted. The solution we came up with is,  buying each other stock for gifts. Just wait, if we stick with this five years from now we might have a good collection of stocks. Plus, I like t...

SELF RESCUE! I scream at my kids for like the hundredth time. My kids love to climb rocks. At first they would climb up a rock and when they wanted down they would just scream for the nearest parent. That got old (not to mention interesting when they got up on rocks a bit too big). The solution was to teach them about self rescue. My two monkeys playing in Breckenridge The idea of self rescue is two parts. First it is important to try not to get yourself in a position you cannot undo. Before you climb that big rock you need to figure out how you are going to get back down. My kids learned if the rock was not easy to get down from they could not climb it. The second part of self rescue is when you get yourself into an uncomfortable spot it is up to you to get yourself out of it. Nobody is going to swoop in and rescue you. I first heard about self rescue when I started to learn about camping. When you are out of cell coverage in the back woods you cannot simply call 911 if yo...

Finding a support system is important in anyone's life. Find others that share in your goals and also acknowledge your failures. Life is not meant to go through alone. The fact that you are reading this shows that it is natural to seek someone that shares common goals. I am not a naturally frugal person. I want to spend. I want to have stuff. However, with support from the other people in my life, I realized that the average consumer lifestyle was not getting me where I wanted to go. I realized I needed to simplify my life. I needed to remove all the stuff and the temptation to get more stuff and focus on the person I wanted to be and the relationships I have. My husband does not care if I have a purple purse because it is the color of the season. Not buying that $300 purse means my husband can retire a week earlier in 15 years. My niece does not need a new bike from her aunt for her birthday; she would rather share in a dance and make up a new handshake. This is not only a change ...

My brother introduced me to the blog ESI, or Earn-Save- Investing. It is one of the many fantastic blogs out there right now that can be a great tool. In my brothers previous post, he talked about how those three areas affected his life. I am going to explore some actionable tips in each category. Earn: -Salary negotiation. When starting a new job it is crucial that you negotiate your salary. This will be one of the only opportunities you have to bump your pay by 5-10K. -Always be open to new opportunities. Have an updated resume at all times. Always hear someone out before saying no.   -Keep track of the extras you do or times you go above and beyond. Proof can go a long ways. Save: -Online shopping. Look for the best deal, compare multiple sites and time your purchase to your advantage. -Buying in bulk. Find a good sale? Well take advantage of it. Get a few of those items you use all the time. -Cutting out name brands. When at the store get the general bran...

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 ...