Looking for some cheap but awesome Christmas gifts? Danny and I both grew up in households where Christmas was a really big deal. If I’m being honest, it is really tempting to do big Christmases the way our parents did for us. But our parents were in much different financial circumstances that we are, and […]
I MAKE GOOD MONEY SO WHY AM I ALWAYS BROKE?
A couple of years ago I was talking to a dear friend who had recently started working after being a stay at home mom for several years. She more than doubled her family’s income when she started working. She asked me something one day that blew my mind. She said, “Now that I’m working we […]
HOW TO AVOID HOLIDAY DEBT
Have you ever stayed up really late on a night where you had to wake up early the next day? Did you totally regret it? Maybe it was fun in the moment (sometimes it’s not even that fun in the moment!) but didn’t you fully regret it the next day when you had to wake […]
NOVEMBER’S 10 THINGS
It’s that time of the month again! Not like, *that* time of the month, but the time of the month for 10 Things! Just 10 Things on my mind, some personal finance related, and some not. I cannot promise that any of these will be deeply insightful. (1) I’ve only sent out Christmas cards once, […]
HOW TO MAXIMIZE YOUR SAVINGS ON BLACK FRIDAY
Can you believe that it’s almost Thanksgiving? I really haven’t processed that summer is over yet– it took our first snowfall yesterday to really open my eyes. Why does it feel like the older I get, the faster time goes by? That seems cruel. Does anyone else feel this way? Anyway, with Thanksgiving next week, […]
PSLF AND MATERNITY LEAVE
There’s so much uncertainty surrounding pregnancy. Will you have a boy or a girl? How will pregnancy impact your health? Will you be able to work while you are pregnant? When will that baby *actually* come? One thing should be certain though, and that’s how your student loans will be impacted if you are banking […]
THANKFUL FOR DEBT
When my husband and I graduated from dental school and law school (respectively), we sat down and assessed our finances, including all of the student loan debt that had accrued while we were in school. I knew we would graduate with a lot of debt but seeing the actual numbers paralyzed me with fear. How […]
CHEAP THINGS YOU CAN DO FOR HALLOWEEN
I feel like Halloween is already over because we celebrated so hard this weekend. Our neighborhood does a really fun Halloween parade followed by a big celebration with trick or treating, bouncy houses, all that good stuff. I also ran a 15k, we had a church Halloween party, and Danny’s work threw a big Halloween […]
OCTOBER’S 10 THINGS
I started this “10 things” series a few months ago and I’ve really enjoyed it. It feels like a journal entry and it’s been fun to go back and read older ones. I don’t edit these much– I’m just saying 10 things that are in my head at the moment. So here we go. For […]
FRUGAL LIVING HORROR STORIES
A few weeks ago, I had a good friend tell me about her father in law who is a successful surgeon and crazy frugal. When I asked her what “crazy frugal” meant, she shared some amazing examples. She explained that when their family goes out to the movies, the father in law will rummage through […]