Family Finance

All about dealing with money as a couple, as well as with family. And recently, babies!! :)

It’s official – I’m a Minivan Dad!!

January 16, 2020
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And boy, do I feel like a dad haha… One of the first things I actually noticed, but it’s kinda cool! I AM a dad, and I’m proud to be one! :) I’m not sure it’s my favorite car yet, but after a week of driving it so far it isn’t the worst thing in the world… And my kids are obsessed with it! They […]

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A Financial PowerPoint Presentation That Screams “I Love You!”

January 8, 2020
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Remember our guy last year who put together a 19 slide PowerPoint presentation to woo the socks off his beautiful wife? Well he’s at it again this year! And upped the game by adding an additional 15 slides for good measure ;) If I didn’t know better I’d say he’s just out to grab another Husband of The Year nod, but going through these slides […]

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A Yearly Checklist For Your Money?

November 25, 2019
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Caught this by another financial advocate/author out there – Tony Steuer. A calendar of the “most important” financial items to cross off every month: What do you think? January: Review your budget and cash flow as well as your net worth statement (this lets you see how you did last year and if you want to make any changes for the new year) February: Organize […]

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The Problem with “Free” (and My 2 New Yard Sale Rules)

October 21, 2019
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Morning!! I know we’re late into the yard sale season here, but I recently enacted two new rules for my kids while out shopping, and I’m realizing more and more how effective they are for us adults too ;) Let me know what you think: Rule #1: No more getting anything for FREE! I don’t know if your kids do this, but mine have been […]

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14 Wildly Different Allowance Strategies :)

October 10, 2019
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So last week we asked how people do allowances since I’m still trying to nail down my own system, and BOY did the floodgates open! We got messages with all kinds of different styles and theories, ranging from “I pay nothing at all – we already pay for their LIFE!” all the way up to those ponying out $300+/mo whose kids are in charge of […]

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Children now average $30 a week in allowance?!

October 3, 2019
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Saw this in a press release this morning and almost spit out my coffee! Children average $30 a week in allowance Daaaang!!! Inflation sure has gotten crazy over the years! That is exactly $29 more a week than I got as a kid, and $28 more/week than I got when I was a teen ;) Which wouldn’t have even covered a measly pack of baseball […]

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The Beauty of Simplicity

September 4, 2019
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Morning, friends!! I’m packing up for our yearly financial blogging conference this morning (FinCon – will you be there??), and every time I reach for my suitcase I’m reminded just how nice it is to be a minimalist :) The old me used to spend hours trying to figure out what to bring and what not to bring (because you need to prepare for ALL […]

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A silly little trick I started doing to make expenses feel better… ;)

August 15, 2019
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So week one in our new house was pretty fantastic. Our stuff made it all in one piece, our days were filled with sun and exploration, we joined our community pool for 1/2 off the price (woo!), and at one point my wife stopped me to say just how happy she was to finally have a place all to ourselves where we can live peacefully […]

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“Help! I’ve fallen for a hyper-dedicated FIRE enthusiast.”

June 27, 2019
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Morning! Got an interesting note from a reader of the blog, and thought I’d pass it along here in case it helps anyone else in a similar position :) FIRE is awesome, but it is not *everything*!! At least my personal opinion on it! Here’s her sitch, followed by my response and then hopefully some feedback from y’all since I’m not too sure I addressed […]

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*How* we grew our net worth to $900k

May 6, 2019
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It dawned on me the other day that unless you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you probably haven’t a clue *how* we’ve grown our net worth to where it is today. Outside of the boring incremental gains/saving at least ;) So today I thought I’d share a quick background on how we got to where we are now for anyone new to the […]

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7 ways my kids actually SAVE me money

May 2, 2019
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There’s a lot of talk on how much kids COST you over the years (with some bloggers even going as far as tracking it every month before burning out!), but it’s a little known fact that while they do pull from the wallet, they can also *add* to it too. Or at least, *prevent* you from pulling from it because AIN’T NOBODY’S GOT TIME TO SPEND […]

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Do you make more than your spouse? How is it going for you??

March 21, 2019
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Was looking over our finances yesterday, and realized that for the first time since knowing my wife she’s actually making more money than me! Hubba Hubba! The more she makes, the less I need to! Haha… but also the more household income = the more opportunities for everyone too. So score 1 for the Mrs. ;) And a pretty neat turn around from just a […]

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Would you give up sex for a year in exchange for a free year of college tuition?

February 27, 2019
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According to a study I just read, 61% of people would! Haha… At least when it comes to college tuition *for their kids* :) And depending on how much we’re talking about here ($20,000? $40,000?) I’d probably consider it too. It’s kinda like the opposite of prostitution – getting paid to NOT have sex – hah! There were some other interesting stats in this survey […]

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A Bunch of #Wins Martin Luther King Would Be Proud of ;)

January 21, 2019
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Happy MLK Day! Did you know he was also a personal finance proponent back in the day? He once wanted to get what he and others called a “Freedom Budget” going that offered up a “practical, step-by-step plan for wiping out poverty in America during the next 10 years.” Which of course we’re still a ways away from these days (hell – we can’t even […]

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